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

• 1993La Classe américaine — V12 (archive footage) (uncredited)
• 1973Frasier, the Sensuous Lion — Old Man on Porch
• 1972Getting Away from It All — Charlie Erickson
• The Streets of San Francisco — Frank Casey
• The Odd Couple — Groundskeeper, Mr. Larson, Sam
• The Partridge Family — The Old Man
• 1969Doc — Luke
• 1969Hail, Hero! — Billy Hurd
• 1968Firecreek — Hall
• 1968P.J. — Poppa
• 1966A Big Hand for the Little Lady — Jesse Buford
• Jericho
• Shane — Old Man
• The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. — Dr. Elmer Spritzer
• 1965A Patch of Blue — Mr. Faber
• Green Acres — Mr. Appleby, Willie Dunhill
• 1965I'll Take Sweden — Olaf
• 1965The Sons of Katie Elder — Charlie Biller
• 19647 Faces of Dr. Lao — Luther Lindquist
• 1964Cheyenne Autumn — Svenson (uncredited)
• No Time for Sergeants
• 1964Those Calloways — Ernie Evans
• Burke's Law — Richard Prince (uncredited)
• 1963Donovan's Reef — Deckhand Who Cries 'Man Overboard' (uncredited)
• My Favorite Martian — Matt
• 1963The Prize — Oscar
• 1962The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance — Peter Ericson
• The Virginian — Gosta Swenson
• Ben Casey
• Dr. Kildare — Mr. Callahan
• Hazel — Mr. Johansson
• Mister Ed — Milo Simmons
• 1961Two Rode Together — Ole Knudsen
• 1960Elmer Gantry — Sam - Storekeeper
• 1960Hell Bent for Leather — Old Ben
• 1960North to Alaska — Logger
• Tate — Sam
• The Andy Griffith Show — Henry Bennett
• The Barbara Stanwyck Show
• Thriller — Streetcar Conductor
• 1959Anatomy of a Murder — Deputy Sheriff Sulo
• Bonanza — Parley
• The Alaskans
• The Third Man
• Tightrope
• Bronco
• Lawman — Doc Shea, Doc Shay
• 1958My World Dies Screaming — Jonah Snell
• 1958Revolt in the Big House — Doc
• Sea Hunt
• The Donna Reed Show — Zeke
• 1958The Gun Runners — Pop
• Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
• Yancy Derringer — Capt. Sven Larsen
• Maverick — Leland Mills
• Sugarfoot — Jens Jensen
• 1957The Big Land — Sven Johnson
• The Real McCoys — Frank
• 1956Johnny Concho — Jake
• 1956The Searchers — Lars Jorgensen
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents — Mr. Stepp, Elmer Shore, Mr. Crabtree
• 1955At Gunpoint — Livingstone
• Cheyenne
• 1955Man on a Bus — Second Prisoner
• The Millionaire — Harry Stonewall Jackson
• 1955The Sea Chase — Chief Engineer Schmitt
• 1955Unchained — Leonard Haskins
• Climax! — Geist
• December Bride
• Father Knows Best — Old Man
• 1954Passion — Gaspar Melo
• Public Defender — Ames
• 1954The High and the Mighty — Jose Locota
• 1954The Other Woman — Papasha
• 1953Ambush at Tomahawk Gap — Jonas P. Travis
• General Electric Theater
• 1953I, the Jury — Dr. R.H. Vickers, Veterinarian
• 1952Hans Christian Andersen — Burgomaster
• 1951Belle Le Grand — Corky McGee
• Dragnet
• 1951Goodbye, My Fancy — Professor Dingley
• Racket Squad
• Schlitz Playhouse of Stars — Pop Bradshaw, Peleg Brewster
• 1950Buccaneer's Girl — Vegetable Seller
• 1950Captain China — Geech
• Lux Video Theatre — Eddie
• 1950The Flying Missile — Lars Hansen
• 1950The Jackpot — Mr. Ferguson (uncredited)
• 1950Woman on the Run — Maibus
• 1949The Big Steal — Julius Seton
• 194816 Fathoms Deep — Capt. Athos
• 1948Alias a Gentleman — No End
• 1948Hollow Triumph — Dr. Swangron
• 1948My Girl Tisa — Svenson
• 1948Reaching from Heaven — The Stranger
• The Philco Television Playhouse — Gus Gruntle
• 1947High Conquest — Peter Oberwalder Sr.
• 1947Song of Scheherazade — Lorenzo
• 1947The Fugitive — A Refugee Doctor
• 1945Adventure — Model T
• 1945Captain Kidd — Bart Blivens
• 1945River Gang — Uncle Bill
• 1945Roughly Speaking — Svend Olsen
• 1944An American Romance — Anton Dubechek
• 1944Dark Waters — Uncle Norbert
• 1944The Impostor — Monge
• 1943Casablanca — Berger
• 1943Swing Shift Maisie — Horatio Curley
• 1942Arabian Nights — Aladdin
• 1942Jungle Book — The Barber
• 1942Larceny, Inc. — Sam Bachrach
• 1942Tortilla Flat — Jose Maria Corcoran
• 1941All That Money Can Buy — Miser Stevens
• 1941Million Dollar Baby — Dr. Patterson
• 1941Model Wife — The Janitor
• 1941New Wine — Hasslinger's Clerk
• 1941Out of the Fog — Olaf Johnson
• 1941The Shepherd of the Hills — Coot Royal
• 1940Angels Over Broadway — Charles Engle
• 1940Babies for Sale — Howard Anderson
• 1940Blondie on a Budget — Ed Fuddle
• 1940His Girl Friday — Earl Williams
• 1940Knute Rockne All American — Lars Knutson Rockne
• 1940On Their Own — Peters
• 1940Saturday's Children — First Carpenter (uncredited)
• 1940Ski Patrol — Gustaf
• 1940The Grapes of Wrath — Muley Graves
• 1940The Long Voyage Home — Axel
• 1940Youth Will Be Served — Clem Howie
• 1939Four Wives — Frank
• 1939Honeymoon in Bali — Meek Man (uncredited)
• 1939Let Us Live — Dan (uncredited)
• 1939Mickey the Kid — Mailman
• 1939Stand Up and Fight — Davy
• 1939Thunder Afloat — Milo
• 1938Five of a Kind — Asa Wyatt
• 1938Joy of Living — Oswego
• 1938The Chaser — Lars
• 1938The Mad Miss Manton — Night Watchman at Subway Construction Site
• 1938The Strange Case of Dr. Meade — Stoner
• 1937Angel's Holiday — Waldo Everett
• 1937Fifty Roads to Town — Sheriff Dow
• 1937Fit for a King — Otto
• 1937Nothing Sacred — Fireman (uncredited)
• 1937Seventh Heaven — Sewer Rat
• 1937She Had to Eat — Sleepy
• 1937The Bad Man of Brimstone — Loco
• 1936Girls' Dormitory — Toni
• 1936Meet Nero Wolfe — Olaf
• 1936Reunion — Asa Wyatt
• 1936Ring Around the Moon — Bill Harvey
• 1936The Country Doctor — Asa Wyatt
• 1936The Road to Glory — Duflous
• 1936Wife vs. Secretary — Mr. Jenkins (uncredited)
• 1935Black Fury — Mike Shemanski
• 1935Charlie Chan in Paris — Concierge, Dufresne's Hotel (bit)
• 1935Chasing Yesterday — Coccoz
• 1935Doubting Thomas — Von Blitzen
• 1935Man of Iron — Collins
• 1935One More Spring — Auctioneer
• 1935Orchids to You — Smith
• 1935Silk Hat Kid — Mr. Fossbender
• 1935The Farmer Takes a Wife — Sol Tinker
• 1935The Great Hotel Murder — Ole
• 1935The Three Musketeers — Planchet
• 1935Thunder in the Night — Hotel Porter
• 1935Whipsaw — Will Dabson
• 1934365 Nights in Hollywood — Prof. Herman Ellenbogen
• 1934He Was Her Man — Dutch, Santa Avila's Cabbie
• 1934Hi, Nellie! — Steve (uncredited)
• 1934Our Daily Bread — Chris (as John T. Qualen)
• 1934Servants' Entrance — Detective
• 1934Sing and Like It — Oswald (as John M. Qualen)
• 1934Straight Is the Way — Mr. Clapman (uncredited)
• 1934Upperworld — Janitor
• 1933Counsellor at Law — Breitstein
• 1933Let's Fall in Love — Bjorkman, Svente Bjorkman
• 1931Arrowsmith — Henry Novak (uncredited)
• 1931Street Scene — Karl Olsen (as John M. Qualen)

Appearances as themselves (1)

• 1942Breakdowns of 1942 — Self