Karl Swenson
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- July 23, 1908
- Died
- October 8, 1978 (aged 70)
- Birthplace
- Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Biography
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.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
Disney Sing-Along Songs: Colors of the Wind
Movie · as (voice) (archive footage)
Disney's Sing-Along Songs: Under the Sea
Movie · as Merlin (archive footage) (voice)
Disney's Halloween Treat
Movie · as Merlin (voice) (archive footage)
The Amazing Spider-Man
TV · 1 ep
Disney's Greatest Villains
Movie · as Merlin (voice) (archive footage)
The Gun and the Pulpit
Movie · as Adams
Little House on the Prairie
TV · as Lars Hanson · 40 eps
Happy Days
TV · 1 ep
Doc Elliot
TV · 1 ep
Ulzana's Raid
Movie · as Rukeyser
The New Healers
Movie · as Mr. Fisherman
Ghost Story
TV · as Ed Barnes · 1 ep
Emergency!
TV · as Gus · 1 ep
Vanishing Point
Movie · as Clerk
A Howling in the Woods
Movie · as Apperson
Cannon
TV · 1 ep
… tick… tick… tick…
Movie · as Frank Braddock Sr.
The Wild Country
Movie · as Jensen
The Odd Couple
TV · as Captain Potter · 1 ep
The Immortal
TV · 1 ep
The Young Rebels
TV · 1 ep
Hawaii Five-O
TV · as Abel Morgan · 2 eps
The Mod Squad
TV · 2 eps
The Outcasts
TV · 1 ep
Hour of the Gun
Movie · as Dr. Charles Goodfellow
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
Movie · as Dr. Keller
Ironside
TV · as Vet · 1 ep
Cimarron Strip
TV · as Dr. Kihlgren · 5 eps
Judd, for the Defense
TV · 2 eps
The Guns of Will Sonnett
TV · 1 ep
Seconds
Movie · as Dr. Morris
Brighty of the Grand Canyon
Movie · as Theodore Roosevelt
Tarzan
TV · 1 ep
The Rat Patrol
TV · as Colonel Seidner · 1 ep
Mission: Impossible
TV · as Colonel Dubov, Dr. Ziegler · 1 ep
CBS Playhouse
TV · as Dr. Keller · 1 ep
The Cincinnati Kid
Movie · as Mr. Rudd
Major Dundee
Movie · as Captain Waller
The Sons of Katie Elder
Movie · as Doc Isdell
The Big Valley
TV · as Bert Hadley, Aaron Moyers, Steve Minter · 1 ep
Hogan's Heroes
TV · as Dr. Karl Svenson · 1 ep
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
TV · as Col. Harper · 1 ep
Profiles in Courage
TV · as Chynoweth · 1 ep
The Birds
Movie · as Le prophète de malheur ivre au bar
The Prize
Movie · as Hilding
The Sword in the Stone
Movie · as Merlin (voice)
The Man from Galveston
Movie · as Sheriff
The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters
TV · as Coley Bishop · 1 ep
The Fugitive
TV · as Axel Nielsen - Service station owner, Morgan · 1 ep
The Dakotas
TV · 1 ep
Mr. Novak
TV · as Mr. Haskell · 1 ep
The Bill Dana Show
TV · 1 ep
The Lieutenant
TV · 1 ep
The Greatest Show on Earth
TV · as Louis · 1 ep
Lonely are the Brave
Movie · as Rev. Hoskins
Walk on the Wild Side
Movie · as Schmidt
How the West Was Won
Movie · as Train Conductor (uncredited)
The Spiral Road
Movie · as Insp. Bevers
Sam Benedict
TV · as Barney Rosvalley, Barney Rossvalley · 1 ep
The Virginian
TV · as Col. Theodore Roosevelt, Karl Swenson, Ben Wallace · 1 ep
General Electric True
TV · 1 ep
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
TV · as George Sherston · 1 ep
Judgment at Nuremberg
Movie · as Heinrich Geuter
Ben Casey
TV · 1 ep
Dr. Kildare
TV · as Judge · 3 eps
North to Alaska
Movie · as Lars Nordqvist
Ice Palace
Movie · as Scotty Ballantyne
Flaming Star
Movie · as Dred Pierce
The Gallant Hours
Movie · as Bill Bailey
One Foot in Hell
Movie · as Sheriff Ole Olson
The Andy Griffith Show
TV · as Mr. McBeevee · 1 ep
Surfside 6
TV · 1 ep
Klondike
TV · as Judge Frank Weinstock · 1 ep
Outlaws
TV · 1 ep
The Westerner
TV · as Ben Potts · 1 ep
Hong Kong
TV · as John Olwine · 1 ep
The Hanging Tree
Movie · as Tom Flaunce
No Name on the Bullet
Movie · as Stricker
Mr. Lucky
TV · 1 ep
Hawaiian Eye
TV · 1 ep
Rawhide
TV
Black Saddle
TV · as Dr. Wyle · 1 ep
Lock-Up
TV · 1 ep
The Rebel
TV · as Lew Bussey · 1 ep
Riverboat
TV · as Ansel Torgin · 1 ep
Johnny Ringo
TV · as Kramer · 1 ep
Bonanza
TV · as Carl Harris · 1 ep
Tightrope
TV · as Brahn · 1 ep
Kings Go Forth
Movie · as The Colonel
Gateways to the Mind
Movie · as Hal - the Cameraman (uncredited)
77 Sunset Strip
TV · as Marty Kline · 3 eps
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
TV · as Van Kemp · 1 ep
Bronco
TV · 2 eps
The Rifleman
TV · as Chris Manse · 2 eps
Bat Masterson
TV · as Jim Pate · 1 ep
The Texan
TV · 2 eps
Four Boys and a Gun
Movie · as Mr. Badek
Trackdown
TV · 1 ep
Perry Mason
TV · as Axel Norstaad, Corley Ketchum, Charles Norman, Unk Hazekian · 1 ep
Leave It to Beaver
TV · as George Haskell · 2 eps
Have Gun, Will Travel
TV · 6 eps
Sugarfoot
TV · as Andy Burke, Bill Manning, Alexi Sharlokov, Dennis O'Hara · 1 ep
The Court of Last Resort
TV · 1 ep
The Walter Winchell File
TV · 1 ep
Maverick
TV · as Captain Nares, Sheriff Griffin, General Josiah Warren · 1 ep
The Adventures of Jim Bowie
TV · as Andre Rochambeau · 1 ep
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
TV · as Lee Willis, Lud Greening, Will Harmon · 1 ep
Alice in Wonderland
Movie · as Humpty Dumpty
Gunsmoke
TV · as Hank Luz, Raff, Hutch, Adam, Tabe, Ian McGovern, Lars Karlgren, McGruder, Mr. Hubert · 1 ep
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
TV · as Ed Holland, John · 1 ep
Playwrights '56
TV · 1 ep
Lassie
TV · 5 eps
Portia Faces Life
TV · 324 eps
The Wonderful World of Disney
TV · as Laredo Marshal (uncredited) · 1 ep
Hallmark Hall of Fame
TV · as Humpty Dumpty · 1 ep
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
TV · as Asmussen · 1 ep
Robert Montgomery Presents
TV · 1 ep
December 7th
Movie · as Machine-Gunner (uncredited)
Strangers All
Movie · as Protester at Communist Meeting