Roscoe Karns
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
Acted in
Man's Favorite Sport?
1964
as Major Phipps
The Lucy Show
1962
as Mr. Foley
Hennesey
1959
Onionhead
1958
as 'Windy' Woods
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
1957
as Ed Church
December Bride
1954
December Bride
1954
as Charley Allen
Rocky King, Detective
1950
as Police Inspector Rocky King
Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven
1948
as Officer Carmody
Speed to Spare
1948
as Kangaroo
Devil's Cargo
1948
as Lt. Hardy
The Inside Story
1948
as Eustace Peabody
That's My Man
1947
as Toby Gleeton
Vigilantes of Boomtown
1947
as Bill Delaney
Avalanche
1946
as Red Kelly
I Ring Doorbells
1946
as Stubby
One Way to Love
1946
as Hobie Simmons
Hi, Good Lookin'!
1944
as Archie
The Navy Way
1944
as Frankie Gimble
Minstrel Man
1944
as Lasses White
Old Acquaintance
1943
as Charlie Archer
His Butler's Sister
1943
as Fields
Riding High
1943
as Shorty
Stage Door Canteen
1943
as Roscoe Karns
My Son, The Hero
1943
as Big-Time Morgan
You Can't Escape Forever
1942
as 'Mac' McTurk
Yokel Boy
1942
as Al Devers
Woman of the Year
1942
as Phil Whittaker
A Tragedy at Midnight
1942
as Cassidy
Road to Happiness
1941
as Charley Grady
Half Shot at Sunrise
1941
as Henry Warren
The Gay Vagabond
1941
as Arthur Dixon / Jerry Dixon
Black Eyes and Blues
1941
as Alfred Harmon
Footsteps in the Dark
1941
as Monahan
Petticoat Politics
1941
as Joe Higgins
Meet the Missus
1940
as Joe Higgins
Ladies Must Live
1940
as Pete Larrabee
They Drive by Night
1940
as Irish McGurn
Saturday's Children
1940
as Willie Sands
Double Alibi
1940
as Jeremiah Jenkins
His Girl Friday
1940
as McCue
That's Right – You're Wrong
1939
as Mal Stamp
Everything's on Ice
1939
as Felix Miller
Dancing Co-Ed
1939
as Joe Drews
King of Chinatown
1939
as Rep Harrigan
Thanks for the Memory
1938
as George Kent
You and Me
1938
as Cuffy
Tip-Off Girls
1938
as Tom Benson aka Tommy Logan
Dangerous to Know
1938
as Duncan
Scandal Street
1938
as Austin Brown
Partners in Crime
1937
as Sim Perkins
On Such a Night
1937
as Joe Flynn
Night of Mystery
1937
as Sergeant Heath
Murder Goes to College
1937
as Sim Perkins
Clarence
1937
as Clarence Smith
Cain and Mabel
1936
as Reilly
Three Married Men
1936
as Peter Cary
Border Flight
1936
as Calico Smith
Woman Trap
1936
as Mopsy
Two-Fisted
1935
as Chick Moran
Front Page Woman
1935
as Toots O'Grady
Alibi Ike
1935
as Carey
Four Hours to Kill!
1935
as Johnson
The Woman in Red
1935
as Man in court room (uncredited)
Red Hot Tires
1935
as Bud Keene
Wings in the Dark
1935
as Nick Williams
I Sell Anything
1934
as Monk
Shoot the Works
1934
as Sailor Burke
Twentieth Century
1934
as Owen O'Malley
Come On, Marines!
1934
as Spud McGurke
It Happened One Night
1934
as Oscar Shapeley
Alice in Wonderland
1933
as Tweedledee
The Women in His Life
1933
as Aloysius Lester
One Sunday Afternoon
1933
as Snappy Downer
Gambling Ship
1933
as Blooey
A Lady's Profession
1933
as Tony
Today We Live
1933
as McGinnis
Grand Slam
1933
as Contest Radio Announcer
Lawyer Man
1932
as Merritt - Reporter (uncredited)
Under-Cover Man
1932
as Dannie
If I Had a Million
1932
as Private O'Brien
They Call It Sin
1932
as Brad - Rehearsal Director (uncredited)
Night After Night
1932
as Leo
One Way Passage
1932
as S.S. Maloa Bartender (uncredited)
The Crooked Circle
1932
as Harry Carter
Two Against the World
1932
as Segall, reporter
Week-End Marriage
1932
as Jim Davis
The Roadhouse Murder
1932
as Dale
Play Girl
1932
as Gambler (uncredited)
Stowaway
1932
as Insp. Redding
Ladies of the Big House
1931
as Frank - Twenty Questions player (uncredited)
Left Over Ladies
1931
as 'Scoop'
Pleasure
1931
as Arnie
Laughing Sinners
1931
as Fred Geer
Many a Slip
1931
as Stan Price
Dirigible
1931
as Sock McGuire
The Gorilla
1930
as Simmons
The Costello Case
1930
as Blair
Man Trouble
1930
as Scott
Little Accident
1930
as Gilbert
Safety in Numbers
1930
as Bertram Shapiro
Troopers Three
1930
as Bugs
New York Nights
1929
as Johnny Dolan
This Thing Called Love
1929
as Harry Bertrand
Copy
1929
as City Editor John Mack
The Flying Fleet
1929
as Shipwrecked Radio Operator (uncredited)
The Shopworn Angel
1928
as Dance Director
Jazz Mad
1928
as Sol Levy
Moran of the Marines
1928
as Swatty
Beggars of Life
1928
as Lame Hoppy
Win That Girl
1928
as Johnny Norton II
Warming Up
1928
as Hippo
The Vanishing Pioneer
1928
as Ray Hearn
The Desert Bride
1928
as Pvt. Terry
The Trail of '98
1928
as Man on Ship (uncredited)
Beau Sabreur
1928
as Buddy
The Jazz Singer
1927
as Agent (uncredited)
Wings
1927
as Lieutenant Cameron
Ten Modern Commandments
1927
as Benny Burnaway
You'd Be Surprised
1926
as Party Guest
The Midnight Express
1924
as Switch Hogan
The Ten Commandments
1923
as The Boy in the Rain (uncredited)
Other Men's Daughters
1923
as Hubert
The Trouper
1922
Her Own Money
1922
as Jerry Woodward
The Life of the Party
1920
as Sam Perkins
The Family Honor
1920
as Dal Tucker
A Western Governor's Humanity
1915
as The Sheriff
A Species of Mexican Man
1915
From Champion to Tramp
1915
as The Girl's Father
Mr. Carlson of Arizona
1915
