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John Qualen

John Qualen

Actor · 1899 – 1987 · Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

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.

Movies24

  • Movie8.1

    Casablanca

    1943 · 6.2K votes

  • Movie7.7

    The Searchers

    1956 · 1.6K votes

  • Movie7.8
  • Movie7.8

    Anatomy of a Murder

    1959 · 1.2K votes

  • Movie7.4

    His Girl Friday

    1940 · 972 votes

  • Movie7.8

    The Grapes of Wrath

    1940 · 1.1K votes

  • Movie6.0

    Arabian Nights

    1942 · 55 votes

  • Movie6.7

    Cheyenne Autumn

    1964 · 151 votes

  • Movie7.0

    The Sons of Katie Elder

    1965 · 313 votes

  • Movie6.7

    The Prize

    1963 · 119 votes

  • Movie7.6

    A Patch of Blue

    1965 · 126 votes

  • Movie5.9

    The High and the Mighty

    1954 · 90 votes

  • Movie6.3

    The Sea Chase

    1955 · 54 votes

  • Movie7.3

    Elmer Gantry

    1960 · 206 votes

  • Movie6.3

    Captain Kidd

    1945 · 38 votes

  • Movie7.1
  • Movie6.6
  • Movie6.5

    Those Calloways

    1964 · 32 votes

  • Movie6.6

    The Long Voyage Home

    1940 · 105 votes

  • Movie6.6

    Hollow Triumph

    1948 · 56 votes

  • Movie6.2

    Donovan's Reef

    1963 · 164 votes

  • Movie6.5

    North to Alaska

    1960 · 138 votes

  • Movie7.6

    La Classe américaine

    1993 · 253 votes

  • Movie6.0

    The Fugitive

    1947 · 50 votes

Series24

  • TV7.0

    Maverick

    1957 · 43 votes

  • TV7.5

    Bonanza

    1959 · 500 votes

  • TV5.7

    Dr. Kildare

    1961 · 19 votes

  • TV6.5

    The Donna Reed Show

    1958 · 19 votes

  • TV7.6

    The Andy Griffith Show

    1960 · 175 votes

  • TV7.8

    Alfred Hitchcock Presents

    1955 · 265 votes

  • TV6.5

    Dragnet

    1951 · 36 votes

  • TV7.8

    The Odd Couple

    1970 · 69 votes

  • TV6.5

    The Virginian

    1962 · 35 votes

  • TV6.6

    Father Knows Best

    1954 · 28 votes

  • TV3.8

    Climax!

    1954 · 12 votes

  • TV6.3

    Burke's Law

    1963 · 12 votes

  • TV6.8

    The Partridge Family

    1970 · 35 votes

  • TV6.2

    Cheyenne

    1955 · 26 votes

  • TV5.9

    Ben Casey

    1961 · 15 votes

  • TV6.6
  • TV6.2

    Yancy Derringer

    1958 · 11 votes

  • TV6.0

    Lawman

    1958 · 13 votes

  • TV7.1
  • TV7.2

    Green Acres

    1965 · 80 votes

  • TV5.8

    The Millionaire

    1955 · 4 votes

  • TV6.7

    Thriller

    1960 · 20 votes

  • TV6.3

    December Bride

    1954 · 4 votes

  • TV5.1

    Sugarfoot

    1957 · 8 votes