Roscoe Karns (September 7, 1891 â€" 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
Captain (then 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.
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
Captain (then 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.
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