After a short time performing on the stage, Quinn launched his film career performing character roles in the 1936 films "The Plainmans" (1936) as a Cheyenne Indian after Custer's defeat with Gary Cooper, Parole (in which he made his debut) and The Milky Way.
By 1947, he had appeared in more than fifty films and had played Indians, Mafia dons, Hawaiian chiefs, Filipino freedom-fighters, Chinese guerrillas, and Arab sheiks, but was still not a major star.