Roscoe Karns
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 ...
Onionhead (1958)
Follow-up to Andy Griffith's big hit in "No Time for Sergeants" moves the action to the Coast Guard and WW II. (more)
Follow-up to Andy Griffith's big hit in "No Time for Sergeants" moves the action to the Coast Guard and WW II. (more)
The Vanishing Pioneer (1928)
A western settlement of pioneer descendants is threatened with the loss of its water supply through the encroachments of nearby townspeople. (more)
A western settlement of pioneer descendants is threatened with the loss of its water supply through the encroachments of nearby townspeople. (more)
Ladies Must Live
(1940)
A small town farmer, who happens to be very wealthy, meets and falls for an actress, but his friends warn him she's only interested in his money. (more)
A small town farmer, who happens to be very wealthy, meets and falls for an actress, but his friends warn him she's only interested in his money. (more)
Stowaway (1932)
On her first night as a dockside dancer, Mary Foster loses her job when she tries to fend of the advances of first mate Groder. On the street and being pursued by a Policeman who thinks she is a prostitute, Mary seeks shelter on an old freighter. She is soon ... (more)
On her first night as a dockside dancer, Mary Foster loses her job when she tries to fend of the advances of first mate Groder. On the street and being pursued by a Policeman who thinks she is a prostitute, Mary seeks shelter on an old freighter. She is soon ... (more)
One Way Passage
(1932)
A terminally ill woman and a debonair murderer facing execution meet and fall in love on a trans-Pacific crossing, each without knowing the other's secret. (more)
A terminally ill woman and a debonair murderer facing execution meet and fall in love on a trans-Pacific crossing, each without knowing the other's secret. (more)
Today We Live
(1933)
Two lovers are living together and are not married; they had made a promise as children to get married when they grew up, but they "didn't wait." (more)
Two lovers are living together and are not married; they had made a promise as children to get married when they grew up, but they "didn't wait." (more)
A Lady's Profession (1933)
A couple of down-and-out British aristocrats buy an American roadhouse. (more)
A couple of down-and-out British aristocrats buy an American roadhouse. (more)
Murder Goes to College (1937)
The policy-racket reaches it lean, bony fingers into the ivy-towers of a large university and the underworld trying to “beat the numbers-racket” with applied mathematics. One of the professors, Tom Barry is murdered in the Dean’s office. (more)
The policy-racket reaches it lean, bony fingers into the ivy-towers of a large university and the underworld trying to “beat the numbers-racket” with applied mathematics. One of the professors, Tom Barry is murdered in the Dean’s office. (more)
On Such a Night (1937)
When her husband is accused of murder, an actress tries to prove his innocence. (more)
When her husband is accused of murder, an actress tries to prove his innocence. (more)
That's Right - You're Wrong
(1939)
J. D. Forbes, head of the almost-bankrupt Four Star Studios in Hollywood contacts band leader Kay Kyser, who puts on a radio and-live theatre program called "The Kollege of Musical Knowledge," to appear in films. When manager Chuck Deems gets the studio offer, he ... (more)
J. D. Forbes, head of the almost-bankrupt Four Star Studios in Hollywood contacts band leader Kay Kyser, who puts on a radio and-live theatre program called "The Kollege of Musical Knowledge," to appear in films. When manager Chuck Deems gets the studio offer, he ... (more)
Meet the Missus (1940)
Gran Higgins falls under the spell of a love-starved widow. (more)
Gran Higgins falls under the spell of a love-starved widow. (more)
Black Eyes and Blues (1941)
Roscoe's wife decides to divorce him and heads for Reno. (more)
Roscoe's wife decides to divorce him and heads for Reno. (more)
Half Shot at Sunrise (1941)
After his wife walks out on him, obnoxious Roscoe takes his son to the movies and creates havoc in the theater. (more)
After his wife walks out on him, obnoxious Roscoe takes his son to the movies and creates havoc in the theater. (more)
Yokel Boy (1942)
A film company hires a gangster to mock himself holding up a bank, but he succeeds too well and makes off with the money. But all ends well. (more)
A film company hires a gangster to mock himself holding up a bank, but he succeeds too well and makes off with the money. But all ends well. (more)
Old Acquaintance (1943)
Two writers, friends since childhood, fight over their books and lives. (more)
Two writers, friends since childhood, fight over their books and lives. (more)
I Ring Doorbells (1946)
Set at a major newspaper, this crime drama centers on a fellow who returns to newspaper reporting after he bombs as a playwright. Believing his grown son is in danger of marrying a gold digger, the paper's publisher assigns his new reporter to expose her. (more)
Set at a major newspaper, this crime drama centers on a fellow who returns to newspaper reporting after he bombs as a playwright. Believing his grown son is in danger of marrying a gold digger, the paper's publisher assigns his new reporter to expose her. (more)
Avalanche (1946)
Two T-men track a tax evader and his money to an Idaho ski resort, where a raven tends bar. (more)
Two T-men track a tax evader and his money to an Idaho ski resort, where a raven tends bar. (more)
Copy (1929)
On a slow news day, the wisecracking staff of a newspaper write articles about the serious safety issues of a local excursion steamboat line. (more)
On a slow news day, the wisecracking staff of a newspaper write articles about the serious safety issues of a local excursion steamboat line. (more)
Laughing Sinners (1931)
Ivy Stevens is a cafe entertainer in love with a shifty salesman who deserts her. In attempting to commit suicide, she is saved by Carl, a Salvation Army officer. Encouraged by Carl, Ivy joins the Salvation Army. When her old flame re-enters her life, Ivy finds she ... (more)
Ivy Stevens is a cafe entertainer in love with a shifty salesman who deserts her. In attempting to commit suicide, she is saved by Carl, a Salvation Army officer. Encouraged by Carl, Ivy joins the Salvation Army. When her old flame re-enters her life, Ivy finds she ... (more)
Ladies of the Big House (1931)
A woman tries to save her husband from the electric chair after both are sent to prison for a murder they didn't commit. (more)
A woman tries to save her husband from the electric chair after both are sent to prison for a murder they didn't commit. (more)