Karl Swenson
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- July 23, 1908
- Died
- October 8, 1978
- Birthplace
- Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Karl Swenson (July 23, 1908 – October 8, 1978) was an American theatre, radio, film, and television actor. Swenson is remembered for his role as the doomsayer in the diner in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963) and as the voice of Merlin in Disney's The Sword in the Stone (1963). On television, he had numerous credits in guest roles on various shows, especially Westerns, including episodes of Bonanza, The Virginian, and Gunsmoke. He had a major recurring role as Walnut Grove founder Lars Hanson on Little House on the Prairie (1974 - 1978). Swenson also had roles in The Prize (1963), Major Dundee (1965), The Sons of Katie Elder (1965), The Cincinnati Kid (1965), Seconds (1966), Hour of the Gun (1967), ...tick...tick...tick... (1970), The Wild Country (1970), Vanishing Point (1971) and Ulzana's Raid (1972). Born in Brooklyn, New York of Swedish parentage, he originally planned to be a doctor and studied at Marietta College before pursuing acting. Swenson appeared extensively on the radio from the 1930s through the 1950s. He entered the film industry in 1943 with two wartime documentary shorts, December 7 and The Sikorsky Helicopter. Swenson was married to actress Joan Tompkins. He died of a heart attack at Charlotte Hungerford Hospital in Torrington, Connecticut on October 8, 1978, shortly after filming the Little House on the Prairie episode in which his character dies. The episode aired on October 16, 1978, eight days after Swenson's death. He was interred at Center Cemetery in New Milford, Connecticut.
Filmography
Disney Sing-Along Songs: Colors of the Wind 1995
as (voice) (archive footage)
Disney's Sing-Along Songs: Under the Sea 1990
as Merlin (archive footage) (voice)
Disney's Halloween Treat 1982
as Merlin (voice) (archive footage)
Disney's Greatest Villains 1977
as Merlin (voice) (archive footage)
The Gun and the Pulpit 1974
as Adams
Ulzana's Raid 1972
as Rukeyser
The New Healers 1972
as Mr. Fisherman
A Howling in the Woods 1971
as Apperson
Vanishing Point 1971
as Clerk
The Wild Country 1970
as Jensen
… tick… tick… tick… 1970
as Frank Braddock Sr.
Hour of the Gun 1967
as Dr. Charles Goodfellow
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night 1967
as Dr. Keller
Brighty of the Grand Canyon 1966
as Theodore Roosevelt
Seconds 1966
as Dr. Morris
The Cincinnati Kid 1965
as Mr. Rudd
The Sons of Katie Elder 1965
as Doc Isdell
Major Dundee 1965
as Captain Waller
The Sword in the Stone 1963
as Merlin (voice)
The Prize 1963
as Hilding
The Man from Galveston 1963
as Sheriff
The Birds 1963
as Le prophète de malheur ivre au bar
How the West Was Won 1962
as Train Conductor (uncredited)
The Spiral Road 1962
as Insp. Bevers
Lonely are the Brave 1962
as Rev. Hoskins
Walk on the Wild Side 1962
as Schmidt
Judgment at Nuremberg 1961
as Heinrich Geuter
Flaming Star 1960
as Dred Pierce
North to Alaska 1960
as Lars Nordqvist
One Foot in Hell 1960
as Sheriff Ole Olson
The Gallant Hours 1960
as Bill Bailey
Ice Palace 1960
as Scotty Ballantyne
The Hanging Tree 1959
as Tom Flaunce
No Name on the Bullet 1959
as Stricker
Gateways to the Mind 1958
as Hal - the Cameraman (uncredited)
Kings Go Forth 1958
as The Colonel
Four Boys and a Gun 1957
as Mr. Badek
Alice in Wonderland 1955
as Humpty Dumpty
December 7th 1943
as Machine-Gunner (uncredited)
Strangers All 1935
as Protester at Communist Meeting
Credits from TMDB.