Roscoe Karns

Birthday:
09/06/1891
Place of birth:
San Bernardino, California, USA:
Biography:
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

Credits

Man's Favorite Sport? (1964)
as Major Phipps
Onionhead (1958)
as 'Windy' Woods
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 Rip 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
Elmer and Elsie (1934)
as Rocky Cott
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
Today We Live (1933)
as McGinnis
A Lady's Profession (1933)
as Tony
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
High Pressure (1932)
as Telephone Salesman (uncredited)
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
Object: Alimony (1928)
as Al Bryant
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
Something Always Happens (1928)
as George
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
Ritzy (1927)
as Smith's Valet
You'd Be Surprised (1926)
as Party Guest (uncredited)
Dollar Down (1925)
as Gene Meadows
The Overland Limited (1925)
as Patrick Henry Madden
The Foolish Virgin (1924)
as Chuck Brady
The Midnight Express (1924)
as Switch Hogan
Bluff (1924)
as Jack Hallowell
The Ten Commandments (1923)
as The Boy in the Rain (uncredited)
Other Men's Daughters (1923)
as Hubert
Conquering the Woman (1922)
as Shorty Thompson
The Trouper (1922)
Her Own Money (1922)
as Jerry Woodward
The Man Tamer (1921)
as Bradley P. Caldwell Jr
The Life of the Party (1920)
as Sam Perkins
The Family Honor (1920)
as Dal Tucker
Poor Relations (1919)
as Henry
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)

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