John Qualen

John Qualen

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.
Known For: Acting
Birthday: 1899-12-06
Place of Birth: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Also Known As: John M. Qualen, John T. Qualen, Johan Mandt Kvalen

Movies List of John Qualen

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Casablanca

1943 Movie
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The Grapes of Wrath

1940 Movie
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His Girl Friday

1940 Movie
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The Searchers

1956 Movie
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Youth Will Be Served

1940 Movie
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My Girl Tisa

1948 Movie
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Blondie on a Budget

1940 Movie
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North to Alaska

1960 Movie
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Jungle Book

1942 Movie
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Hollow Triumph

1948 Movie
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Out of the Fog

1941 Movie
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A Patch of Blue

1965 Movie
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Charlie Chan in Paris

1935 Movie
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Woman on the Run

1950 Movie
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7 Faces of Dr. Lao

1964 Movie
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Dark Waters

1944 Movie
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Angels Over Broadway

1940 Movie
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Those Calloways

1965 Movie
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Arabian Nights

1942 Movie
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The Fugitive

1947 Movie
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I, the Jury

1953 Movie
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Cheyenne Autumn

1964 Movie
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Adventure

1945 Movie
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Larceny, Inc.

1942 Movie
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The Big Steal

1949 Movie
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The Long Voyage Home

1940 Movie
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The Other Woman

1954 Movie
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The Gun Runners

1958 Movie
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The Jackpot

1950 Movie
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The Impostor

1944 Movie
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Black Fury

1935 Movie
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Angel's Holiday

1937 Movie
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Million Dollar Baby

1941 Movie
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Swing Shift Maisie

1943 Movie
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Tortilla Flat

1942 Movie
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Thunder Afloat

1939 Movie
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Firecreek

1968 Movie
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Honeymoon in Bali

1939 Movie
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One More Spring

1935 Movie
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Passion

1954 Movie
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Our Daily Bread

1934 Movie
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P.J.

1968 Movie
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Goodbye, My Fancy

1951 Movie
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Stand Up and Fight

1939 Movie
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Roughly Speaking

1945 Movie
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An American Romance

1944 Movie
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Orchids to You

1935 Movie
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Girls Dormitory

1936 Movie
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Arrowsmith

1931 Movie
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Meet Nero Wolfe

1936 Movie
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He Was Her Man

1934 Movie
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Seventh Heaven

1937 Movie
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Sing and Like it

1934 Movie
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Five of a Kind

1938 Movie
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Captain Kidd

1945 Movie
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Hail, Hero!

1969 Movie
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The Flying Missile

1950 Movie
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Fit for a King

1937 Movie
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Let's Fall in Love

1933 Movie
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Chasing Yesterday

1935 Movie
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Ski Patrol

1940 Movie
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The Mad Miss Manton

1938 Movie
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Counsellor at Law

1933 Movie
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Song of Scheherazade

1947 Movie
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Upperworld

1934 Movie
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The Big Land

1957 Movie
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The Country Doctor

1936 Movie
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Man on a Bus

1955 Movie
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Alias a Gentleman

1948 Movie
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Reunion

1936 Movie
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Street Scene

1931 Movie
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Captain China

1950 Movie
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Let's Fall in Love

1933 Movie
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Hi, Nellie!

1934 Movie
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Two Rode Together

1961 Movie
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The Sea Chase

1955 Movie
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Four Wives

1939 Movie
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Let Us Live

1939 Movie
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The Road to Glory

1936 Movie
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Johnny Concho

1956 Movie
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Man of Iron

1935 Movie
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On Their Own

1940 Movie
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Donovan's Reef

1963 Movie
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Thunder in the Night

1935 Movie
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Anatomy of a Murder

1959 Movie
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Reaching from Heaven

1948 Movie
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Babies for Sale

1940 Movie
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Unchained

1955 Movie
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Ring Around the Moon

1936 Movie
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Wife vs. Secretary

1936 Movie
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16 Fathoms Deep

1948 Movie
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The Three Musketeers

1935 Movie
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Saturday's Children

1940 Movie
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Nothing Sacred

1937 Movie
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Hell Bent for Leather

1960 Movie
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Doubting Thomas

1935 Movie
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Whipsaw

1935 Movie
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Belle Le Grand

1951 Movie
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I'll Take Sweden

1965 Movie
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Straight Is the Way

1934 Movie
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Model Wife

1941 Movie
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The Prize

1963 Movie
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Buccaneer's Girl

1950 Movie
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New Wine

1941 Movie
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Elmer Gantry

1960 Movie
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Fifty Roads to Town

1937 Movie
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The Chaser

1938 Movie
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She Had to Eat

1937 Movie
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Silk Hat Kid

1935 Movie
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River Gang

1945 Movie
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Joy of Living

1938 Movie
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High Conquest

1947 Movie
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La Classe américaine

1993 Movie
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At Gunpoint

1955 Movie
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Mickey the Kid

1939 Movie
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Servants' Entrance

1934 Movie
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Breakdowns of 1942

1942 Movie
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Doc

1969 Movie