John Qualen
Acting
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.
La Classe américaine
V12 (archive footage) (uncredited)
Frasier, the Sensuous Lion
Old Man on Porch
Getting Away from It All
Charlie Erickson
Hail, Hero!
Billy Hurd
Doc
Luke
P.J.
Poppa
Firecreek
Hall
A Big Hand for the Little Lady
Jesse Buford
A Patch of Blue
Mr. Faber
The Sons of Katie Elder
Charlie Biller
I'll Take Sweden
Olaf
Those Calloways
Ernie Evans
Cheyenne Autumn
Svenson (uncredited)
7 Faces of Dr. Lao
Luther Lindquist
The Prize
Oscar
Donovan's Reef
Deckhand Who Cries 'Man Overboard' (uncredited)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Peter Ericson
Two Rode Together
Ole Knudsen
North to Alaska
Logger
Elmer Gantry
Sam - Storekeeper
Hell Bent for Leather
Old Ben
Anatomy of a Murder
Deputy Sheriff Sulo Kangas
Revolt in the Big House
Doc
My World Dies Screaming
Jonah Snell
The Gun Runners
Pop
The Big Land
Sven Johnson
Johnny Concho
Jake
The Searchers
Lars Jorgensen
At Gunpoint
Livingstone
Unchained
Leonard Haskins
The Sea Chase
Chief Engineer Schmitt
Man on a Bus
Second Prisoner
The Other Woman
Papasha
Passion
Gaspar Melo
The High and the Mighty
Jose Locota
I, the Jury
Dr. R.H. Vickers, Veterinarian
Ambush at Tomahawk Gap
Jonas P. Travis
Hans Christian Andersen
Burgomaster
Goodbye, My Fancy
Professor Dingley
Belle Le Grand
Corky McGee
The Flying Missile
Lars Hansen
Woman on the Run
Maibus
The Jackpot
Mr. Ferguson (uncredited)
Buccaneer's Girl
Vegetable Seller
Captain China
Geech
The Big Steal
Julius Seton
Hollow Triumph
Swangron
16 Fathoms Deep
Capt. Athos
My Girl Tisa
Svenson
Alias a Gentleman
No End
Reaching from Heaven
The Stranger
The Fugitive
A Refugee Doctor
High Conquest
Peter Oberwalder Sr.
Song of Scheherazade
Lorenzo
Adventure
Model T
Captain Kidd
Bart Blivens
River Gang
Uncle Bill
Roughly Speaking
Svend Olsen
Dark Waters
Uncle Norbert
An American Romance
Anton Dubechek
The Impostor
Monge
Swing Shift Maisie
Horatio Curley
Casablanca
Berger
Breakdowns of 1942
Self
Arabian Nights
Aladdin
Tortilla Flat
Jose Maria Corcoran
Larceny, Inc.
Sam Bachrach
Jungle Book
The Barber
All That Money Can Buy
Miser Stevens
New Wine
Hasslinger's Clerk
The Shepherd of the Hills
Coot Royal
Out of the Fog
Olaf Johnson
Million Dollar Baby
Dr. Patterson
Model Wife
The Janitor
Youth Will Be Served
Clem Howie
The Long Voyage Home
Axel
Knute Rockne All American
Lars Knutson Rockne
Angels Over Broadway
Charles Engle
Babies for Sale
Howard Anderson
On Their Own
Peters
Ski Patrol
Gustaf
Saturday's Children
First Carpenter (uncredited)
The Grapes of Wrath
Muley Graves
Blondie on a Budget
Ed Fuddle
His Girl Friday
Earl Williams
Four Wives
Frank
Honeymoon in Bali
Meek Man (uncredited)
Thunder Afloat
Milo
Mickey the Kid
Mailman
Let Us Live
Dan (uncredited)
Stand Up and Fight
Davy
The Strange Case of Dr. Meade
Stoner
The Mad Miss Manton
Night Watchman at Subway Construction Site
Five of a Kind
Asa Wyatt
The Chaser
Lars
Joy of Living
Oswego
The Bad Man of Brimstone
Loco
Nothing Sacred
Fireman (uncredited)
Fit for a King
Otto
She Had to Eat
Sleepy
Angel's Holiday
Waldo Everett
Fifty Roads to Town
Sheriff Dow
Seventh Heaven
Sewer Rat
Reunion
Asa Wyatt
The Road to Glory
Duflous
Girls' Dormitory
Toni
Meet Nero Wolfe
Olaf
The Country Doctor
Asa Wyatt
Wife vs. Secretary
Mr. Jenkins (uncredited)
Ring Around the Moon
Bill Harvey
Man of Iron
Collins
Whipsaw
Will Dabson
The Three Musketeers
Planchet
Thunder in the Night
Hotel Porter
Orchids to You
Smith
Silk Hat Kid
Mr. Fossbender
Doubting Thomas
Von Blitzen
The Farmer Takes a Wife
Sol Tinker
Black Fury
Mike Shemanski
Chasing Yesterday
Coccoz
The Great Hotel Murder
Ole
One More Spring
Auctioneer
Charlie Chan in Paris
Concierge, Dufresne's Hotel (bit)
365 Nights in Hollywood
Prof. Herman Ellenbogen
Our Daily Bread
Chris (as John T. Qualen)
Servants' Entrance
Detective
Straight Is the Way
Mr. Clapman (uncredited)
He Was Her Man
Dutch, Santa Avila's Cabbie
Upperworld
Janitor
Sing and Like It
Oswald (as John M. Qualen)
Hi, Nellie!
Steve (uncredited)
Let's Fall in Love
Svente Bjorkman
Let's Fall in Love
Bjorkman
Counsellor at Law
Breitstein
Arrowsmith
Henry Novak (uncredited)
Street Scene
Karl Olsen (as John M. Qualen)