10 Facts About John Qualen

John Qualen's father's ministering meant many moves and John was 20 when he graduated from Elgin High School in 1920.

For four years, John Qualen attended the University of Toronto, but he left there to join a Toronto-based traveling troupe as an actor.

John Qualen drove stakes for the tent used for presentations until a night in Ripon, Wisconsin, when the scheduled principal lecturer did not arrive.

John Qualen replaced the missing man after he showed the Chautauqua manager a medal he had won for oratory as a high school student.

John Qualen was a flautist, having begun to play at age eight.

John Qualen continued his musical education while at the University of Toronto and went on to play with some professional orchestras, including the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.

John Qualen was treasurer of The Authors Club and historian of The Masquers, Hollywood's social group for actors.

In 1924, after he became an actor, John Qualen married Pearle Larson, whom he had known in high school.

John Qualen joined him in the Toronto-based traveling troupe when he left university, becoming the troupe's costume mistress.

The couple remained together for over 60 years, until 1987, when John Qualen died at age 87 of heart failure in Torrance, California.