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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
September 6, 1891
Died
February 6, 1970
Place of Birth
San Bernardino, California, USA
Also Known As
- Roscoe Karnes
Roscoe Karns
0.3 Popularity
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
Known For
6.9
Major Phipps
Man's Favorite Sport?
1964
7.0
Mr. Foley
The Lucy Show
1962
6.0
Hennesey
1959
5.5
'Windy' Woods
Onionhead
1958
6.2
Ed Church
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
1957
5.5
December Bride
1954
5.5
Charley Allen
December Bride
1954
🎬
0.0
Police Inspector Rocky King
Rocky King, Detective
1950
🎬
0.0
Police Inspector Rocky King
Inside Detective
1950
5.3
Officer Carmody
Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven
1948
Credits
Man's Favorite Sport?
as Major Phipps
1964
6.9
The Lucy Show
as Mr. Foley
1962
7.0
Hennesey
1959
6.0
Onionhead
as 'Windy' Woods
1958
5.5
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
as Ed Church
1957
6.2
December Bride
1954
5.5
December Bride
as Charley Allen
1954
5.5
🎬
Rocky King, Detective
as Police Inspector Rocky King
1950
0.0
🎬
Inside Detective
as Police Inspector Rocky King
1950
0.0
Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven
as Officer Carmody
1948
5.3
Speed to Spare
as Kangaroo
1948
5.0
Devil's Cargo
as Lt. Hardy
1948
5.5
The Inside Story
as Eustace Peabody
1948
6.5
That's My Man
as Toby Gleeton
1947
6.0
Vigilantes of Boomtown
as Bill Delaney
1947
2.5
Avalanche
as Red Kelly
1946
0.0
I Ring Doorbells
as Stubby
1946
0.0
One Way to Love
as Hobie Simmons
1946
7.0
Hi, Good Lookin'!
as Archie
1944
5.7
The Navy Way
as Frankie Gimble
1944
5.7
Minstrel Man
as Lasses White
1944
5.0
Old Acquaintance
as Charlie Archer
1943
6.9
His Butler's Sister
as Fields
1943
7.1
Riding High
as Shorty
1943
4.5
Stage Door Canteen
as Roscoe Karns
1943
5.8
My Son, The Hero
as Big-Time Morgan
1943
0.0
You Can't Escape Forever
as 'Mac' McTurk
1942
5.4
Yokel Boy
as Al Devers
1942
4.7
Woman of the Year
as Phil Whittaker
1942
6.9
A Tragedy at Midnight
as Cassidy
1942
4.0
Road to Happiness
as Charley Grady
1941
5.5
Half Shot at Sunrise
as Henry Warren
1941
0.0
The Gay Vagabond
as Arthur Dixon / Jerry Dixon
1941
0.0
🎬
Black Eyes and Blues
as Alfred Harmon
1941
0.0
Footsteps in the Dark
as Monahan
1941
6.9
Petticoat Politics
as Joe Higgins
1941
0.0
Meet the Missus
as Joe Higgins
1940
0.0
Ladies Must Live
as Pete Larrabee
1940
6.0
They Drive by Night
as Irish McGurn
1940
6.9
Saturday's Children
as Willie Sands
1940
6.4
Double Alibi
as Jeremiah Jenkins
1940
4.5
His Girl Friday
as McCue
1940
7.4
That's Right – You're Wrong
as Mal Stamp
1939
5.7
Everything's on Ice
as Felix Miller
1939
4.8
Dancing Co-Ed
as Joe Drews
1939
6.2
King of Chinatown
as Rep Harrigan
1939
5.8
Thanks for the Memory
as George Kent
1938
5.7
You and Me
as Cuffy
1938
6.7
Tip-Off Girls
as Tom Benson aka Tommy Logan
1938
6.0
Dangerous to Know
as Duncan
1938
6.2
Scandal Street
as Austin Brown
1938
0.0
Partners in Crime
as Sim Perkins
1937
0.0
On Such a Night
as Joe Flynn
1937
0.0
Night of Mystery
as Sergeant Heath
1937
0.0
Murder Goes to College
as Sim Perkins
1937
3.0
Clarence
as Clarence Smith
1937
0.0
Cain and Mabel
as Reilly
1936
6.1
Three Married Men
as Peter Cary
1936
0.0
Border Flight
as Calico Smith
1936
6.0
Woman Trap
as Mopsy
1936
0.0
Two-Fisted
as Chick Moran
1935
7.0
Front Page Woman
as Toots O'Grady
1935
5.8
Alibi Ike
as Carey
1935
5.8
Four Hours to Kill!
as Johnson
1935
5.0
The Woman in Red
as Man in court room (uncredited)
1935
6.0
Red Hot Tires
as Bud Keene
1935
5.8
Wings in the Dark
as Nick Williams
1935
6.4
I Sell Anything
as Monk
1934
4.5
Shoot the Works
as Sailor Burke
1934
5.0
Twentieth Century
as Owen O'Malley
1934
6.8
Come On, Marines!
as Spud McGurke
1934
5.0
It Happened One Night
as Oscar Shapeley
1934
7.8
Alice in Wonderland
as Tweedledee
1933
6.0
The Women in His Life
as Aloysius Lester
1933
4.0
One Sunday Afternoon
as Snappy Downer
1933
6.3
Gambling Ship
as Blooey
1933
5.2
Today We Live
as McGinnis
1933
6.2
A Lady's Profession
as Tony
1933
0.0
Grand Slam
as Contest Radio Announcer
1933
3.7
Lawyer Man
as Merritt - Reporter (uncredited)
1932
5.8
Under-Cover Man
as Dannie
1932
4.5
If I Had a Million
as Private O'Brien
1932
6.7
They Call It Sin
as Brad - Rehearsal Director (uncredited)
1932
5.8
Night After Night
as Leo
1932
6.2
One Way Passage
as S.S. Maloa Bartender (uncredited)
1932
7.3
The Crooked Circle
as Harry Carter
1932
4.8
Two Against the World
as Segall, reporter
1932
5.6
Week-End Marriage
as Jim Davis
1932
6.0
The Roadhouse Murder
as Dale
1932
4.2
Play Girl
as Gambler (uncredited)
1932
5.2
Stowaway
as Insp. Redding
1932
5.0
Ladies of the Big House
as Frank - Twenty Questions player (uncredited)
1931
6.0
Left Over Ladies
as 'Scoop'
1931
0.0
Pleasure
as Arnie
1931
3.5
Laughing Sinners
as Fred Geer
1931
5.4
Many a Slip
as Stan Price
1931
0.0
Dirigible
as Sock McGuire
1931
5.6
The Gorilla
as Simmons
1930
0.0
The Costello Case
as Blair
1930
0.0
Man Trouble
as Scott
1930
5.0
Little Accident
as Gilbert
1930
0.0
Safety in Numbers
as Bertram Shapiro
1930
5.0
Troopers Three
as Bugs
1930
7.0
New York Nights
as Johnny Dolan
1929
4.8
This Thing Called Love
as Harry Bertrand
1929
0.0
Copy
as City Editor John Mack
1929
0.0
The Flying Fleet
as Shipwrecked Radio Operator (uncredited)
1929
6.3
The Shopworn Angel
as Dance Director
1928
0.0
Jazz Mad
as Sol Levy
1928
0.0
Moran of the Marines
as Swatty
1928
0.0
Beggars of Life
as Lame Hoppy
1928
7.1
Win That Girl
as Johnny Norton II
1928
0.0
Warming Up
as Hippo
1928
0.0
The Vanishing Pioneer
as Ray Hearn
1928
0.0
Something Always Happens
as George
1928
0.0
The Desert Bride
as Pvt. Terry
1928
4.7
The Trail of '98
as Man on Ship (uncredited)
1928
6.2
Beau Sabreur
as Buddy
1928
0.0
The Jazz Singer
as Agent (uncredited)
1927
6.1
Wings
as Lieutenant Cameron
1927
7.2
Ten Modern Commandments
as Benny Burnaway
1927
0.0
You'd Be Surprised
as Party Guest (uncredited)
1926
6.5
The Midnight Express
as Switch Hogan
1924
3.0
The Ten Commandments
as The Boy in the Rain (uncredited)
1923
6.5
🎬
Other Men's Daughters
as Hubert
1923
0.0
The Trouper
1922
0.0
Her Own Money
as Jerry Woodward
1922
0.0
The Life of the Party
as Sam Perkins
1920
5.2
The Family Honor
as Dal Tucker
1920
0.0
🎬
Poor Relations
as Henry
1919
0.0
🎬
A Western Governor's Humanity
as The Sheriff
1915
0.0
🎬
A Species of Mexican Man
1915
0.0
🎬
From Champion to Tramp
as The Girl's Father
1915
0.0
🎬
Mr. Carlson of Arizona
1915
0.0