---
name: "Roscoe Karns"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/roscoe-karns"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "6 September 1891"
died: "6 February 1970"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 89
updated: "2026-09-16T11:45:12.016833+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Roscoe Karns

Actor. Born 6 September 1891 in San Bernardino, California, USA. Died 6 February 1970.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 6 September 1891, San Bernardino, California, USA
- **Died:** 6 February 1970
- **Active:** 1934–1940
- **Also known as:** Roscoe Karnes
- **Works often with:** Gene Havlick, Joseph Walker, Robert Kalloch

## Biography

Roscoe Karns was an American actor who appeared in nearly 150 films between 1915 and 1964. He began acting with a San Diego stock company while still in high school.

He is credited as Oscar Shapeley in *It Happened One Night* (1934) and as Owen O'Malley in *Twentieth Century* (1934). Other film roles include McCue in *His Girl Friday* (1940) and Lieutenant Cameron in *Wings* (1927). On television he played the title role in the DuMont series *Rocky King, Inside Detective* (1950–1954) and Admiral Walter Shafer in the CBS series *Hennesey* (1959–1962). His son Todd Karns was also a character actor.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, themoviedb.org.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *His Girl Friday* (1940), Fi1m 90, as McCue — [page](https://film.one/film/his-girl-friday.md)
- *It Happened One Night* (1934), Fi1m 88, as Oscar Shapeley — [page](https://film.one/film/it-happened-one-night.md)

## Also known for

- *Wings* (1927), Lieutenant Cameron
- *The Jazz Singer* (1927), Agent (uncredited)
- *Woman of the Year* (1942), Phil Whittaker
- *Man's Favorite Sport?* (1964), Major Phipps
- *They Drive by Night* (1940), Irish McGurn
- *Twentieth Century* (1934), Owen O'Malley
- *The Ten Commandments* (1923), The Boy in the Rain (uncredited)
- *Alice in Wonderland* (1933), Tweedledee

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/roscoe-karns