John Qualen
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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
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.
Born
Dec 06, 1899
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Died
Sep 12, 1987
Known For
Acting
Movies
136 acting
0 crew
Popularity
1.7
Known For
Casablanca
1943
as Berger
The Searchers
1956
as Lars Jorgensen
The Grapes of Wrath
1940
as Muley Graves
Anatomy of a Murder
1959
as Deputy Sheriff Sulo Kangas
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
1962
as Peter Ericson
His Girl Friday
1940
as Earl Williams
The Sons of Katie Elder
1965
as Charlie Biller
Cheyenne Autumn
1964
as Svenson (uncredited)
Two Rode Together
1961
as Ole Knudsen
North to Alaska
1960
as Logger
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