Q the character actors! 

JOHN QUALEN 

John Qualen has over 200 acting credits and one of those faces that I'm sure a lot of people said, "Don't I know you from somewhere?"  Personally, I think his most recognizable character is from "The Grapes of Wrath" (1940) and I really like this photo with his face-of-wonder expression from that film.   

Qualen also had two very different ways of signing his autograph. At first, I thought the one I had in my collection (which I've matched with the photo), might not have been authentic, since it didn't match the cursive examples that I have seen. But then I found a vintage photo for sale on eBay (not mine) that was signed and inscribed with the exact rectangular shaped J and Q in his signature.  And then to clear up the mystery I saw another autographed card of his on eBay that was autographed by him in cursive, but he has dedicated it to John where he writes the J in the rectangular format of the signature that I have.  Mystery solved – he signed his autograph two specific ways. 

He may not have been consistent with his signature, but he was definitely a consistent screen presence with credits dating from 1933 until 1974. And he was married for over 60 years until his death in 1987 to a woman he had known since high school. A truly dedicated man. 

EDDIE QUILLAN 

With 226 screen credits to his name, Eddie Quillan beats John Qualen by four appearances.  The longevity of actors who started during the Golden Age of Hollywood is simply outstanding. Especially when you think about how quickly celebrities are churned nowadays. The lifespan of a flea in comparison to the days of the studios. 

Eddie started as a kid in vaudeville and was in a ton of movies, as both the leading man and then a character actor. He was also in "Grapes of Wrath" like John Qualen, above. But the credit of his that piques my interest most is his first leading role in "Show People" (1928) across from Lina Basquette. Lina was one of the silent film stars that I had tracked down as a teenager.  After a calling her, I ended up getting a lot of autographs in the mail. I will talk about her separately; her starring role in “The Godless Girl” by DeMille, her biography named after that film, her seven marriages and her second career as a breeder of Great Danes. 

Sorry about that digression … 

Look at this great photo that I have of Eddie. Nicely inscribed, good clear signature, and the pleasant face of an actor that was able to transition smoothly from leading man to character.  His acting credits start in 1926 and end in 1987. Put that through the perspective of today's lenses and ask yourself which actors you know that are still working today, who started out in 1963 or before.  I can think of Jane Fonda and Rita Moreno, but they are outliers.   

Qualen and Quillan = 448 screen credits.  Does being preserved on celluloid, and having been seen by millions of people over decades, beat having the most followers on social media?