Roscoe Karns' illustrious career on stage began at the tender age of 15, and he subsequently leveraged his remarkable machine-gun delivery and authentic street-wise demeanor, which initially led many to mistakenly assume he hailed from the Big Apple, when in reality he hails from the picturesque city of San Bernardino, California.
Throughout the 1920s to the 1960s, Karns effortlessly transitioned into character roles in numerous films, amassing a staggering portfolio of work. His most prolific and illustrious period, however, was undoubtedly the 1930s, where he consistently portrayed a wisecracking cabdriver or a brash newspaper reporter, often serving as the trusted friend and confidant of the protagonist, providing crucial assistance in solving the mystery, apprehending the villain, or locating the missing heiress, and so on.