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John Qualen (born Johan Mandt Kvalen, December 8, 1899 – September 12, 1987) was an American character actor of Norwegian heritage who specialized in Scandinavian roles.

John Qualen
Qualen in His Girl Friday (1940)
Born
Johan Mandt Kvalen

(1899-12-08)December 8, 1899
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
DiedSeptember 12, 1987(1987-09-12) (aged 87)
Resting placeForest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California, U.S.
Great Mausoleum, Sanctuary of Reliance, Crypt 9632
Other namesJohn M. Qualen
John T. Qualen
OccupationActor
Years active1931–1974
Spouse
Pearle Larson
(m. 1924)
Children3 daughters

Early years


Qualen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, the son of immigrants from Norway; his father was a Lutheran minister[1] and changed the family's original surname, "Kvalen", to "Qualen"[citation needed] – though some sources give Oleson,[2] later Oleson Kvalen[3] as Qualen's earlier surnames. His father's ministering meant many moves and John was 20 when he graduated from Elgin (Illinois) High School in 1920. For four years, Qualen attended the University of Toronto, but he left there to join a Toronto-based traveling troupe as an actor.[1]


Career


In a Milwaukee Journal interview he said he needed to start working and did so with the Chautauqua Circuit.[citation needed] He drove stakes for the tent used for presentations until a night in Ripon, Wisconsin, when the scheduled principal lecturer did not arrive. Qualen replaced the missing man after he showed the Chautauqua manager a medal he had won for oratory as a high school student. Not long after that, he formed his own troupe, The Qualen Concert Company.[4] At the conclusion of a tour following his marriage, Qualen and his wife, Pearle, formed the company to produce plays. The group's stops in a two-year tour included Boston, Chicago, and New Orleans. The Qualens' income was low enough that he sold cookware in New York for additional funds. Using a handcart to move the merchandise, he made more money from sales than from his acting.[1]

Qualen in The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
Qualen in The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

Eventually reaching Broadway, he gained his big break there in 1929, when he was cast as the Swedish janitor Carl Olsen in Elmer Rice's play Street Scene. His movie career began when he re-created the role two years later in the film adaptation of the stage production. That screen performance was followed by his appearance in John Ford's Arrowsmith (1931), which began a more than 35-year membership in the director's "stock company", with supporting roles in The Searchers (1956), Two Rode Together (1961), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) and Cheyenne Autumn (1964).

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

Appearing in well over one hundred films, and acting 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), in a performance so powerful it reportedly reduced director Ford to tears; and as the confused killer Earl Williams in Howard Hawks' classic comedy His Girl Friday (1940). As Berger, the jewelry-selling Norwegian resistance member in Michael Curtiz' Casablanca (1942), he used 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 also a flautist, having begun to play at age eight. He continued his musical education while at the University of Toronto and went on to play with some professional orchestras, including the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.[1]

Qualen was treasurer of The Authors Club and historian of The Masquers, Hollywood's social group for actors.


Personal life and death


In 1924, after he became an actor, Qualen married Pearle Larson, whom he had known in high school. She joined him in the Toronto-based traveling troupe when he left university, becoming the troupe's costume mistress.[1] The couple remained together for over 60 years, until 1987, when Qualen died at age 87 of heart failure in Torrance, California.[5]


Filmography



1930s



1940s

1950s

1960s

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



References


  1. Foster, Charles (2003). Once Upon a Time in Paradise: Canadians in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Dundurn. pp. 953–964. ISBN 9781550024647. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  2. Joseph F. Clarke (1977). Pseudonyms. BCA. p. 136.
  3. Adrian Room (July 1, 2010). Dictionary of Pseudonyms: 13,000 Assumed Names and Their Origins (fifth ed.). McFarland. p. 392. ISBN 978-0-7864-5763-2.
  4. Hough, Donald (December 15, 1940). "There's That Man Again". The Atlanta Constitution. pp. 97, 102. Retrieved September 19, 2021 via Newspapers.com.
  5. Jones, Jack (September 16, 1987). "John Qualen, 87; Character Actor in Films, TV". Los Angeles Times. p. Part 1 - page 28. Retrieved October 28, 2021.

Further reading





На других языках


[de] John Qualen

John Qualen (* 8. Dezember 1899 in Vancouver; † 12. September 1987 in Torrance, Kalifornien; eigentlich Johan Mandt Kvalen) war ein kanadischer Theater- und Filmschauspieler mit norwegischen Wurzeln.
- [en] John Qualen

[es] John Qualen

John Qualen (nacido Johan Mandt Kvalen: Vancouver, Columbia Británica, Canadá, 8 de diciembre de 1899 - Torrance, California, Estados Unidos, 12 de septiembre de 1987) fue un actor canadiense de cine y televisión.

[ru] Куолен, Джон

Джон Куолен (англ. John Qualen), имя при рождении Йохан Мандт Квален (англ.  Johan Mandt Kvalen; 8 декабря 1899 года — 12 сентября 1987 года) — канадско-американский актёр, более всего известный по фильмам 1930—1950-х годов.



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