John Qualen

John Qualen
John Qualen in The Grapes of Wrath (1940).
Born	Johan Mandt Kvalen (1899-12-08)December 8, 1899 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Died	Torrance, California, U. S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park Glendale, California Great Mausoleum, Sanctuary of Reliance, Crypt 9632
Other names	John M. Qualen John T. Qualen
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1931–1974
Spouse(s)	Pearle Larson (1924–1987) 3 daughters

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.

Life and Career

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". Qualen grew up in Elgin, Illinois.

His acting career began when he was attending Northwestern University on a scholarship awarded after he won an oratory contest. 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) and 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.

Partial filmography

• Street Scene (1931)
• Arrowsmith (1931) (uncredited)
• Upper World (1934)
• Our Daily Bread (1934)
• One More Spring (1935)
• Black Fury (1935)
• The Farmer Takes a Wife (1935)
• The Three Musketeers - Planchet (1935)
• Meet Nero Wolfe (1936)
• Wife vs. Secretary (1936)
• She Had to Eat (1937)
• The Bad Man of Brimstone (1938)
• Stand Up and Fight (1939)
• Thunder Afloat (1939)
• His Girl Friday - Earl Williams (1940)
• Blondie on a Budget (1940)
• The Grapes of Wrath - Muley (1940)
• Babies for Sale (1940)
• Angels Over Broadway (1940)
• Ski Patrol (1940)
• Knute Rockne All American (1940)
• The Long Voyage Home - Axel Swanson (1940)
• Out of the Fog (1941)
• The Great Awakening (1941)
• The Shepherd of the Hills - Coot Royal (1941)
• The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)
• Tortilla Flat (1942)
• Casablanca - Berger (1942)
• Swing Shift Maisie (1943)
• Dark Waters (1944)
• The Impostor (1944)
• Captain Kidd - Bart Blivens (1945)
• Adventure - Model T (1945)
• The Fugitive - A Refugee Doctor (1947)
• Song of Scheherazade (1947)
• Hollow Triumph (1948)
• Hans Christian Andersen (1952)
• The High and the Mighty - José Locota (1954)
• The Sea Chase - Chief Engineer Schmitt (1955)
• The Searchers - Lars Jorgensen (1956)
• The Gun Runners (1958)
• Anatomy of a Murder - Deputy Sheriff Sulo (1959)
• Elmer Gantry (1960) (uncredited)
• North to Alaska - Logger Judge (1960)
• Two Rode Together - Ole Knudsen (1961)
• The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance - Peter Ericson (1962)
• Donovan's Reef - Deckhand Who Cries Man Overboard (uncredited) (1963)
• 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964)
• Cheyenne Autumn - Svenson (uncredited) (1964)
• A Patch of Blue (1965)
• The Sons of Katie Elder - Charlie Biller (1965)
• I'll Take Sweden (1965)
• A Big Hand for the Little Lady (1966)

Television

• Cheyenne - episode - Deadline - Charley Dolan (1957)
• Maverick - episode - The Lonesome Reunion - Leland Mills (1958)
• 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 & 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)
• 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)

External links

• John Qualen at the Internet Movie Database
• John Qualen at the Internet Broadway Database
• John Qualen at Find a Grave
• Photos of John Qualen from The Long Voyage Home by Ned Scott