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A Big Hand for the Little Lady

as Jesse Buford

1966
A Patch of Blue

as Mr. Faber

1965
I'll Take Sweden

as Olaf

1965
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

as Peter Ericson

1962
North to Alaska

as Logger

1960
The Gun Runners

as Pop

1958
My World Dies Screaming

as Jonah Snell

1958
The Big Land

as Sven Johnson

1957
The Searchers

as Lars Jorgensen

1956
The Sea Chase

as Chief Engineer Schmitt

1955
Passion

as Gaspar Melo

1954
Hans Christian Andersen

as Burgomaster

1952
Belle Le Grand

as Corky McGee

1951
Woman on the Run

as Maibus

1950
The Big Steal

as Julius Seton

1949
Hollow Triumph

as Swangron

1948
16 Fathoms Deep

as Capt. Athos

1948
Alias a Gentleman

as No End

1948
Reaching from Heaven

as The Stranger

1948
The Fugitive

as A Refugee Doctor

1947
Captain Kidd

as Bart Blivens

1945
Adventure

as Model T

1945
Dark Waters

as Uncle Norbert

1944
Jungle Book

as The Barber

1942
Arabian Nights

as Aladdin

1942
Larceny, Inc.

as Sam Bachrach

1942
Tortilla Flat

as Jose Maria Corcoran

1942
Out of the Fog

as Olaf Johnson

1941
All That Money Can Buy

as Miser Stevens

1941
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John Qualen John Qualen

Birthday

1899-12-08

Place of Birth

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

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.
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