
Acting
John Karlen
Born — Died
1933-05-28 — 2020-01-22
Place of birth
Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Known for
Acting
Credits
90 titles
John Karlen (born John Adam Karlewicz) was an American character actor who played multiple roles (Willie Loomis, Carl Collins, William H. Loomis, Desmond Collins, Alex Jenkins, and Kendrick Young) on the ABC serial Dark Shadows, in various episodes which aired from 1966 to 1971. Karlen also played Harvey Lacey, husband of Mary Beth Lacey (played by Tyne Daly), on the CBS crime series Cagney & Lacey (1982–88).
Known for
7.3Dark Shadows is an American gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966, to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements. It was unprecedented in daytime television when ghosts were introduced about six months after it began. The series became hugely popular when vampire Barnabas Collins appeared a year into its run. Dark Shadows also featured werewolves, zombies, man-made monsters, witches, warlocks, time travel, and a parallel universe. A small company of actors each played many roles; indeed, as actors came and went, some characters were played by more than one actor. Major writers besides Art Wallace included Malcolm Marmorstein, Sam Hall, Gordon Russell, and Violet Welles.
Dark Shadows
1966
7.5An unassuming mystery writer turned sleuth uses her professional insight to help solve real-life homicide cases.
Murder, She Wrote
1984
6.9Mannix is an American television detective series that ran from 1967 through 1975 on CBS. Created by Richard Levinson and William Link and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller, the title character, Joe Mannix, is a private investigator. He is played by Mike Connors. Mannix was the last series produced by Desilu Productions.
Mannix
1967
7.6Cranky but likable L.A. PI Jim Rockford pulls no punches (but takes plenty of them). An ex-con sent to the slammer for a crime he didn't commit, Rockford takes on cases others don't want, aided by his tough old man, his lawyer girlfriend and some shady associates from his past.
The Rockford Files
1974
7.6A realistic glimpse into the daily lives of the officers and detectives at an urban police station.
Hill Street Blues
1981
7.2Hawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman. Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for 12 seasons from 1968 to 1980, and continues in reruns. Jack Lord portrayed Detective Lieutenant Steve McGarrett, the head of a special state police task force which was based on an actual unit that existed under martial law in the 1940s. The theme music composed by Morton Stevens became especially popular. Many episodes would end with McGarrett instructing his subordinate to "Book 'em, Danno!", sometimes specifying a charge such as "murder one".
Hawaii Five-O
1969
Film credits
1990s · 12 titles
5.0Two Asian-American "surfer-dude" brothers discover they are the long lost princes from a China Sea Island. Part of their inheritance includes magically-induced martial arts prowess and seeing the future. Using their new powers, they act to overthrow the island's current dictator, a despotic madman with a metal face!
Surf Ninjas
1993
5.4In this made-for-cable television horror thriller, a travel writer visits a historic hotel to write a story about it and inadvertently finds herself on the 13th floor where she witnesses a Satanic rite and tangles with an axe-wielding killer. She escapes, but no one believes her story because the hotel has no 13th floor.
Nightmare on the 13th Floor
1990
7.5Cagney and Lacey work a case involving police corruption and document forgery. Chris seeks a prestigious promotion, while Mary Beth has to deal with the return of her sickly, aged father.
Cagney & Lacey: The View Through the Glass Ceiling
1995
7.3David Katz is a world famous magician and he comes to Denver with his group to perform for a charity gala for disabled children. Also there is Perry and Della as all three are supporters of the charity. Kate Ford, an assistant with an arrogant attitude, tells David that she is, from now on, going to do an illusion in which an assistant is raised in a glass coffin only to disappear when the coffin is opened up in the air (while the assistant climbs out before the coffin is raised.) After a one night stand with David, Kate is pregnant and she blackmails David with this. David and his wife Judy can't have children so that comes as a double blow to them. However Kate, with her attitude, creates much hatred at her from the rest of the group. At the gala, the glass coffin is raised but when it opens Kate's dead body falls to the ground - strangled.
Perry Mason: The Case of the Glass Coffin
1991
7.8New York's toughest lady detectives re-team to solve the murder of a homeless transient who had been terrorizing the residents of a posh apartment building with screaming threats, insults and physical intimidation. Though the cops think the culprit is another street person, Cagney and Lacey believe the real killer is one of the tenants, many of whom have ample reason to have murdered the boorish bum.
Cagney & Lacey: Together Again
1995
4.4Story of attractive cop Laurencia Bembenek, who, in 1982, was sentenced to prison for killing her husband's ex-wife in Milwaukee, WI.
Calendar Girl, Cop, Killer? The Bambi Bembenek Story
1992
5.5What begins as a Navajo officer's investigation into a prop plane crash on his Southwest reservation gives way to a drug smuggling ring and murder.
The Dark Wind
1992
8.5Detectives Cagney and Lacey come face-to-face with their true feelings about capital punishment when they're assigned to the city's first capital murder case in 10 years.
Cagney & Lacey: True Convictions
1996
6.81994. Cagney, now a Lieutenant, re-teams with Lacey, who has left the force, to search for a cache of missing firearms.
Cagney & Lacey: The Return
1994
5.0MacShayne is a gambler and small time con-man. After serving a short stretch in jail, he goes to Las Vegas to see his son, but when he gets there, his ex-wife is no longer where she use to live and work and left no forwarding address. Leggett, a recently retired cop, approaches him and tells him that he will help him find his son, if he does something for him. It seems that he is planning to rob a hotel casino and he needs three guys to pull it off. Now two of the guys he recruited has agreed to it but the third is uncertain, so he sets up a poker game wherein MacShayne is suppose to clean him out thus giving Leggett some leverage on him. After doing that he discovers that Leggett is duplicitous and is going stab everybody in the back. So he decides to turn the tables on him.
MacShayne: Winner Takes All
1994
6.5Massive rescue efforts are mobilized to save occupants of New York City's World Trade Center after a terrorist bombing. Based on the events surrounding the bombing of the World Trade Center towers in February 1993.
Without Warning: Terror in the Towers
1993
5.3Behind the headlines... Behind the laughter... there's an unforgettable story you've never heard before.
Roseanne: An Unauthorized Biography
1994
1980s · 17 titles
6.3In a small coastal California town, Henry and Nicky are pals from blue collar families with only a short time before they ship off to World War II. Henry begins romancing new-to-town Caddie Winger, believing her to be wealthy. Mischievous and irresponsible, Nicky gets into trouble which forces the other two to become involved, testing their relationship, as well as the friendship between the boys.
Racing with the Moon
1984
6.1During the Great Depression, a sheet music salesman seeks to escape his dreary life through popular music and a love affair with an innocent schoolteacher.
Pennies from Heaven
1981
5.3After a small earthquake in a tiny, quiet town, local citizens start to exhibit bizarre, violent and self-destructive behaviour.
Impulse
1984
5.2In 1940s Chicago, a young black man takes a job as a chauffeur to a white family, which takes a turn for the worse when he accidentally kills the teenage daughter of the couple and then tries to cover it up.
Native Son
1986
7.2Two high schoolers are unprepared for the reality of parenthood when the girl becomes pregnant.
Daddy
1987
6.0Julia Duffy is the cover girl and Dinah Manoff the cop in this made-for-TV contrivance.
The Cover Girl and the Cop
1989
7.1Grace is an overweight mortuary cosmetician who falls in love with Rob, a handsome subway train conductor who doesn't even know she exists. When she finally devises a way to meet him, they discover that although they are physically different, they have a lot more in common than they think.
Babycakes
1989
6.2About an estranged husband who, in an explosive rage, decides to have his wife murdered by a hired killer.
Downpayment on Murder
1987
6.1A plane is hijacked and bound for London. Once the terrorists begin killing hostages, the passengers take matters into their own hands.
Hostage Flight
1985
7.0In this sequel to his 1978 "When Every Day Was the Fourth of July" (and a pilot to a prospective series), producer/director Dan Curtis recalls more of his youth during the late '30, and follows a fictionalized family where the father has jeopardized a promising law career to defend a Jewish immigrant against the prejudices of a staid New England town.
The Long Days of Summer
1980
7.0A veteran vice cop has a hard time dealing with her partner's suicide.
Police Story: Burnout
1988
9.0A family moves from an affluent Chicago suburb to the mixed inner-city neighborhood where the father grew up, with the idea of giving the kids, who are becoming materialistic snobs, the feel of a big city environment.
American Dream
1981
6.6After two attempts to kidnap a little girl Mike Hammer is hired to protect her.
The Return of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer
1986
5.1Can a squad of misfit cheerleaders with an over-age trainer possibly win the big cheerleading competition.
Gimme an 'F'
1984
NRThe story of singer Rosemary Clooney's rise to fame, her marriage to Jose Ferrer, and her nervous breakdown.
Rosie: The Rosemary Clooney Story
1982
NRTeenage girl is raped after accepting a date from the most popular boy in school.
Date Rape
1988
4.8When a Chicago teen is arrested for drug possession, the ensuing investigation reveals that he has had sexual contact with an older man. Discovering his sexual encounter, other students start shunning him and call for his expulsion from school. His conservative blue-collar dad also rejects him, while his mother does try to offer support.
Welcome Home, Bobby
1986
1970s · 20 titles
3.9A light-hearted view of the Dalton Gang's legendary raid on Coffeyville, Kansas and the years leading up to it as the brothers form themselves into a gang of horse thieves and train and bank robbers with their arch enemy, Detective Will Smith, constantly on their heels.
The Last Ride of the Dalton Gang
1979
4.7A crooked sheriff in a small Southern town frames an ex-convict in a drug bust and takes his girlfriend.
A Small Town in Texas
1976
6.2Ostend, Belgium. In a decadent seaside hotel, Stefan and Valerie, a newlywed couple, meet the mysterious Countess Báthory and Ilona, her secretary.
Daughters of Darkness
1971
6.3A horror anthology containing three stories: a female college professor is aggressively pursued by one of her students; a prudish brunette determines that her free-spirited blonde sister is evil; and a woman's night turns upside down after she purchases an ancient Zuni fetish doll.
Trilogy of Terror
1975
6.6Barnabas Collins searches for a cure for vampirism in order to marry a woman resembling his long-lost fiancée Josette.
House of Dark Shadows
1970
6.5Recently married, Quentin and Tracy Collins have just moved into Collinwood, a New England estate that has long been in the Collins family and which Quentin has just inherited. They soon find themselves plagued by spirits of past residents.
Night of Dark Shadows
1971
4.9Television thriller about a woman is possessed after a brutal attack.
The Invasion of Carol Enders
1974
6.5Police looking for drug dealers mistakenly raid the house of a typical suburban family. However, rather than admit their mistake and jeopardize their careers, several of the police officers decide to plant heroin in the family's house, and change the records of the raid to make it look like the family was the target of their investigation all along. Based on a true story.
Nightmare at 43 Hillcrest
1974
6.2Agent Melvin Purvis is placed in charge of running down notorious killer Machine Gun Kelly, and sets out to do just that.
Melvin Purvis G-Man
1975
4.3A detective tracks a serial killer through San Francisco.
Killer's Delight
1978
9.0A gambling addict, mobsters, movie producers and others are plagued with murder while aboard a high-speed rail train. This pilot episode for the short-lived "Supertrain" series (which lasted just 9 episodes) was released to home video as a independent feature.
Express to Terror
1979
10.0Six businessmen who have a weekly after-hours basketball game get caught up in a bet about a hide-and-seek contest.
Shirts/Skins
1973
6.2A handsome young man trades his soul so that his portrait ages while he stays eternally young.
The Picture of Dorian Gray
1973
10.0The story of Delancey Street Foundation, a self-help group devoted to reclaiming ex-junkies, ex-convicts, and others.
Delancey Street: The Crisis Within
1975
5.8Gangsters free one of their colleagues being escorted to prison and kill several FBI agents and local police officers in the attempt. FBI agent Melvin Purvis puts together a special squad to track down and capture the men responsible.
The Kansas City Massacre
1975
7.0Pete, Linc and Julie are called back to the force when a series of sniper attacks are made on their old boss. But the three soon discover that they themselves are the intended targets of a gunman who lives in their old "flower child" world of the 1960s.
The Return of Mod Squad
1979
7.3A scientist obsessed with creating life steals body parts to put together his "creation." Released as a feature on video, this was originally shown in two installments on TV as part of the Wide World of Entertainment series.
Frankenstein
1973
6.1A hired killer hunts down a schoolteacher to get something she has. She doesn't know what it is, but he's already killed twice to get it.
Night of Terror
1972
7.0Clifford Swimmer, an angry and abusive man cruel to his wife and son, wants out if his marriage. With the help of a scientist he clones a replacement who takes over as head of the family while the real Clifford travels the world. The clone turns out to be a gentle and sensitive husband and father, a complete opposite of the original, and the wife and son come to love him. When the real Clifford comes back and finds his family happy with the clone he becomes angry and jealous and things take a deadly turn.
The Cloning of Clifford Swimmer
1974
Mark and Pete Gunnison, members of the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Colorado State Police, seek to crack a multi-million dollar real estate swindle.
Colorado C.I.
1978
Series credits
7.3Dark Shadows is an American gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966, to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements. It was unprecedented in daytime television when ghosts were introduced about six months after it began. The series became hugely popular when vampire Barnabas Collins appeared a year into its run. Dark Shadows also featured werewolves, zombies, man-made monsters, witches, warlocks, time travel, and a parallel universe. A small company of actors each played many roles; indeed, as actors came and went, some characters were played by more than one actor. Major writers besides Art Wallace included Malcolm Marmorstein, Sam Hall, Gordon Russell, and Violet Welles.
Dark Shadows
1966
7.5An unassuming mystery writer turned sleuth uses her professional insight to help solve real-life homicide cases.
Murder, She Wrote
1984
7.5An unassuming mystery writer turned sleuth uses her professional insight to help solve real-life homicide cases.
Murder, She Wrote
1984
7.5An unassuming mystery writer turned sleuth uses her professional insight to help solve real-life homicide cases.
Murder, She Wrote
1984
6.9Mannix is an American television detective series that ran from 1967 through 1975 on CBS. Created by Richard Levinson and William Link and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller, the title character, Joe Mannix, is a private investigator. He is played by Mike Connors. Mannix was the last series produced by Desilu Productions.
Mannix
1967
7.6Cranky but likable L.A. PI Jim Rockford pulls no punches (but takes plenty of them). An ex-con sent to the slammer for a crime he didn't commit, Rockford takes on cases others don't want, aided by his tough old man, his lawyer girlfriend and some shady associates from his past.
The Rockford Files
1974
7.6A realistic glimpse into the daily lives of the officers and detectives at an urban police station.
Hill Street Blues
1981
7.2Hawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman. Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for 12 seasons from 1968 to 1980, and continues in reruns. Jack Lord portrayed Detective Lieutenant Steve McGarrett, the head of a special state police task force which was based on an actual unit that existed under martial law in the 1940s. The theme music composed by Morton Stevens became especially popular. Many episodes would end with McGarrett instructing his subordinate to "Book 'em, Danno!", sometimes specifying a charge such as "murder one".
Hawaii Five-O
1969
6.8Young, urban newlyweds Paul and Jamie Buchman try to sustain their marital bliss while sidestepping the hurdles of love in the '90s.
Mad About You
1992
6.7Beautiful, intelligent, and ultra-sophisticated, Charlie's Angels are everything a man could dream of... and way more than they could ever handle! Receiving their orders via speaker phone from their never seen boss, Charlie, the Angels employ their incomparable sleuthing and combat skills, as well as their lethal feminine charm, to crack even the most seemingly insurmountable of cases.
Charlie's Angels
1976
7.1The Waltons live their life in a rural Virginia community during the Great Depression and World War II.
The Waltons
1972
7.5Los Angeles County medical examiner Quincy routinely engages in police investigations.
Quincy, M.E.
1976
7.5Los Angeles County medical examiner Quincy routinely engages in police investigations.
Quincy, M.E.
1976
6.6American Playhouse is an anthology television series periodically broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service in the United States.
American Playhouse
1982
6.6American Playhouse is an anthology television series periodically broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service in the United States.
American Playhouse
1982
7.4The trials of a former television station manager turned newspaper city editor, and his journalist staff.
Lou Grant
1977
7.4Streetwise Detective David Starsky partners up with a more intellectual partner, Kenneth 'Hutch' Hutchinson, to protect citizens and patrol the streets of Bay City.
Starsky & Hutch
1975
5.7Naked City is a police drama series which aired from 1958 to 1963 on the ABC television network. It was inspired by the 1948 motion picture of the same name, and mimics its dramatic “semi-documentary” format. In 1997, the episode “Sweet Prince of Delancey Street” was ranked #93 on TV Guide’s “100 Greatest Episodes of All Time”.
Naked City
1958
7.0Mary Beth Lacey and Chris Cagney are teamed up as NYPD police detectives. Their opposing personalities (one is tough and the other sensitive) mesh to make this one of the great crime-fighting duos of all time.
Cagney & Lacey
1982
7.8Archie Bunker, a working class bigot, constantly squabbles with his family over the important issues of the day.
All in the Family
1971
6.4Medical Center is a medical drama series which aired on CBS from 1969 to 1976. It was produced by MGM Television.
Medical Center
1969
7.3A bald, lollipop sucking police detective with a fiery righteous attitude battles crime in New York City.
Kojak
1973
7.3A bald, lollipop sucking police detective with a fiery righteous attitude battles crime in New York City.
Kojak
1973
7.0Barnaby Jones is a television detective series starring Buddy Ebsen and Lee Meriwether as father- and daughter-in-law who run a private detective firm in Los Angeles. The show ran on CBS from January 28, 1973 to April 3, 1980, beginning as a midseason replacement. William Conrad guest starred as Frank Cannon of Cannon on the first episode of Barnaby Jones, "Requiem for a Son" and the two series had a two-part crossover episode in 1975, "The Deadly Conspiracy".
Barnaby Jones
1973
6.5Dramatically presented situations, often controversial, of interest to children and teenagers. Several episodes were either in animated form or presented as documentaries. Topics included illiteracy, substance abuse and teenage pregnancy.
ABC Afterschool Special
1972
6.6Trapper John, M.D. is an American television medical drama and spin-off of the film MASH, concerning a lovable doctor who became a mentor and father figure in San Francisco, California. The show ran on CBS from September 23, 1979, to September 4, 1986.
Trapper John, M.D.
1979
6.8An American television series originally produced between 1982 and 1987. The show is based on the 1980 motion picture of the same name. With a mixture of drama and music, it followed the lives of the students and faculty at the New York City High School for the Performing Arts. Although fictional, it was based heavily on the actual Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York. Most interior scenes were filmed in Hollywood, California, and in all seasons but the third, several exterior scenes were shot on location in New York City. The popularity of the series, particularly in the UK, led to several hit records and live concert tours by the cast. Despite its success, very few of the actors maintained high-profile careers after the series was cancelled. A number of the cast members were seen again briefly in Bring Back...Fame, a reunion special made for British television in 2008.
Fame
1982
7.1Two police officers, the older Lt. Stone and the young upstart Inspector Keller, investigate murders and other serious crimes in San Francisco. Stone would become a second father to Keller as he learned the rigors and procedures of detective work.
The Streets of San Francisco
1972
7.0Detective Cheng is commissioned by Interpol to destroy the Empire of Chaiba, a worldwide criminal organization based in Southeast Asia. He initiates an undercover operation to infiltrate the organization.
Police Story
1973
6.9Private detective Dan Tanna drives around the streets of Las Vegas in a red 1957 Ford Thunderbird solving crimes and making Las Vegas a better place for residents and tourists alike.
Vega$
1978
6.9Private detective Dan Tanna drives around the streets of Las Vegas in a red 1957 Ford Thunderbird solving crimes and making Las Vegas a better place for residents and tourists alike.
Vega$
1978
6.7The Detectives is an American crime drama series which ran on ABC during its first two seasons, and on NBC during its third and final season. The series, starring motion picture star Robert Taylor, was produced by Four Star Television. Captain Matt Holbrook (Robert Taylor) is head of the detective division of a large metropolitan police force—a man whose devotion to duty, professional brilliance, and quick judgment are reflected in his 20-year career on the force. His aides, Lt. Johnny Russo (Tige Andrews), Lt. Otto Lindstrom (Russ Thorson), and Sgt. Chris Ballard (Mark Goddard) form a team that is both proficient and warmly human. The stories stress the interrelationships between the men as well as the solutions to crimes and the apprehension of criminals, adding a dimension of human drama to the excitement, action, and suspense inherent in each story of the detectives' difficult, sometimes thankless, and frequently dangerous assignments.
The Detectives
1959
7.1The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries is a television series which aired for three seasons on ABC. The series starred Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy as amateur sleuth brothers Frank and Joe Hardy, respectively, and Pamela Sue Martin as girl detective Nancy Drew. The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries was unusual in that it often dealt with the characters individually, in an almost anthological style. That is, some episodes featured only the Hardy Boys and others only Nancy Drew.
The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries
1977
6.1The Mod Squad was the enormously successful groundbreaking "hippie" undercover cop show that ran on ABC from September 24, 1968, until August 23, 1973. It starred Michael Cole as Pete Cochren, Peggy Lipton as Julie Barnes, Clarence Williams III as Linc Hayes, and Tige Andrews as Captain Adam Greer. The executive producers of the series were Aaron Spelling and Danny Thomas. The iconic counter-culture police series earned six Emmy nominations, four Golden Globe nominations plus one win for Peggy Lipton, one Directors Guild of America award, and four Logies. In 1997 the episode "Mother of Sorrow" was ranked #95 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time.
The Mod Squad
1968
6.9A housewife sits on the stoop of her apartment building in a black neighborhood of Washington, D.C., and discusses all manner of things with her neighbors.
227
1985
6.8Stoney Burke is an American western television series broadcast on ABC from October 1, 1962 until May 20, 1963. Six years before the premiere of his CBS crime drama, Hawaii Five-0, Jack Lord starred in the title role.
Stoney Burke
1962
6.8The Magician is an American television series that ran during the 1973–1974 season. It starred Bill Bixby as stage illusionist Anthony "Tony" Blake, a playboy philanthropist who used his skills to solve difficult crimes as needed. In the series pilot, the character was instead named Anthony Dorian. The name change was due to a conflict with the name of a real life stage magician.
The Magician
1973
6.8The Finder of Lost Loves TV show was a 60 minute drama series on ABC about a private investigator who specialized in finding lost loves from the past for his heartbroken clients.
Finder of Lost Loves
1984
7.0Beat cop Joe Forrester walks the mean streets of Los Angeles.
Joe Forrester
1975
6.3Dr. Michael Rhodes, a professor of parapsychology who, along with his assistant Nancy Murphy, attempts to solve supernatural mysteries.
The Sixth Sense
1972

