
Karl Swenson
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
Credits
- 1995 · Disney Sing-Along Songs: Colors of the Wind as (voice) (archive footage)
- 1990 · Disney's Sing-Along Songs: Under the Sea as Merlin (archive footage) (voice)
- 1982 · Disney's Halloween Treat as Merlin (voice) (archive footage)
- 1978 · The Amazing Spider-Man as
- 1977 · Disney's Greatest Villains as Merlin (voice) (archive footage)
- 1974 · Little House on the Prairie as Lars Hanson
- 1974 · The Gun and the Pulpit as Adams
- 1974 · Happy Days as
- 1973 · Doc Elliot as
- 1972 · Ulzana's Raid as Rukeyser
- 1972 · Ghost Story as Ed Barnes
- 1972 · The New Healers as Mr. Fisherman
- 1972 · Emergency! as Gus
- 1971 · A Howling in the Woods as Apperson
- 1971 · Cannon as
- 1971 · Vanishing Point as Clerk
- 1970 · The Wild Country as Jensen
- 1970 · The Odd Couple as Captain Potter
- 1970 · The Immortal as
- 1970 · The Young Rebels as
- 1970 · Tick... Tick... Tick... as Frank Braddock Sr.
- 1968 · The Mod Squad as
- 1968 · The Outcasts as
- 1968 · Hawaii Five-O as Abel Morgan
- 1967 · Hour of the Gun as Dr. Charles Goodfellow
- 1967 · Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night as Dr. Keller
- 1967 · The Guns of Will Sonnett as
- 1967 · Judd for the Defense as
- 1967 · Cimarron Strip as
- 1967 · Cimarron Strip as Dr. Kihlgren
- 1967 · Ironside as Vet
- 1966 · CBS Playhouse as
- 1966 · Brighty of the Grand Canyon as Theodore Roosevelt
- 1966 · Seconds as Dr. Morris
- 1966 · Mission: Impossible as Colonel Dubov
- 1966 · Mission: Impossible as Dr. Ziegler
- 1966 · The Rat Patrol as Colonel Seidner
- 1966 · Tarzan as
- 1965 · The Cincinnati Kid as Mr. Rudd
- 1965 · Hogan's Heroes as Dr. Karl Svenson
- 1965 · The Big Valley as Bert Hadley
- 1965 · The Big Valley as Aaron Moyers
- 1965 · The Big Valley as Steve Minter
- 1965 · The Sons of Katie Elder as Doc Isdell
- 1965 · Major Dundee as Captain Waller
- 1964 · Profiles in Courage as Chynoweth
- 1964 · Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. as Col. Harper
- 1963 · The Sword in the Stone as Merlin (voice)
- 1963 · The Prize as Hilding
- 1963 · The Man from Galveston as Sheriff
- 1963 · The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters as Coley Bishop
- 1963 · Mr. Novak as Mr. Haskell
- 1963 · The Bill Dana Show as
- 1963 · The Fugitive as Axel Nielsen - Service station owner
- 1963 · The Fugitive as Morgan
- 1963 · The Greatest Show on Earth as
- 1963 · The Lieutenant as
- 1963 · The Birds as Drunken Doomsayer in Diner
- 1963 · The Dakotas as
- 1962 · How the West Was Won as Train Conductor (uncredited)
- 1962 · General Electric True as
- 1962 · The Alfred Hitchcock Hour as George Sherston
- 1962 · The Virginian as Col. Theodore Roosevelt
- 1962 · The Virginian as Karl Swenson
- 1962 · The Virginian as Ben Wallace
- 1962 · Sam Benedict as
- 1962 · The Spiral Road as Insp. Bevers
- 1962 · Lonely are the Brave as Rev. Hoskins
- 1962 · Walk on the Wild Side as Schmidt
- 1961 · Judgment at Nuremberg as Heinrich Geuter
- 1961 · Ben Casey as
- 1961 · Dr. Kildare as Judge
- 1960 · Flaming Star as Dred Pierce
- 1960 · North to Alaska as Lars Nordqvist
- 1960 · Klondike as
- 1960 · Surfside 6 as
- 1960 · The Andy Griffith Show as Mr. McBeevee
- 1960 · The Westerner as Ben Potts
- 1960 · Outlaws as
- 1960 · One Foot in Hell as Sheriff Ole Olson
- 1960 · The Gallant Hours as Bill Bailey
- 1960 · Hong Kong as John Olwine
- 1960 · Ice Palace as Scotty Ballantyne
- 1959 · Mr. Lucky as
- 1959 · Hawaiian Eye as
- 1959 · The Rebel as Lew Bussey
- 1959 · Johnny Ringo as Kramer
- 1959 · Lock-Up as
- 1959 · Riverboat as Ansel Torgin
- 1959 · Tightrope as
- 1959 · The Hanging Tree as Tom Flaunce
- 1959 · No Name on the Bullet as Stricker
- 1959 · Black Saddle as Dr. Wyle
- 1959 · Rawhide as
- 1958 · Gateways to the Mind as Hal - the Cameraman (uncredited)
- 1958 · 77 Sunset Strip as
- 1958 · Bat Masterson as Jim Pate
- 1958 · Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse as
- 1958 · The Rifleman as
- 1958 · The Texan as
- 1958 · Bronco as
- 1958 · Kings Go Forth as The Colonel
- 1957 · Leave It to Beaver as George Haskell
- 1957 · Trackdown as
- 1957 · The Court of Last Resort as
- 1957 · The Walter Winchell File as
- 1957 · Maverick as
- 1957 · Maverick as Captain Nares
- 1957 · Maverick as Sheriff Griffin
- 1957 · Perry Mason as Axel Norstaad
- 1957 · Perry Mason as Corley Ketchum
- 1957 · Perry Mason as Charles Norman
- 1957 · Perry Mason as Unk Hazekian
- 1957 · Sugarfoot as Andy Burke
- 1957 · Sugarfoot as Bill Manning
- 1957 · Sugarfoot as Alexi Sharlokov
- 1957 · Sugarfoot as Dennis O'Hara
- 1957 · Have Gun, Will Travel as
- 1957 · Four Boys and a Gun as Mr. Badek
- 1956 · Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre as Lee Willis
- 1956 · Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre as Lud Greening
- 1956 · Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre as Will Harmon
- 1956 · The Adventures of Jim Bowie as Andre Rochambeau
- 1955 · Alice in Wonderland as Humpty Dumpty
- 1955 · Playwrights '56 as
- 1955 · Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Ed Holland
- 1955 · Alfred Hitchcock Presents as John
- 1955 · Gunsmoke as Hank Luz
- 1955 · Gunsmoke as Raff
- 1955 · Gunsmoke as Hutch
- 1955 · Gunsmoke as Adam
- 1955 · Gunsmoke as Tabe
- 1955 · Gunsmoke as Ian McGovern
- 1955 · Gunsmoke as Lars Karlgren
- 1955 · Gunsmoke as McGruder
- 1955 · Gunsmoke as Mr. Hubert
- 1954 · The Wonderful World of Disney as Laredo Marshal (uncredited)
- 1954 · Lassie as
- 1954 · Portia Faces Life as
- 1951 · Hallmark Hall of Fame as Humpty Dumpty
- 1951 · Schlitz Playhouse of Stars as Asmussen
- 1950 · Robert Montgomery Presents as
- 1943 · December 7th as Machine-Gunner (uncredited)
- 1935 · Strangers All as Protester at Communist Meeting