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
137 movies · 6 shows
Man's Favorite Sport?
1964·7.0
Onionhead
1958·5.5
Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven
1948·5.8
Speed to Spare
1948·6.7
Devil's Cargo
1948·5.9
The Inside Story
1948·6.6
That's My Man
1947·6.7
Vigilantes of Boomtown
1947·4.3
Avalanche
1946·9.0
I Ring Doorbells
1946·7.0
One Way to Love
1946·7.0
Hi, Good Lookin'!
1944·6.5
The Navy Way
1944·6.3
Minstrel Man
1944·5.5
Old Acquaintance
1943·7.1
His Butler's Sister
1943·7.2
Riding High
1943·5.6
Stage Door Canteen
1943·6.3
My Son, The Hero
1943·7.0
You Can't Escape Forever
1942·6.0
Yokel Boy
1942·5.8
Woman of the Year
1942·6.9
A Tragedy at Midnight
1942·5.2
Road to Happiness
1941·5.7
Half Shot at Sunrise
1941·10.0
The Gay Vagabond
1941·9.0
Black Eyes and Blues
1941·9.0
Footsteps in the Dark
1941·7.0
Petticoat Politics
1941·9.0
Meet the Missus
1940·7.0
Ladies Must Live
1940·7.0
They Drive by Night
1940·6.9
Saturday's Children
1940·6.9
Double Alibi
1940·5.3
His Girl Friday
1940·7.4
That's Right – You're Wrong
1939·6.3
Everything's on Ice
1939·5.3
Dancing Co-Ed
1939·6.6
King of Chinatown
1939·5.6
Thanks for the Memory
1938·5.8
You and Me
1938·6.6
Tip-Off Girls
1938·7.5
Dangerous to Know
1938·6.6
Scandal Street
1938·8.0
Partners in Crime
1937·8.0
On Such a Night
1937·7.0
Night of Mystery
1937·10.0
Murder Goes to College
1937·5.0
Clarence
1937·9.0
Cain and Mabel
1936·6.4
Three Married Men
1936·8.0
Border Flight
1936·6.5
Woman Trap
1936·8.0
Two-Fisted
1935·8.5
Front Page Woman
1935·5.9
Alibi Ike
1935·6.2
Four Hours to Kill!
1935·5.7
The Woman in Red
1935·6.0
Red Hot Tires
1935·6.0
Wings in the Dark
1935·6.4
I Sell Anything
1934·5.0
Elmer and Elsie
1934·10.0
Shoot the Works
1934·6.7
Twentieth Century
1934·6.8
Come On, Marines!
1934·5.6
It Happened One Night
1934·7.8
Alice in Wonderland
1933·6.1
The Women in His Life
1933·4.3
One Sunday Afternoon
1933·6.6
Gambling Ship
1933·5.8
A Lady's Profession
1933·7.0
Today We Live
1933·6.3
Grand Slam
1933·4.6
Lawyer Man
1932·6.1
Under-Cover Man
1932·6.3
If I Had a Million
1932·6.5
They Call It Sin
1932·6.0
Night After Night
1932·6.3
One Way Passage
1932·7.4
The Crooked Circle
1932·5.2
Two Against the World
1932·5.5
Week-End Marriage
1932·5.5
The Roadhouse Murder
1932·5.0
Play Girl
1932·5.0
Stowaway
1932·6.5
High Pressure
1932·5.8
Ladies of the Big House
1931·6.0
Left Over Ladies
1931·7.0
Pleasure
1931·4.2
Laughing Sinners
1931·5.3
Many a Slip
1931·10.0
Dirigible
1931·5.5
The Gorilla
1930·9.0
The Costello Case
1930·8.0
Man Trouble
1930·7.5
Little Accident
1930·9.0
Safety in Numbers
1930·5.5
Troopers Three
1930·7.0
New York Nights
1929·5.5
This Thing Called Love
1929·9.0
Copy
1929·6.5
The Flying Fleet
1929·6.9
The Shopworn Angel
1928·9.0
Object: Alimony
1928·7.0
Jazz Mad
1928·8.0
Moran of the Marines
1928·7.0
Beggars of Life
1928·7.1
Win That Girl
1928·10.0
Warming Up
1928·9.0
The Vanishing Pioneer
1928·9.0
Something Always Happens
1928·10.0
The Desert Bride
1928·5.5
The Trail of '98
1928·6.1
Beau Sabreur
1928·9.0
The Jazz Singer
1927·6.1
Wings
1927·7.2
Ten Modern Commandments
1927·10.0
Ritzy
1927·8.0
You'd Be Surprised
1926·7.0
Dollar Down
1925·7.0
The Overland Limited
1925·10.0
The Foolish Virgin
1924·10.0
The Midnight Express
1924·4.7
Bluff
1924·10.0
The Ten Commandments
1923·6.5
Other Men's Daughters
1923·8.0
Conquering the Woman
1922·8.0
The Trouper
1922·8.0
Her Own Money
1922·10.0
The Man Tamer
1921·10.0
The Life of the Party
1920·5.6
The Family Honor
1920·8.0
Poor Relations
1919·8.0
A Western Governor's Humanity
1915·7.0
A Species of Mexican Man
1915·8.0
From Champion to Tramp
1915·9.0
Mr. Carlson of Arizona
1915·0.0