- Born
- Died
- Birth nameRoscoe Lewis Karns
- Height5′ 10″ (1.78 m)
- On stage since age 15, Roscoe Karns parlayed his machine-gun delivery and street-wise demeanor (although many thought of him as a New Yorker, he was actually from San Bernardino, California) into character roles in dozens of films from the 1920s to the 1960s. His peak period, though, was in the 1930s, where he often played a wisecracking cab driver or a brash newspaper reporter (as in His Girl Friday (1940), usually the friend of the hero who helps him solve the murder/catch the bad guys/find the missing heiress, etc.
- IMDb mini biography by: frankfob2@yahoo.com
- SpouseMary Matilda Frass(June 5, 1920 - February 6, 1970) (his death, 2 children)
- ChildrenMary Jane Karns
- ParentsLewis Scott LarnsSusan Jane Messmore
- He appeared in two Best Picture Academy Award winners: Wings (1927) and It Happened One Night (1934).
- Father of Todd Karns.
- He has appeared in six films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Wings (1927), The Jazz Singer (1927), It Happened One Night (1934), Twentieth Century (1934), His Girl Friday (1940) and Woman of the Year (1942).
- His son Todd Karns died one day before the 30th anniversary of his death.
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