Known For
Acting
Born
Jul 23, 1908
Died
Oct 08, 1978
Place of Birth
Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Credits
119 titles
Karl Swenson
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
Filmography
Disney Sing-Along Songs: Colors of the Wind
(voice) (archive footage)
Disney's Sing-Along Songs: Under the Sea
Merlin (archive footage) (voice)
Disney's Halloween Treat
Merlin (voice) (archive footage)
The Amazing Spider-Man
Disney's Greatest Villains
Merlin (voice) (archive footage)
Little House on the Prairie
Lars Hanson
The Gun and the Pulpit
Adams
Happy Days
Doc Elliot
Ulzana's Raid
Rukeyser
Ghost Story
Ed Barnes
The New Healers
Mr. Fisherman
Emergency!
Gus
A Howling in the Woods
Apperson
Cannon
Vanishing Point
Clerk
The Wild Country
Jensen
The Odd Couple
Captain Potter
The Immortal
The Young Rebels
… tick… tick… tick…
Frank Braddock Sr.
The Mod Squad
The Outcasts
Hawaii Five-O
Abel Morgan
Hour of the Gun
Dr. Charles Goodfellow
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
Dr. Keller
The Guns of Will Sonnett
Judd, for the Defense
Cimarron Strip
Ironside
Vet
CBS Playhouse
Dr. Keller
Brighty of the Grand Canyon
Theodore Roosevelt
Seconds
Dr. Morris
Mission: Impossible
Colonel Dubov
The Rat Patrol
Colonel Seidner
Tarzan
The Cincinnati Kid
Mr. Rudd
Hogan's Heroes
Dr. Karl Svenson
The Big Valley
Bert Hadley
The Sons of Katie Elder
Doc Isdell
Major Dundee
Captain Waller
Profiles in Courage
Chynoweth
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
Col. Harper
The Sword in the Stone
Merlin (voice)
The Prize
Hilding
The Man from Galveston
Sheriff
The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters
Coley Bishop
Mr. Novak
Mr. Haskell
The Bill Dana Show
The Fugitive
Axel Nielsen - Service station owner