John Qualen facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids John Qualen
Qualen in His Girl Friday (1940)
Born	Johan Mandt Kvalen (1899-12-08)December 8, 1899 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Died	September 12, 1987(1987-09-12) (aged 87) Torrance, California, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California, U.S.
Other names	John M. Qualen John T. Qualen
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1931–1974
Spouse(s)	Pearle Larson (m. 1924)
Children	3 daughters

John Qualen (born Johan Mandt Kvalen) was an American actor. He was born on December 8, 1899, and passed away on September 12, 1987. He was known for playing many different types of characters, often those with a Scandinavian background, because his family came from Norway.

Early Life
Acting Career
Personal Life
Filmography
- 1930s
- 1940s
- 1950s
- 1960s
- 1970s
Television
See also

Early Life

John Qualen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. His parents had moved there from Norway. John's father was a minister. The family moved often because of his father's work.

John finished high school in Elgin, Illinois, in 1920. He then studied at the University of Toronto for four years. But he left college to become an actor. He joined a traveling group of actors in Toronto.

Acting Career

John Qualen once shared how he started acting. He worked with the Chautauqua Circuit, which put on shows and lectures. He helped set up the tents for their events. One night, the main speaker did not show up. John stepped in to replace him. He had won a medal for speaking in high school, which helped him get the chance.

Soon after, he started his own acting group called The Qualen Concert Company. After he got married, he and his wife, Pearle, put on plays together. They traveled to cities like Boston, Chicago, and New Orleans. Money was tight, so John also sold cookware in New York. He actually earned more from selling pots and pans than from acting!

Qualen in The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

John eventually made it to Broadway, the famous theater district in New York City. His big break came in 1929. He played a Swedish janitor named Carl Olsen in a play called Street Scene.

His movie career began when he played the same role in the film version of Street Scene in 1931. After that, he appeared in Arrowsmith (1931). This movie started a long partnership with director John Ford. John Qualen became part of Ford's "stock company," which was a group of actors who often worked together. He appeared in many of Ford's films for over 35 years. Some of these movies include The Searchers (1956), Two Rode Together (1961), and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962).

Qualen (left) and Paul Henreid in Hollow Triumph (1948)

John Qualen acted in over one hundred films. He also appeared on television into the 1970s. He often played characters with different accents, usually Scandinavian ones. These roles were often meant to be funny.

He had some very memorable roles that showed how good he was at acting.

In The Grapes of Wrath (1940), he played Muley. Muley tells a sad story about his farm being taken away. His acting was so powerful that it made the director, John Ford, cry.
In the comedy His Girl Friday (1940), he played a confused character named Earl Williams.
In Casablanca (1942), he was Berger, a Norwegian resistance member who sold jewelry. He used a light Scandinavian accent for this role.
In The High and the Mighty (1954), he played Locota, a fisherman. For this part, he used a thicker Mediterranean accent.

Besides acting, John Qualen was also a talented flautist. He started playing the flute when he was eight years old. He continued his music studies in college. He even played with professional orchestras, like the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.

Personal Life

In 1924, John Qualen married Pearle Larson. He had known her since high school. Pearle joined his traveling acting group and became their costume designer. They were married for over 60 years.

John Qualen passed away on September 12, 1987, at the age of 87. He died from heart failure in Torrance, California.

Filmography

1930s

Street Scene (1931) as Karl Olsen
Arrowsmith (1931) as Henry Novak (uncredited)
The Devil's Brother (1933) as Man who owned bull (unconfirmed)
Counsellor at Law (1933) as Johan Breitstein
Let's Fall in Love (1933) as Svente Bjorkman (uncredited)
Hi Nellie! (1934) as Steve (uncredited)
No Greater Glory (1934) as Nemecsek's father
Upper World (1934) as Chris
Sing and Like It (1934) as Oswald
Private Scandal (1934) as Schultz (uncredited)
He Was Her Man (1934) as Dutch
Our Daily Bread (1934) as Chris
Straight Is the Way (1934) as Mr. Chapman (uncredited)
Servants' Entrance (1934) as Detective
365 Nights in Hollywood (1934) as Professor Herman Ellenbogen
Charlie Chan in Paris (1935) as Consierge
One More Spring (1935) as Auctioneer
The Great Hotel Murder (1935) as Ole
Black Fury (1935) as Mike
Chasing Yesterday (1935) as Aristide Coccoz
Silk Hat Kid (1935) as Mr. Fossbender
Doubting Thomas as Von Blitzer
The Farmer Takes a Wife (1935) as Sol Tinker
Orchids to You (1935) as Smith
Thunder in the Night (1935) as Hotel porter
The Three Musketeers (1935) as Planchet
Whipsaw (1935) as Will Dabson
Man of Iron (1935) as Collins
Ring Around the Moon (1936) as Bill Harvey
Wife vs. Secretary (1936) as Mr. Jenkins (uncredited)
The Country Doctor (1936) as Asa Wyatt
The Road to Glory (1936) as Scared soldier
Meet Nero Wolfe (1936) as Olaf
Girls' Dormitory (1936) as Toni
Reunion (1936) as Asa Wyatt
Seventh Heaven (1937) as Sewer Rat
Angel's Holiday (1937) as Waldo Everett
Fifty Roads to Town (1937) as Sheriff Dow
She Had to Eat (1937) as Sleepy
Fit for a King (1937) as Otto
Nothing Sacred (1937) as Fireman (uncredited)
The Bad Man of Brimstone (1937) as "Loco"
Joy of Living (1938) as Oswego
The Texans (1938) as Abilene Swede (uncredited)
The Chaser (1938) as Lars
The Mad Miss Manton (1938) as Subway worker
Five of a Kind (1938) as Asa Wyatt
The Strange Case of Dr. Meade (1938)
Stand Up and Fight (1939) as Davy
Let Us Live (1939) as Dan (uncredited)
Mickey the Kid (1939) as Mailman
Career (1939) as Jeff Trotter (uncredited)
Honeymoon in Bali (1939) as Meek man
Thunder Afloat (1939) as Milo
Four Wives (1939) as Frank

1940s

His Girl Friday (1940) as Earl Williams
The Grapes of Wrath (1940) as Muley Graves
Blondie on a Budget (1940) as Mr. Ed Fuddle
Saturday's Children (1940) as First carpenter (uncredited)
Ski Patrol (1940) as Gustaf
On Their Own (1940) as Peters
Babies for Sale (1940) as Howard Anderson
Angels Over Broadway (1940) as Charles Engle
Knute Rockne, All American (1940) Lars Knuteson Rockne
The Long Voyage Home (1940) as Axel
Youth Will Be Served (1940) as Clem Howie
Model Wife (1941) as Janitor
Million Dollar Baby (1941) as Dr. Patterson
Out of the Fog (1941) as Olaf Johnson
The Shepherd of the Hills (1941) as Coot Royal
The Great Awakening (1941) as Hasslinger's Clerk
The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941) as Miser Stevens
Jungle Book (1942) as The Barber
Larceny, Inc. (1942) as Sam Bachrach
Tortilla Flat (1942) as Jose Maria Corcoran
Casablanca (1942) as Berger
Arabian Nights (1942) as Alladin
Swing Shift Maisie (1943) as Horatio Curly
The Impostor (1944) as Monge
An American Romance (1944) as Anton Dubechek
Dark Waters (1944) as Uncle Norbert
Roughly Speaking (1945) as Svend Olsen
River Gang (1945) as Uncle Bill
Captain Kidd (1945) as Bart Blivens
Adventure (1945) as Model T
Song of Scheherazade (1947) as Lorenzo
High Conquest (1947) as Peter Oberwalder Sr.
The Fugitive (1947) as Refugee doctor
Reaching from Heaven (1948) as The Stranger
On Our Merry Way (1948) (deleted sequence, uncredited)
Alias a Gentleman (1948) as No End
My Girl Tisa (1948) as Svenson
16 Fathoms Deep (1948) as Capt. Athos
Hollow Triumph (1948) as Swangon
The Big Steal (1949) as Julius Seton

1950s

Captain China (1950) as Geech
Buccaneer's Girl (1950) as Vegetable man
Woman on the Run (1950) as Maibus
The Jackpot (1950) as Mr. Ferguson (uncredited)
The Flying Missile (1950) as Lars Hansen
Belle Le Grand (1951) as Corky McGee
Goodbye, My Fancy (1951) as Professor Dingley
Hans Christian Andersen (1952) as Burgomaster
Ambush at Tomahawk Gap (1953) as Jonas P. Travis
Francis Covers the Big Town (1953) as Defense Attorney Cavendish (uncredited)
I, the Jury (1953) as Dr. R. H. Vickers
The High and the Mighty (1954) as Jose Locota
The Student Prince (1954) as Willie Klauber
Passion (1954) as Gasper Melo
The Other Woman (1954) as Papasha
Unchained (1955) as Leonard Haskins
The Sea Chase (1955) as Chief Engineer Schmitt
At Gunpoint (1955) as Livingstone
The Searchers (1956) as Lars Jorgensen
Johnny Concho (1956) as Jake
The Big Land (1957) as Sven Johnson
My World Dies Screaming (1958) as Jonah Snell
The Gun Runners (1958) as Pop
Revolt in the Big House (1958) as Doc
Anatomy of a Murder (1959) as Deputy Sheriff Sulo

1960s

Hell Bent for Leather (1960) as Old Ben
Elmer Gantry (1960) as Sam, a storekeeper (uncredited)
North to Alaska (1960) as Logger Judge
Two Rode Together (1961) as Ole Knudsen
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) as Peter Erickson
Donovan's Reef (1963) as Deckhand (uncredited)
The Prize (1963) as Oscar
7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964) as Luther Lindquist
Cheyenne Autumn (1964) as Svenson (uncredited)
Those Calloways (1965) as Ernie Evans
I'll Take Sweden (1965) as Olaf
The Sons of Katie Elder (1965) as Charlie Biller
A Patch of Blue (1965) as Mr. Faber
A Big Hand for the Little Lady (1966) as Jesse Buford
The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin (1967) as Barber (uncredited)
Firecreek (1968) as Hall
P.J. (1968) as Poppa Gonowski
Doc (1969, TV Movie) as Luke
Hail, Hero! (1969) as Billy Hurd

1970s

Getting Away from It All (1972, TV Movie) as Charlie Erickson
Wednesday Night Out (1972, TV Movie)
Frasier, the Sensuous Lion (1973) as Old man on porch

Television

Alfred Hitchcock Presents, episode "A Bullet for Baldwin" – Benjamin Steep (1956)
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, episode "Help Wanted" – Mr. Crabtree (1956)
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, episode "Shopping for Death" – Elmer Shore (1956)
Father Knows Best, episode "The Bus to Nowhere" - Old Man (1956)
Cheyenne, episode "Deadline" – Charley Dolan (1957)
Maverick, episode "The Lonesome Reunion" – Leland Mills (1958)
The Californians episode "J. Jimmerson Jones, Inc."—J. Jimmerson Jones (1958)
Sea Hunt (1960) Season 3, Episode 31
Mister Ed, episode "Ed's New Shoes" – Axel (the Handyman) (1961)
Bonanza, episode "Springtime" – Parley (1961)
Maverick, episode "The Golden Fleecing" – Henry Albright (1961)
The Andy Griffith Show, episode "The Jinx" – Henry Bennett (1962)
Laramie, episode "Shadow of the Past" – Mr. Elbee (1962)
The Real McCoys, episode "Cupid Wore a Tail" – Frank (1963)
The Real McCoys, episode "The Other Side of the Fence" – Frank (1963)
Make Room for Daddy, episodes "Sense of Humor" and "Call Off the Hounds" – Swenson, the Janitor (1964)
The Virginian, episode "A Bride for Lars" – Gosta Swenson (1964)
The Girl from U.N.C.L.E., episode "The Jewels of Topango Affair" – Dr. Elmer Spritzer (1966)
Hazel, episode "A Question of Ethics" – Mr. Johansson (1966)
Shane, episode "The Hant" - Old Man (1966)
I Spy, episode "Red Sash of Courage" – Hannos (1967)
Green Acres, episode "Eb's Romance" - Mr. Appleby (1968)
Green Acres, episode "The Ex-Con" - Willy Dunhill (1970)
The Odd Couple, episode “The Taste Of Money” - Sam (1971)
Make Room for Granddaddy, episode "The Arm Wrestle" Folsom (1971)
The Partridge Family episode "My Heart Belongs to a Two Car Garage" – The Old Man (1972)
The F.B.I., episode "The Detonator" (1973)
Movin' On, episode "Life Line" – Liggett (1974) (final appearance)