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