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
Dollar Down (1925)
as Gene Meadows
It Happened One Night (1934)
as Oscar Shapeley
His Girl Friday (1940)
as McCue
Wings (1927)
as Lieutenant Cameron
Woman of the Year (1942)
as Phil Whittaker
Object: Alimony (1928)
as Al Bryant
Warming Up (1928)
as Hippo
Stowaway (1932)
as Insp. Redding
Dirigible (1931)
as Sock McGuire
Petticoat Politics (1941)
as Joe Higgins
Woman Trap (1936)
as Mopsy
Beggars of Life (1928)
as Lame Hoppy
The Jazz Singer (1927)
as Agent (uncredited)
Clarence (1937)
as Clarence Smith
Onionhead (1958)
as 'Windy' Woods
Man's Favorite Sport? (1964)
as Major Phipps
Yokel Boy (1942)
as Al Devers
Bluff (1924)
as Jack Hallowell
Alice in Wonderland (1933)
as Tweedledee
They Drive by Night (1940)
as Irish McGurn
A Lady's Profession (1933)
as Tony
Ladies Must Live (1940)
as Pete Larrabee
Front Page Woman (1935)
as Toots O'Grady
Twentieth Century (1934)
as Owen O'Malley
Elmer and Elsie (1934)
as Rocky Cott
Copy (1929)
as City Editor John Mack
Half Shot at Sunrise (1941)
as Henry Warren
Night of Mystery (1937)
as Sergeant Heath
Tip-Off Girls (1938)
as Tom Benson aka Tommy Logan
If I Had a Million (1932)
as Private O'Brien
The Ten Commandments (1923)
as The Boy in the Rain (uncredited)
You'd Be Surprised (1926)
as Party Guest (uncredited)
Something Always Happens (1928)
as George
Her Own Money (1922)
as Jerry Woodward
Old Acquaintance (1943)
as Charlie Archer
Ladies of the Big House (1931)
as Frank - Twenty Questions player (uncredited)
Stage Door Canteen (1943)
as Roscoe Karns
You and Me (1938)
as Cuffy
The Life of the Party (1920)
as Sam Perkins
The Trail of '98 (1928)
as Man on Ship (uncredited)
The Woman in Red (1935)
as Man in court room (uncredited)
The Roadhouse Murder (1932)
as Dale
The Shopworn Angel (1928)
as Dance Director
One Way to Love (1946)
as Hobie Simmons
My Son, The Hero (1943)
as Big-Time Morgan
That's My Man (1947)
as Toby Gleeton
Mr. Carlson of Arizona (1915)
Actor
Shoot the Works (1934)
as Sailor Burke
Today We Live (1933)
as McGinnis
Wings in the Dark (1935)
as Nick Williams
His Butler's Sister (1943)
as Fields
Three Married Men (1936)
as Peter Cary
The Midnight Express (1924)
as Switch Hogan
Alibi Ike (1935)
as Carey
Night After Night (1932)
as Leo
The Crooked Circle (1932)
as Harry Carter
The Women in His Life (1933)
as Aloysius Lester
The Family Honor (1920)
as Dal Tucker
Laughing Sinners (1931)
as Fred Geer
One Way Passage (1932)
as S.S. Maloa Bartender (uncredited)
Saturday's Children (1940)
as Willie Sands
The Gay Vagabond (1941)
as Arthur Dixon / Jerry Dixon
Grand Slam (1933)
as Contest Radio Announcer
King of Chinatown (1939)
as Rip Harrigan
You Can't Escape Forever (1942)
as 'Mac' McTurk
Thanks for the Memory (1938)
as George Kent
The Navy Way (1944)
as Frankie Gimble
Dancing Co-Ed (1939)
as Joe Drews
Lawyer Man (1932)
as Merritt - Reporter (uncredited)
Footsteps in the Dark (1941)
as Monahan
High Pressure (1932)
as Telephone Salesman (uncredited)
Little Accident (1930)
as Gilbert
Partners in Crime (1937)
as Sim Perkins
Conquering the Woman (1922)
as Shorty Thompson
The Flying Fleet (1929)
as Shipwrecked Radio Operator (uncredited)
That's Right – You're Wrong (1939)
as Mal Stamp
Under-Cover Man (1932)
as Dannie
Two Against the World (1932)
as Segall, reporter
Minstrel Man (1944)
as Lasses White
Week-End Marriage (1932)
as Jim Davis
They Call It Sin (1932)
as Brad - Rehearsal Director (uncredited)
Double Alibi (1940)
as Jeremiah Jenkins
Gambling Ship (1933)
as Blooey
A Tragedy at Midnight (1942)
as Cassidy
Murder Goes to College (1937)
as Sim Perkins
The Overland Limited (1925)
as Patrick Henry Madden
On Such a Night (1937)
as Joe Flynn
Everything's on Ice (1939)
as Felix Miller
Four Hours to Kill! (1935)
as Johnson
One Sunday Afternoon (1933)
as Snappy Downer
Dangerous to Know (1938)
as Duncan
Riding High (1943)
as Shorty
Cain and Mabel (1936)
as Reilly
A Species of Mexican Man (1915)
Actor
Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven (1948)
as Officer Carmody
Road to Happiness (1941)
as Charley Grady
Devil's Cargo (1948)
as Lt. Hardy
Scandal Street (1938)
as Austin Brown
The Inside Story (1948)
as Eustace Peabody
Vigilantes of Boomtown (1947)
as Bill Delaney
The Vanishing Pioneer (1928)
as Ray Hearn
Ritzy (1927)
as Smith's Valet
Pleasure (1931)
as Arnie
Meet the Missus (1940)
as Joe Higgins
Poor Relations (1919)
as Henry
Red Hot Tires (1935)
as Bud Keene
Beau Sabreur (1928)
as Buddy
This Thing Called Love (1929)
as Harry Bertrand
Come On, Marines! (1934)
as Spud McGurke
Ten Modern Commandments (1927)
as Benny Burnaway
Many a Slip (1931)
as Stan Price
Other Men's Daughters (1923)
as Hubert
I Sell Anything (1934)
as Monk
The Costello Case (1930)
as Blair
A Western Governor's Humanity (1915)
as The Sheriff
Border Flight (1936)
as Calico Smith
Moran of the Marines (1928)
as Swatty
From Champion to Tramp (1915)
as The Girl's Father
Hi, Good Lookin'! (1944)
as Archie
Safety in Numbers (1930)
as Bertram Shapiro
Avalanche (1946)
as Red Kelly
Two-Fisted (1935)
as Chick Moran
I Ring Doorbells (1946)
as Stubby
Left Over Ladies (1931)
as 'Scoop'
The Desert Bride (1928)
as Pvt. Terry
Jazz Mad (1928)
as Sol Levy
Black Eyes and Blues (1941)
as Alfred Harmon
Play Girl (1932)
as Gambler (uncredited)
The Foolish Virgin (1924)
as Chuck Brady
Speed to Spare (1948)
as Kangaroo
Troopers Three (1930)
as Bugs
Win That Girl (1928)
as Johnny Norton II
Man Trouble (1930)
as Scott
The Gorilla (1930)
as Simmons
New York Nights (1929)
as Johnny Dolan
The Man Tamer (1921)
as Bradley P. Caldwell Jr
The Trouper (1922)
Actor