John Qualen
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1899-12-06
Day of Death
1987-09-12 (87 years old)
Place of Birth
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
John Qualen
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Qualen (born Johan Mandt Kvalen, December 8, 1899 – September 12, 1987) was a Canadian-American character actor of Norwegian heritage who specialized in Scandinavian roles.
Qualen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, the son of immigrants from Norway; his father was a Lutheran minister and changed the family's original surname, "Kvalen", to "Qualen" – though some sources give Oleson, later Oleson Kvalen as Qualen's earlier surnames. His father's ministering meant many moves and John was 20 when he graduated from Elgin High School in 1920. Though he was awarded a scholarship to Northwestern University after he won an oratory contest he never attended college. In a Milwaukee Journal interview he said he needed to start working and did so with the Chattaqua Circuit. Eventually reaching Broadway, he gained his big break as the Swedish janitor in Elmer Rice's Street Scene. His movie career began when he recreated the role in the film version. This was followed by his appearance in John Ford's Arrowsmith (1931) which began a more than thirty year membership in the director's "stock company", with important supporting roles in The Searchers (1956), Two Rode Together (1961), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) and Cheyenne Autumn (1964).
Appearing in well over one hundred films, and acting extensively on television into the 1970s, Qualen performed many of his roles with various accents, usually Scandinavian, often intended for comic effect. Three of his more memorable roles showcase his versatility. Qualen assumed a Midwestern dialect as Muley, who recounts the destruction of his farm by the bank in Ford's The Grapes of Wrath (1940), and as the confused killer Earl Williams in Howard Hawks' classic comedy His Girl Friday (also 1940). As Berger, the jewelry-selling Norwegian resistance member in Michael Curtiz' Casablanca (1942), he essayed a light Scandinavian accent, but put on a thicker Mediterranean accent as the homeward-bound fisherman Locota in William Wellman's The High and the Mighty (1954)
Qualen was treasurer of The Authors Club and historian of The Masquers, Hollywood's social group for actors.
John Qualen was blind in his later years. He died of heart failure in 1987 in Torrance, California, and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale. He was survived by his three daughters.
Known For
Acting
(1993)
La Classe américaine
as V12 (archive footage) (uncredited)
(1973)
Frasier, the Sensuous Lion
as Old Man on Porch
(1972)
Getting Away from It All
as Charlie Erickson
(1969)
Hail, Hero!
as Billy Hurd
(1969)
Doc
as Luke
(1968)
Firecreek
as Hall
(1968)
P.J.
as Poppa
(1966)
A Big Hand for the Little Lady
as Jesse Buford
(1965)
The Sons of Katie Elder
as Charlie Biller
(1965)
A Patch of Blue
as Mr. Faber
(1965)
I'll Take Sweden
as Olaf
(1964)
Cheyenne Autumn
as Svenson (uncredited)
(1964)
7 Faces of Dr. Lao
as Luther Lindquist
(1964)
Those Calloways
as Ernie Evans
(1963)
Donovan's Reef
as Deckhand Who Cries 'Man Overboard' (uncredited)
(1963)
The Prize
as Oscar
(1962)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
as Peter Ericson
(1961)
Two Rode Together
as Ole Knudsen
(1960)
North to Alaska
as Logger
(1960)
Elmer Gantry
as Sam - Storekeeper
(1960)
Hell Bent for Leather
as Old Ben
(1959)
Anatomy of a Murder
as Deputy Sheriff Sulo
(1958)
The Gun Runners
as Pop
(1958)
Revolt in the Big House
as Doc
(1958)
My World Dies Screaming
as Jonah Snell
(1957)
The Big Land
as Sven Johnson
(1956)
The Searchers
as Lars Jorgensen
(1956)
Johnny Concho
as Jake
(1955)
The Sea Chase
as Chief Engineer Schmitt
(1955)
At Gunpoint
as Livingstone
(1955)
Unchained
as Leonard Haskins
(1955)
Man on a Bus
as Second Prisoner
(1954)
The High and the Mighty
as Jose Locota
(1954)
Passion
as Gaspar Melo
(1954)
The Other Woman
as Papasha
(1953)
Ambush at Tomahawk Gap
as Jonas P. Travis
(1953)
I, the Jury
as Dr. R.H. Vickers, Veterinarian
(1952)
Hans Christian Andersen
as Burgomaster
(1951)
Goodbye, My Fancy
as Professor Dingley
(1951)
Belle Le Grand
as Corky McGee
(1950)
Woman on the Run
as Maibus
(1950)
Buccaneer's Girl
as Vegetable Seller
(1950)
The Jackpot
as Mr. Ferguson (uncredited)
(1950)
Captain China
as Geech
(1950)
The Flying Missile
as Lars Hansen
(1949)
The Big Steal
as Julius Seton
(1948)
Hollow Triumph
as Swangron
(1948)
My Girl Tisa
as Svenson
(1948)
Reaching from Heaven
as The Stranger
(1948)
Alias a Gentleman
as No End
(1948)
16 Fathoms Deep
as Capt. Athos
(1947)
The Fugitive
as A Refugee Doctor
(1947)
High Conquest
as Peter Oberwalder Sr.
(1947)
Song of Scheherazade
as Lorenzo
(1945)
Captain Kidd
as Bart Blivens
(1945)
Adventure
as Model T
(1945)
Roughly Speaking
as Svend Olsen
(1945)
River Gang
as Uncle Bill
(1944)
Dark Waters
as Uncle Norbert
(1944)
An American Romance
as Anton Dubechek
(1944)
The Impostor
as Monge
(1943)
Casablanca
as Berger
(1943)
Swing Shift Maisie
as Horatio Curley
(1942)
Jungle Book
as The Barber
(1942)
Arabian Nights
as Aladdin
(1942)
Larceny, Inc.
as Sam Bachrach
(1942)
Tortilla Flat
as Jose Maria Corcoran
(1942)
Breakdowns of 1942
as Self
(1941)
The Shepherd of the Hills
as Coot Royal
(1941)
Out of the Fog
as Olaf Johnson
(1941)
All That Money Can Buy
as Miser Stevens
(1941)
Million Dollar Baby
as Dr. Patterson
(1941)
New Wine
as Hasslinger's Clerk
(1941)
Model Wife
as The Janitor
(1940)
His Girl Friday
as Earl Williams
(1940)
The Grapes of Wrath
as Muley Graves
(1940)
On Their Own
as Peters
(1940)
The Long Voyage Home
as Axel
(1940)
Knute Rockne All American
as Lars Knutson Rockne
(1940)
Saturday's Children
as First Carpenter (uncredited)
(1940)
Angels Over Broadway
as Charles Engle
(1940)
Ski Patrol
as Gustaf
(1940)
Blondie on a Budget
as Ed Fuddle
(1940)
Youth Will Be Served
as Clem Howie
(1940)
Babies for Sale
as Howard Anderson
(1939)
Let Us Live
as Dan (uncredited)
(1939)
Stand Up and Fight
as Davy
(1939)
Four Wives
as Frank
(1939)
Honeymoon in Bali
as Meek Man (uncredited)
(1939)
Mickey the Kid
as Mailman
(1939)
Thunder Afloat
as Milo
(1938)
The Mad Miss Manton
as Night Watchman at Subway Construction Site
(1938)
Joy of Living
as Oswego
(1938)
Five of a Kind
as Asa Wyatt
(1938)
The Chaser
as Lars
(1938)
The Strange Case of Dr. Meade
as Stoner
(1937)
Nothing Sacred
as Fireman (uncredited)
(1937)
Seventh Heaven
as Sewer Rat
(1937)
Angel's Holiday
as Waldo Everett
(1937)
Fit for a King
as Otto
(1937)
Fifty Roads to Town
as Sheriff Dow
(1937)
The Bad Man of Brimstone
as Loco
(1937)
She Had to Eat
as Sleepy
(1936)
Wife vs. Secretary
as Mr. Jenkins (uncredited)
(1936)
Reunion
as Asa Wyatt
(1936)
The Road to Glory
as Duflous
(1936)
Meet Nero Wolfe
as Olaf
(1936)
Girls' Dormitory
as Toni
(1936)
Ring Around the Moon
as Bill Harvey
(1936)
The Country Doctor
as Asa Wyatt
(1935)
Black Fury
as Mike Shemanski
(1935)
The Farmer Takes a Wife
as Sol Tinker
(1935)
The Three Musketeers
as Planchet
(1935)
Whipsaw
as Will Dabson
(1935)
Doubting Thomas
as Von Blitzen
(1935)
One More Spring
as Auctioneer
(1935)
Man of Iron
as Collins
(1935)
Charlie Chan in Paris
as Concierge, Dufresne's Hotel (bit)
(1935)
Chasing Yesterday
as Coccoz
(1935)
The Great Hotel Murder
as Ole
(1935)
Orchids to You
as Smith
(1935)
Thunder in the Night
as Hotel Porter
(1935)
Silk Hat Kid
as Mr. Fossbender
(1934)
Our Daily Bread
as Chris (as John T. Qualen)
(1934)
Hi, Nellie!
as Steve (uncredited)
(1934)
Sing and Like It
as Oswald (as John M. Qualen)
(1934)
Upperworld
as Janitor
(1934)
365 Nights in Hollywood
as Prof. Herman Ellenbogen
(1934)
Straight Is the Way
as Mr. Clapman (uncredited)
(1934)
He Was Her Man
as Dutch, Santa Avila's Cabbie
(1934)
Servants' Entrance
as Detective
(1933)
Let's Fall in Love
as Bjorkman
(1933)
Let's Fall in Love
as Svente Bjorkman
(1933)
Counsellor at Law
as Breitstein
(1931)
Street Scene
as Karl Olsen (as John M. Qualen)
(1931)
Arrowsmith
as Henry Novak (uncredited)