Acting
Roscoe Karns
EN cinema · 138 credits
Born
6 September 1891
Died
6 February 1970 (aged 78)
Birthplace
San Bernardino, California, USA
Also known as Roscoe Karnes
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
Filmography
Man's Favorite Sport?
as Major Phipps
Onionhead
as 'Windy' Woods
Devil's Cargo
as Lt. Hardy
The Inside Story
as Eustace Peabody
Speed to Spare
as Kangaroo
Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven
as Officer Carmody
That's My Man
as Toby Gleeton
Vigilantes of Boomtown
as Bill Delaney
Avalanche
as Red Kelly
One Way to Love
as Hobie Simmons
I Ring Doorbells
as Stubby
Hi, Good Lookin'!
as Archie
Minstrel Man
as Lasses White
The Navy Way
as Frankie Gimble
My Son, The Hero
as Big-Time Morgan
Riding High
as Shorty
Old Acquaintance
as Charlie Archer
Stage Door Canteen
as Roscoe Karns
His Butler's Sister
as Fields
Woman of the Year
as Phil Whittaker
You Can't Escape Forever
as 'Mac' McTurk
A Tragedy at Midnight
as Cassidy
Yokel Boy
as Al Devers
Petticoat Politics
as Joe Higgins
Footsteps in the Dark
as Monahan
The Gay Vagabond
as Arthur Dixon / Jerry Dixon
Road to Happiness
as Charley Grady
Black Eyes and Blues
1941
Black Eyes and Blues
as Alfred Harmon
Half Shot at Sunrise
as Henry Warren
His Girl Friday
as McCue
They Drive by Night
as Irish McGurn
Double Alibi
as Jeremiah Jenkins
Saturday's Children
as Willie Sands
Ladies Must Live
as Pete Larrabee
Meet the Missus
as Joe Higgins
That's Right – You're Wrong
as Mal Stamp
King of Chinatown
as Rip Harrigan
Dancing Co-Ed
as Joe Drews
Everything's on Ice
as Felix Miller
You and Me
as Cuffy
Thanks for the Memory
as George Kent
Tip-Off Girls
as Tom Benson aka Tommy Logan
Dangerous to Know
as Duncan
Scandal Street
as Austin Brown
On Such a Night
as Joe Flynn
Night of Mystery
as Sergeant Heath
Partners in Crime
as Sim Perkins
Murder Goes to College
as Sim Perkins
Clarence
as Clarence Smith
Cain and Mabel
as Reilly
Three Married Men
as Peter Cary
Woman Trap
as Mopsy
Border Flight
as Calico Smith
Three Cheers for Love
1936
Three Cheers for Love
as Doc 'Short Circuit' Wilson
Wings in the Dark
as Nick Williams
Four Hours to Kill!
as Johnson
Alibi Ike
as Carey
Front Page Woman
as Toots O'Grady
Two-Fisted
as Chick Moran
The Woman in Red
as Man in court room (uncredited)
Red Hot Tires
as Bud Keene
It Happened One Night
as Oscar Shapeley
Twentieth Century
as Owen O'Malley
Shoot the Works
as Sailor Burke
I Sell Anything
as Monk
Come On, Marines!
as Spud McGurke
Elmer and Elsie
as Rocky Cott
Alice in Wonderland
as Tweedledee
Today We Live
as McGinnis
One Sunday Afternoon
as Snappy Downer
The Women in His Life
as Aloysius Lester
Gambling Ship
as Blooey
Grand Slam
as Contest Radio Announcer
If I Had a Million
as Private O'Brien
Week-End Marriage
as Jim Davis
Two Against the World
as Segall, reporter
Lawyer Man
as Merritt - Reporter (uncredited)
The Crooked Circle
as Harry Carter
One Way Passage
as S.S. Maloa Bartender (uncredited)
Under-Cover Man
as Dannie
They Call It Sin
as Brad - Rehearsal Director (uncredited)
Stowaway
as Insp. Redding
Play Girl
as Gambler (uncredited)
High Pressure
as Telephone Salesman (uncredited)
Laughing Sinners
as Fred Geer
Pleasure
as Arnie
Dirigible
as Sock McGuire
Ladies of the Big House
as Frank - Twenty Questions player (uncredited)
Left Over Ladies
as 'Scoop'
Many a Slip
as Stan Price
Safety in Numbers
as Bertram Shapiro
Troopers Three
as Bugs
Man Trouble
as Scott
The Gorilla
as Simmons
Little Accident
as Gilbert
The Costello Case
as Blair
This Thing Called Love
as Harry Bertrand
New York Nights
as Johnny Dolan
Copy
as City Editor John Mack
The Flying Fleet
as Shipwrecked Radio Operator (uncredited)
Moran of the Marines
as Swatty
Win That Girl
as Johnny Norton II
The Shopworn Angel
as Dance Director
The Trail of '98
as Man on Ship (uncredited)
Jazz Mad
as Sol Levy
The Vanishing Pioneer
as Ray Hearn
Warming Up
as Hippo
Beau Sabreur
as Buddy
The Desert Bride
as Pvt. Terry
Beggars of Life
as Lame Hoppy
Object: Alimony
as Al Bryant
Ten Modern Commandments
as Benny Burnaway
The Jazz Singer
as Agent (uncredited)
Wings
as Lieutenant Cameron
Ritzy
as Smith's Valet
You'd Be Surprised
as Party Guest (uncredited)
The Overland Limited
as Patrick Henry Madden
Dollar Down
as Gene Meadows
The Midnight Express
as Switch Hogan
Bluff
as Jack Hallowell
The Foolish Virgin
as Chuck Brady
The Ten Commandments
as The Boy in the Rain (uncredited)
Other Men's Daughters
as Hubert
Her Own Money
as Jerry Woodward
Conquering the Woman
as Shorty Thompson
The Man Tamer
as Bradley P. Caldwell Jr
The Family Honor
as Dal Tucker
The Life of the Party
as Sam Perkins
Poor Relations
as Henry
From Champion to Tramp
1915
From Champion to Tramp
as The Girl's Father