John Qualen
Born
6 December 1899 (126)
Place of Birth
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Also known as
John M. Qualen, John T. 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 m...
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.
Filmography (40)
La Classe américaine
1993
Frasier, the Sensuous Lion
1973
Getting Away from It All
1972
Hail, Hero!
1969
Doc
1969
P.J.
1968
Firecreek
1968
A Big Hand for the Little Lady
1966
A Patch of Blue
1965
The Sons of Katie Elder
1965
I'll Take Sweden
1965
Those Calloways
1964
Cheyenne Autumn
1964
7 Faces of Dr. Lao
1964
The Prize
1963
Donovan's Reef
1963
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
1962
Two Rode Together
1961
North to Alaska
1960
Elmer Gantry
1960
Hell Bent for Leather
1960
Anatomy of a Murder
1959
Revolt in the Big House
1958
My World Dies Screaming
1958
The Gun Runners
1958
The Big Land
1957
Johnny Concho
1956
The Searchers
1956
At Gunpoint
1955
Unchained
1955
The Sea Chase
1955
Man on a Bus
1955
The Other Woman
1954
Passion
1954
The High and the Mighty
1954
I, the Jury
1953
Ambush at Tomahawk Gap
1953
Hans Christian Andersen
1952
Goodbye, My Fancy
1951
Belle Le Grand
1951