Actor

John Qualen

December 6, 1899 · Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

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.

Notable work

8.1
Casablanca (1943)
as Berger
7.7
The Searchers (1956)
as Lars Jorgensen
7.8
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
as Peter Ericson
7.8
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
as Deputy Sheriff Sulo Kangas
7.8
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
as Muley Graves
7.4
His Girl Friday (1940)
as Earl Williams
7.5
Bonanza (1959)
as Parley
7
The Sons of Katie Elder (1965)
as Charlie Biller

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