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.
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Movies (40)
Disney Sing-Along Songs: Colors of the Wind
1995 · (voice) (archive footage)
Disney's Sing-Along Songs: Under the Sea
1990 · Merlin (archive footage) (voice)
Disney's Halloween Treat
1982 · Merlin (voice) (archive footage)
Disney's Greatest Villains
1977 · Merlin (voice) (archive footage)
The Gun and the Pulpit
1974 · Adams
Ulzana's Raid
1972 · Rukeyser
The New Healers
1972 · Mr. Fisherman
A Howling in the Woods
1971 · Apperson
Vanishing Point
1971 · Clerk
The Wild Country
1970 · Jensen
… tick… tick… tick…
1970 · Frank Braddock Sr.
Hour of the Gun
1967 · Dr. Charles Goodfellow
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
1967 · Dr. Keller
Brighty of the Grand Canyon
1966 · Theodore Roosevelt
Seconds
1966 · Dr. Morris
The Cincinnati Kid
1965 · Mr. Rudd
The Sons of Katie Elder
1965 · Doc Isdell
Major Dundee
1965 · Captain Waller
The Prize
1963 · Hilding
The Sword in the Stone
1963 · Merlin (voice)
The Man from Galveston
1963 · Sheriff
The Birds
1963 · Le prophète de malheur ivre au bar
How the West Was Won
1962 · Train Conductor (uncredited)
The Spiral Road
1962 · Insp. Bevers
Lonely are the Brave
1962 · Rev. Hoskins
Walk on the Wild Side
1962 · Schmidt
Judgment at Nuremberg
1961 · Heinrich Geuter
Flaming Star
1960 · Dred Pierce
North to Alaska
1960 · Lars Nordqvist
One Foot in Hell
1960 · Sheriff Ole Olson
The Gallant Hours
1960 · Bill Bailey
Ice Palace
1960 · Scotty Ballantyne
The Hanging Tree
1959 · Tom Flaunce
No Name on the Bullet
1959 · Stricker
Gateways to the Mind
1958 · Hal - the Cameraman (uncredited)
Kings Go Forth
1958 · The Colonel
Four Boys and a Gun
1957 · Mr. Badek
Alice in Wonderland
1955 · Humpty Dumpty
December 7th
1943 · Machine-Gunner (uncredited)
Strangers All
1935 · Protester at Communist Meeting
TV shows (79)
The Amazing Spider-Man
1978
Little House on the Prairie
1974 · Lars Hanson
Happy Days
1974
Doc Elliot
1973
Ghost Story
1972 · Ed Barnes
Emergency!
1972 · Gus
Cannon
1971
The Odd Couple
1970 · Captain Potter
The Immortal
1970
The Young Rebels
1970
Hawaii Five-O
1969 · Abel Morgan
The Mod Squad
1968
The Outcasts
1968
Judd, for the Defense
1967
The Guns of Will Sonnett
1967
Cimarron Strip
1967 · Dr. Kihlgren
Ironside
1967 · Vet
CBS Playhouse
1966 · Dr. Keller
Mission: Impossible
1966 · Colonel Dubov, Dr. Ziegler
The Rat Patrol
1966 · Colonel Seidner
Tarzan
1966
Hogan's Heroes
1965 · Dr. Karl Svenson
The Big Valley
1965 · Bert Hadley, Aaron Moyers, Steve Minter
Profiles in Courage
1964 · Chynoweth
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
1964 · Col. Harper
The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters
1963 · Coley Bishop
Mr. Novak
1963 · Mr. Haskell
The Bill Dana Show
1963
The Fugitive
1963 · Axel Nielsen - Service station owner, Morgan
The Greatest Show on Earth
1963 · Louis
The Lieutenant
1963
The Dakotas
1963
General Electric True
1962
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
1962 · George Sherston
The Virginian
1962 · Col. Theodore Roosevelt, Karl Swenson, Ben Wallace
Sam Benedict
1962 · Barney Rosvalley, Barney Rossvalley
Ben Casey
1961
Dr. Kildare
1961 · Judge
Klondike
1960 · Judge Frank Weinstock
Surfside 6
1960
The Andy Griffith Show
1960 · Mr. McBeevee
The Westerner
1960 · Ben Potts
Outlaws
1960
Hong Kong
1960 · John Olwine
Mr. Lucky
1959
Hawaiian Eye
1959
The Rebel
1959 · Lew Bussey
Johnny Ringo
1959 · Kramer
Lock-Up
1959
Riverboat
1959 · Ansel Torgin
Bonanza
1959 · Carl Harris
Tightrope
1959 · Brahn
Black Saddle
1959 · Dr. Wyle
Rawhide
1959
77 Sunset Strip
1958 · Marty Kline
Bat Masterson
1958 · Jim Pate
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958 · Van Kemp
The Rifleman
1958 · Chris Manse
The Texan
1958
Bronco
1958
Trackdown
1957
Leave It to Beaver
1957 · George Haskell
The Court of Last Resort
1957
The Walter Winchell File
1957
Maverick
1957 · Captain Nares, Sheriff Griffin, General Josiah Warren
Perry Mason
1957 · Axel Norstaad, Corley Ketchum, Charles Norman, Unk Hazekian
Sugarfoot
1957 · Andy Burke, Bill Manning, Alexi Sharlokov, Dennis O'Hara
Have Gun, Will Travel
1957
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956 · Lee Willis, Lud Greening, Will Harmon
The Adventures of Jim Bowie
1956 · Andre Rochambeau
Playwrights '56
1955
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955 · Ed Holland, John
Gunsmoke
1955 · Hank Luz, Raff, Hutch, Adam, Tabe, Ian McGovern, Lars Karlgren, McGruder, Mr. Hubert
The Wonderful World of Disney
1954 · Laredo Marshal (uncredited)
Lassie
1954
Portia Faces Life
1954
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951 · Humpty Dumpty
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951 · Asmussen
Robert Montgomery Presents
1950