Roscoe Karns
Roscoe Karns | |
|---|---|
 Karns with his wife Mary; still from Rocky King, Inside Detective (1954) | |
| Born | September 7, 1891 |
| Died | February 6, 1970 (aged 78) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1915-1964 |
| Spouse | Mary M. Fraso (1920-70) (his death) 2 children |
| Children | Todd Karns |
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.
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). 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.
Karns was born in San Bernardino, California, and died in Los Angeles.
Partial filmography
- Poor Relations (1919)
- Broken Blossoms (1919) (*uncredited/ bystander talking to policeman)
- The Family Honor (1920)
- Life of the Party (1920)
- Conquering the Woman (1922)
- The Ten Commandments (1923)
- The Midnight Express (1924)
- Dollar Down (1925)
- You'd Be Surprised (1926)
- The Jazz Singer (1927)
- Wings (1927)
- The Shopworn Angel (1928)
- Beggars of Life (1928)
- Warming Up (1928)
- The Trail of '98 (1928)
- The Desert Bride (1928)
- New York Nights (1929)
- This Thing Called Love (1929)
- Safety in Numbers (1930)
- The Costello Case (1930)
- Troopers Three (1930)
- Dirigible (1931)
- Laughing Sinners (1931)
- Week-End Marriage (1932)
- Two Against the World (1932)
- The Crooked Circle (1932)
- Night After Night (1932)
- If I Had a Million (1932)
- Under Cover Man (1932)
- Gambling Ship (1933)
- Alice in Wonderland (1933)
- The Women in His Life (1933)
- Grand Slam (1933)
- Today We Live (1933)
- I Sell Anything (1934)
- It Happened One Night (1934)
- Twentieth Century (1934)
- Red Hot Tires (1935)
- Four Hours to Kill! (1935)
- Front Page Woman (1935)
- Cain and Mabel (1936)
- On Such a Night (1937)
- Night of Mystery (1937)
- Thanks for the Memory (1938)
- Dancing Co-Ed (1939)
- Everything's on Ice (1939)
- That’s Right You’re Wrong (1939)
- They Drive by Night (1940)
- His Girl Friday (1940)
- Footsteps in the Dark (1941)
- Road to Happiness (1942)
- Woman Of The Year (1942)
- His Butler's Sister (1943)
- Old Acquaintance (1943)
- The Navy Way (1944)
- Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven (1948)
- Onionhead (1958)
- Man's Favorite Sport? (1964)
External links
