Cast & creator
Roscoe Karns
Best known for The Lucy Show, Richard Diamond, Private Detective, December Bride
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
Also known as: Roscoe Karnes
138
film credits
7
television credits
145
1915–1964 · acting roles
7.0
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (145)
Showing 145 of 145 credits
The Lucy Show
Mr. Foley
1962
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
Ed Church
1957
December Bride
1954December Bride
Charley Allen
1954
Hennesey
Capt. Walter Shafer
1959
It Happened One Night
Oscar Shapeley
1934Rocky King, Detective
Police Inspector Rocky King
1950
His Girl Friday
McCue
1940
Woman of the Year
Phil Whittaker
1942
They Drive by Night
Irish McGurn
1940Inside Detective
Police Inspector Rocky King
1950
The Jazz Singer
Agent (uncredited)
1927
Wings
Lieutenant Cameron
1927
Alice in Wonderland
Tweedledee
1933
Man's Favorite Sport?
Major Phipps
1964
If I Had a Million
Private O'Brien
1932
Dirigible
Sock McGuire
1931
A Tragedy at Midnight
Cassidy
1942
Stage Door Canteen
Roscoe Karns
1943
His Butler's Sister
Fields
1943
The Ten Commandments
The Boy in the Rain (uncredited)
1923
Warming Up
Hippo
1928
Onionhead
'Windy' Woods
1958
Twentieth Century
Owen O'Malley
1934
You and Me
Cuffy
1938
You'd Be Surprised
Party Guest (uncredited)
1926
Woman Trap
Mopsy
1936
Petticoat Politics
Joe Higgins
1941
Front Page Woman
Toots O'Grady
1935
Footsteps in the Dark
Monahan
1941
That's My Man
Toby Gleeton
1947Three Cheers for Love
Doc 'Short Circuit' Wilson
1936
One Way to Love
Hobie Simmons
1946
A Lady's Profession
Tony
1933
Dollar Down
Gene Meadows
1925
One Way Passage
S.S. Maloa Bartender (uncredited)
1932
Clarence
Clarence Smith
1937
Yokel Boy
Al Devers
1942
The Women in His Life
Aloysius Lester
1933
My Son, The Hero
Big-Time Morgan
1943
Thanks for the Memory
George Kent
1938
The Trail of '98
Man on Ship (uncredited)
1928
Wings in the Dark
Nick Williams
1935
You Can't Escape Forever
'Mac' McTurk
1942
The Woman in Red
Man in court room (uncredited)
1935
Object: Alimony
Al Bryant
1928
Murder Goes to College
Sim Perkins
1937
On Such a Night
Joe Flynn
1937
That's Right – You're Wrong
Mal Stamp
1939
Dancing Co-Ed
Joe Drews
1939
Old Acquaintance
Charlie Archer
1943
Everything's on Ice
Felix Miller
1939
The Life of the Party
Sam Perkins
1920
Dangerous to Know
Duncan
1938
Four Hours to Kill!
Johnson
1935
Ladies of the Big House
Frank - Twenty Questions player (uncredited)
1931
They Call It Sin
Brad - Rehearsal Director (uncredited)
1932
This Thing Called Love
Harry Bertrand
1929
Road to Happiness
Charley Grady
1941
Ladies Must Live
Pete Larrabee
1940
Moran of the Marines
Swatty
1928
Bluff
Jack Hallowell
1924
Night of Mystery
Sergeant Heath
1937
Cain and Mabel
Reilly
1936
Other Men's Daughters
Hubert
1923
Lawyer Man
Merritt - Reporter (uncredited)
1932
King of Chinatown
Rip Harrigan
1939
The Inside Story
Eustace Peabody
1948
Stowaway
Insp. Redding
1932
Today We Live
McGinnis
1933
The Flying Fleet
Shipwrecked Radio Operator (uncredited)
1929
The Family Honor
Dal Tucker
1920Mr. Carlson of Arizona
1915
High Pressure
Telephone Salesman (uncredited)
1932
Tip-Off Girls
Tom Benson aka Tommy Logan
1938
Two Against the World
Segall, reporter
1932
The Shopworn Angel
Dance Director
1928
Beggars of Life
Lame Hoppy
1928Black Eyes and Blues
Alfred Harmon
1941
Night After Night
Leo
1932
Shoot the Works
Sailor Burke
1934
Little Accident
Gilbert
1930
The Navy Way
Frankie Gimble
1944
Riding High
Shorty
1943
Half Shot at Sunrise
Henry Warren
1941
New York Nights
Johnny Dolan
1929
Double Alibi
Jeremiah Jenkins
1940
Conquering the Woman
Shorty Thompson
1922
Copy
City Editor John Mack
1929
Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven
Officer Carmody
1948
Gambling Ship
Blooey
1933
Devil's Cargo
Lt. Hardy
1948
Minstrel Man
Lasses White
1944
Her Own Money
Jerry Woodward
1922
Two-Fisted
Chick Moran
1935
Saturday's Children
Willie Sands
1940
Alibi Ike
Carey
1935
Vigilantes of Boomtown
Bill Delaney
1947
The Midnight Express
Switch Hogan
1924
Grand Slam
Contest Radio Announcer
1933
Something Always Happens
George
1928
Scandal Street
Austin Brown
1938
The Vanishing Pioneer
Ray Hearn
1928
Week-End Marriage
Jim Davis
1932
Border Flight
Calico Smith
1936A Western Governor's Humanity
The Sheriff
1915
I Sell Anything
Monk
1934From Champion to Tramp
The Girl's Father
1915
One Sunday Afternoon
Snappy Downer
1933
Partners in Crime
Sim Perkins
1937
The Gorilla
Simmons
1930Elmer and Elsie
Rocky Cott
1934
Many a Slip
Stan Price
1931A Species of Mexican Man
1915
I Ring Doorbells
Stubby
1946
Three Married Men
Peter Cary
1936
Speed to Spare
Kangaroo
1948
Under-Cover Man
Dannie
1932
The Roadhouse Murder
Dale
1932
Meet the Missus
Joe Higgins
1940
Left Over Ladies
'Scoop'
1931
Safety in Numbers
Bertram Shapiro
1930
The Crooked Circle
Harry Carter
1932
Beau Sabreur
Buddy
1928
Troopers Three
Bugs
1930
The Gay Vagabond
Arthur Dixon / Jerry Dixon
1941
Red Hot Tires
Bud Keene
1935
Hi, Good Lookin'!
Archie
1944
Laughing Sinners
Fred Geer
1931
Come On, Marines!
Spud McGurke
1934
The Desert Bride
Pvt. Terry
1928
Avalanche
Red Kelly
1946
Play Girl
Gambler (uncredited)
1932
Win That Girl
Johnny Norton II
1928
Jazz Mad
Sol Levy
1928
The Foolish Virgin
Chuck Brady
1924
Ten Modern Commandments
Benny Burnaway
1927
The Costello Case
Blair
1930
Poor Relations
Henry
1919
The Overland Limited
Patrick Henry Madden
1925
The Man Tamer
Bradley P. Caldwell Jr
1921
Ritzy
Smith's Valet
1927
The Trouper
1922
Man Trouble
Scott
1930
Pleasure
Arnie
1931