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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.
as V12 (archive footage) (uncredited)
as Old Man on Porch
as Charlie Erickson
as Billy Hurd
as Luke
as Poppa
as Hall
as Jesse Buford
as Mr. Faber
as Charlie Biller
as Olaf
as Ernie Evans
as Svenson (uncredited)
as Luther Lindquist
as Oscar
as Deckhand Who Cries 'Man Overboard' (uncredited)
as Peter Ericson
as Ole Knudsen
as Logger
as Sam - Storekeeper
as Old Ben
as Deputy Sheriff Sulo
as Doc
as Jonah Snell
as Pop
as Sven Johnson
as Jake
as Lars Jorgensen
as Livingstone
as Leonard Haskins
as Chief Engineer Schmitt
as Second Prisoner
as Papasha
as Gaspar Melo
as Jose Locota
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as Jonas P. Travis
as Burgomaster
as Professor Dingley
as Corky McGee
as Lars Hansen
as Maibus
as Mr. Ferguson (uncredited)
as Vegetable Seller
as Geech
as Julius Seton
as Dr. Swangron
as Capt. Athos
as Svenson
as No End
as The Stranger
as A Refugee Doctor
as Peter Oberwalder Sr.
as Lorenzo
as Model T
as Bart Blivens
as Uncle Bill
as Svend Olsen
as Uncle Norbert
as Anton Dubechek
as Monge
as Horatio Curley
as Berger
as Self
as Aladdin
as Jose Maria Corcoran
as Sam Bachrach
as The Barber
as Miser Stevens
as Hasslinger's Clerk
as Coot Royal
as Olaf Johnson
as Dr. Patterson
as The Janitor
as Clem Howie
as Axel
as Lars Knutson Rockne
as Charles Engle
as Howard Anderson
as Peters
as Gustaf
as First Carpenter (uncredited)
as Muley Graves
as Ed Fuddle
as Earl Williams
as Frank
as Meek Man (uncredited)
as Milo
as Mailman
as Dan (uncredited)
as Davy
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as Asa Wyatt
as Lars
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as Otto
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as Waldo Everett
as Sheriff Dow
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as Asa Wyatt
as Duflous
as Toni
as Olaf
as Asa Wyatt
as Mr. Jenkins (uncredited)
as Bill Harvey
as Collins
as Will Dabson
as Planchet
as Hotel Porter
as Smith
as Mr. Fossbender
as Von Blitzen
as Sol Tinker
as Mike Shemanski
as Coccoz
as Ole
as Auctioneer
as Concierge, Dufresne's Hotel (bit)
as Prof. Herman Ellenbogen
as Chris (as John T. Qualen)
as Detective
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as Dutch, Santa Avila's Cabbie
as Janitor
as Oswald (as John M. Qualen)
as Steve (uncredited)
as Bjorkman
as Breitstein
as Henry Novak (uncredited)
as Karl Olsen (as John M. Qualen)
