Person
Karl Swenson
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 Alfr…
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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
Movies and shows, newest first
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1995
Disney Sing-Along Songs: Colors of the Wind
Movie (voice) (archive footage)
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1990
Disney's Sing-Along Songs: Under the Sea
Movie Merlin (archive footage) (voice)
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1982
Disney's Halloween Treat
Movie Merlin (voice) (archive footage)
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1978
The Amazing Spider-Man
TV show
-
1977
Disney's Greatest Villains
Movie Merlin (voice) (archive footage)
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1974
Little House on the Prairie
TV show Lars Hanson
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1974
The Gun and the Pulpit
Movie Adams
-
1974
Happy Days
TV show
-
1973
Doc Elliot
TV show
-
1972
Ulzana's Raid
Movie Rukeyser
-
1972
Ghost Story
TV show Ed Barnes
-
1972
The New Healers
Movie Mr. Fisherman
-
1972
Emergency!
TV show Gus
-
1971
A Howling in the Woods
Movie Apperson
-
1971
Cannon
TV show
-
1971
Vanishing Point
Movie Clerk
More credits
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1970
The Wild Country
Movie Jensen
-
1970
The Odd Couple
TV show Captain Potter
-
1970
The Immortal
TV show
-
1970
The Young Rebels
TV show
-
1970
… tick… tick… tick…
Movie Frank Braddock Sr.
-
1969
Hawaii Five-O
TV show Abel Morgan
-
1968
The Mod Squad
TV show
-
1968
The Outcasts
TV show
-
1967
Hour of the Gun
Movie Dr. Charles Goodfellow
-
1967
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
Movie Dr. Keller
-
1967
Judd, for the Defense
TV show
-
1967
The Guns of Will Sonnett
TV show
-
1967
Cimarron Strip
TV show
-
1967
Ironside
TV show Vet
-
1966
CBS Playhouse
TV show Dr. Keller
-
1966
Brighty of the Grand Canyon
Movie Theodore Roosevelt
-
1966
Seconds
Movie Dr. Morris
-
1966
Mission: Impossible
TV show Colonel Dubov
-
1966
The Rat Patrol
TV show Colonel Seidner
-
1966
Tarzan
TV show
-
1965
The Cincinnati Kid
Movie Mr. Rudd
-
1965
Hogan's Heroes
TV show Dr. Karl Svenson
-
1965
The Big Valley
TV show Bert Hadley
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1965
The Sons of Katie Elder
Movie Doc Isdell
