Roscoe Karns
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Roscoe Karns (September 7, 1891 – February 6, 1970) was an American actor who appeared in nearly 150 films between 1915 and 1964. He specialized in cynical, wise-cracking (and often tipsy) characters, and his rapid-fire delivery enlivened many comedies and crime thrillers in the 1930s and 1940s. Though he appeared in numerous silent films, such as Wings and Beggars of Life, his career didn't really take off until sound arrived. Arguably his best-known film role was the annoying bus passenger Oscar Shapeley, who tries to pick up Claudette Colbert in the Oscar-winning comedy It Happened One Night (1934), quickly followed by one of his best performances as the boozy press agent Owen O'Malley in Howard Hawks' Twentieth Century. (Six years later, he co-starred as one of the reporters in another Hawks classic, His Girl Friday.) In 1937, Paramount teamed him with Lynne Overman as a pair of laconic private eyes in two B comedy-mysteries, Murder Goes to College and Partners in Crime. From 1950 to 1954, Karns played the title role in the popular DuMont Television Network series Rocky King, Inside Detective. His son, character actor Todd Karns, also appeared in that series. From 1959 to 1962, Karns was cast as Admiral Walter Shafer in seventy-three of the ninety-five episodes of the CBS military sitcom/drama series, Hennesey, starring Jackie Cooper in the title role of a United States Navy physician, and Abby Dalton as nurse Martha Hale. His final film was another Hawks comedy, Man's Favorite Sport?, in 1964. Karns was born in San Bernardino, California, and died in Los Angeles. Description above from the Wikipedia article Roscoe Karns, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
Known for
Credits
It Happened One Night (1934)
as Oscar Shapeley
His Girl Friday (1940)
as McCue
Woman of the Year (1942)
as Phil Whittaker
They Drive by Night (1940)
as Irish McGurn
Wings (1927)
as Lieutenant Cameron
Man's Favorite Sport? (1964)
as Major Phipps
If I Had a Million (1932)
as Private O'Brien
The Jazz Singer (1927)
as Agent (uncredited)
Alice in Wonderland (1933)
as Tweedledee
The Ten Commandments (1923)
as The Boy in the Rain (uncredited)
His Butler's Sister (1943)
as Fields
Warming Up (1928)
as Hippo
That's Right – You're Wrong (1939)
as Mal Stamp
One Way to Love (1946)
as Hobie Simmons
Twentieth Century (1934)
as Owen O'Malley
Footsteps in the Dark (1941)
as Monahan
The Woman in Red (1935)
as Man in court room (uncredited)
That's My Man (1947)
as Toby Gleeton
Woman Trap (1936)
as Mopsy
You'd Be Surprised (1926)
as Party Guest (uncredited)
Thanks for the Memory (1938)
as George Kent
Onionhead (1958)
as 'Windy' Woods
A Lady's Profession (1933)
as Tony
Stage Door Canteen (1943)
as Roscoe Karns
Yokel Boy (1942)
as Al Devers
Object: Alimony (1928)
as Al Bryant
You Can't Escape Forever (1942)
as 'Mac' McTurk
Dirigible (1931)
as Sock McGuire
On Such a Night (1937)
as Joe Flynn
The Trail of '98 (1928)
as Man on Ship (uncredited)
You and Me (1938)
as Cuffy
A Tragedy at Midnight (1942)
as Cassidy
One Way Passage (1932)
as S.S. Maloa Bartender (uncredited)
This Thing Called Love (1929)
as Harry Bertrand
The Women in His Life (1933)
as Aloysius Lester
Clarence (1937)
as Clarence Smith
Three Cheers for Love (1936)
as Doc 'Short Circuit' Wilson
Four Hours to Kill! (1935)
as Johnson
Dollar Down (1925)
as Gene Meadows
Petticoat Politics (1941)
as Joe Higgins
My Son, The Hero (1943)
as Big-Time Morgan
Front Page Woman (1935)
as Toots O'Grady
Ladies of the Big House (1931)
as Frank - Twenty Questions player (uncredited)
Old Acquaintance (1943)
as Charlie Archer
They Call It Sin (1932)
as Brad - Rehearsal Director (uncredited)
Bluff (1924)
as Jack Hallowell
Wings in the Dark (1935)
as Nick Williams
Dangerous to Know (1938)
as Duncan
Murder Goes to College (1937)
as Sim Perkins
Everything's on Ice (1939)
as Felix Miller
Dancing Co-Ed (1939)
as Joe Drews
Night After Night (1932)
as Leo
Cain and Mabel (1936)
as Reilly
King of Chinatown (1939)
as Rip Harrigan
The Life of the Party (1920)
as Sam Perkins
Two Against the World (1932)
as Segall, reporter
Today We Live (1933)
as McGinnis
Stowaway (1932)
as Insp. Redding
The Inside Story (1948)
as Eustace Peabody
Moran of the Marines (1928)
as Swatty
Minstrel Man (1944)
as Lasses White
Beggars of Life (1928)
as Lame Hoppy
Mr. Carlson of Arizona (1915)
Actor
The Shopworn Angel (1928)
as Dance Director
The Vanishing Pioneer (1928)
as Ray Hearn
Vigilantes of Boomtown (1947)
as Bill Delaney
Two-Fisted (1935)
as Chick Moran
Night of Mystery (1937)
as Sergeant Heath
Copy (1929)
as City Editor John Mack
Gambling Ship (1933)
as Blooey
Ladies Must Live (1940)
as Pete Larrabee
Tip-Off Girls (1938)
as Tom Benson aka Tommy Logan
Devil's Cargo (1948)
as Lt. Hardy
Laughing Sinners (1931)
as Fred Geer
Road to Happiness (1941)
as Charley Grady
Lawyer Man (1932)
as Merritt - Reporter (uncredited)
Little Accident (1930)
as Gilbert
Shoot the Works (1934)
as Sailor Burke
Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven (1948)
as Officer Carmody
High Pressure (1932)
as Telephone Salesman (uncredited)
The Family Honor (1920)
as Dal Tucker
Saturday's Children (1940)
as Willie Sands
Black Eyes and Blues (1941)
as Alfred Harmon
The Flying Fleet (1929)
as Shipwrecked Radio Operator (uncredited)
One Sunday Afternoon (1933)
as Snappy Downer
The Midnight Express (1924)
as Switch Hogan
Something Always Happens (1928)
as George
I Sell Anything (1934)
as Monk
Scandal Street (1938)
as Austin Brown
The Navy Way (1944)
as Frankie Gimble
A Species of Mexican Man (1915)
Actor
Week-End Marriage (1932)
as Jim Davis
New York Nights (1929)
as Johnny Dolan
Safety in Numbers (1930)
as Bertram Shapiro
Border Flight (1936)
as Calico Smith
From Champion to Tramp (1915)
as The Girl's Father
Half Shot at Sunrise (1941)
as Henry Warren
Red Hot Tires (1935)
as Bud Keene
Meet the Missus (1940)
as Joe Higgins
Her Own Money (1922)
as Jerry Woodward
Elmer and Elsie (1934)
as Rocky Cott
The Roadhouse Murder (1932)
as Dale
Alibi Ike (1935)
as Carey
Other Men's Daughters (1923)
as Hubert
A Western Governor's Humanity (1915)
as The Sheriff
The Desert Bride (1928)
as Pvt. Terry
Conquering the Woman (1922)
as Shorty Thompson
The Gay Vagabond (1941)
as Arthur Dixon / Jerry Dixon
Speed to Spare (1948)
as Kangaroo
Grand Slam (1933)
as Contest Radio Announcer
Three Married Men (1936)
as Peter Cary
The Gorilla (1930)
as Simmons
Troopers Three (1930)
as Bugs
Riding High (1943)
as Shorty
Come On, Marines! (1934)
as Spud McGurke
Double Alibi (1940)
as Jeremiah Jenkins
Under-Cover Man (1932)
as Dannie
Play Girl (1932)
as Gambler (uncredited)
Hi, Good Lookin'! (1944)
as Archie
Avalanche (1946)
as Red Kelly
Partners in Crime (1937)
as Sim Perkins
The Costello Case (1930)
as Blair
I Ring Doorbells (1946)
as Stubby
Many a Slip (1931)
as Stan Price
Win That Girl (1928)
as Johnny Norton II
Beau Sabreur (1928)
as Buddy
Ten Modern Commandments (1927)
as Benny Burnaway
The Overland Limited (1925)
as Patrick Henry Madden
The Trouper (1922)
Actor
Left Over Ladies (1931)
as 'Scoop'
The Crooked Circle (1932)
as Harry Carter
Poor Relations (1919)
as Henry
Jazz Mad (1928)
as Sol Levy
Pleasure (1931)
as Arnie
The Man Tamer (1921)
as Bradley P. Caldwell Jr
Man Trouble (1930)
as Scott
Ritzy (1927)
as Smith's Valet
The Foolish Virgin (1924)
as Chuck Brady