1908-07-23 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 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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Disney Sing-Along Songs: Colors of the Wind | (voice) (archive footage) | 1995-07-21 |
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Disney's Sing-Along Songs: Under the Sea | Merlin (archive footage) (voice) | 1990-08-14 |
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Disney's Halloween Treat | Merlin (voice) (archive footage) | 1982-10-30 |
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Disney's Greatest Villains | Merlin (voice) (archive footage) | 1977-05-15 |
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The Gun and the Pulpit | Adams | 1974-04-03 |
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The New Healers | Mr. Fisherman | 1972-03-27 |
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Ulzana's Raid | Rukeyser | 1972-10-27 |
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A Howling in the Woods | Apperson | 1971-11-05 |
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Vanishing Point | Clerk | 1971-01-15 |
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… tick… tick… tick… | Frank Braddock Sr. | 1970-01-09 |
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The Wild Country | Jensen | 1970-12-16 |
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Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night | Dr. Keller | 1967-10-17 |
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Hour of the Gun | Dr. Charles Goodfellow | 1967-11-01 |
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Seconds | Dr. Morris | 1966-10-05 |
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Brighty of the Grand Canyon | Theodore Roosevelt | 1966-11-24 |
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Major Dundee | Captain Waller | 1965-03-15 |
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The Sons of Katie Elder | Doc Isdell | 1965-06-23 |
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The Cincinnati Kid | Mr. Rudd | 1965-10-15 |
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The Birds | Drunken Doomsayer in Diner | 1963-03-28 |
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The Man from Galveston | Sheriff | 1963-12-18 |
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The Prize | Hilding | 1963-12-25 |
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The Sword in the Stone | Merlin (voice) | 1963-12-25 |
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How the West Was Won | Train Conductor (uncredited) | 1962-11-02 |
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Walk on the Wild Side | Schmidt | 1962-02-21 |
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The Spiral Road | Insp. Bevers | 1962-08-03 |
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Lonely are the Brave | Rev. Hoskins | 1962-05-24 |
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Judgment at Nuremberg | Heinrich Geuter | 1961-12-18 |
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North to Alaska | Lars Nordqvist | 1960-11-07 |
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One Foot in Hell | Sheriff Ole Olson | 1960-09-11 |
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Flaming Star | Dred Pierce | 1960-12-20 |
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The Gallant Hours | Bill Bailey | 1960-06-13 |
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Ice Palace | Scotty Ballantyne | 1960-01-02 |
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No Name on the Bullet | Stricker | 1959-02-01 |
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The Hanging Tree | Tom Flaunce | 1959-02-19 |
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Kings Go Forth | The Colonel | 1958-06-28 |
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Gateways to the Mind | Hal - the Cameraman (uncredited) | 1958-10-23 |
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Four Boys and a Gun | Mr. Badek | 1957-01-11 |
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Alice in Wonderland | Humpty Dumpty | 1955-10-22 |
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December 7th | Machine-Gunner (uncredited) | 1943-03-01 |
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Strangers All | Protester at Communist Meeting | 1935-04-01 |
