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Karl Swenson

Karl Swenson

Actor · 1908 – 1978 · 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.

Movies24

  • Movie7.2

    The Sword in the Stone

    1963 · 4.2K votes

  • Movie7.5

    The Birds

    1963 · 4.6K votes

  • Movie8.0

    Judgment at Nuremberg

    1961 · 988 votes

  • Movie7.1

    Vanishing Point

    1971 · 544 votes

  • Movie7.0

    How the West Was Won

    1962 · 514 votes

  • Movie6.7

    Major Dundee

    1965 · 181 votes

  • Movie7.4

    Seconds

    1966 · 454 votes

  • Movie7.0

    The Cincinnati Kid

    1965 · 315 votes

  • Movie6.9

    Ulzana's Raid

    1972 · 165 votes

  • Movie7.0

    The Sons of Katie Elder

    1965 · 314 votes

  • Movie6.5

    Hour of the Gun

    1967 · 106 votes

  • Movie6.7

    The Prize

    1963 · 119 votes

  • Movie7.4

    Lonely are the Brave

    1962 · 173 votes

  • Movie6.5

    North to Alaska

    1960 · 139 votes

  • Movie6.5

    Flaming Star

    1960 · 101 votes

  • Movie6.6

    Walk on the Wild Side

    1962 · 72 votes

  • Movie6.6

    No Name on the Bullet

    1959 · 91 votes

  • Movie5.5

    The Spiral Road

    1962 · 12 votes

  • Movie6.1

    Kings Go Forth

    1958 · 21 votes

  • Movie6.3

    Ice Palace

    1960 · 8 votes

  • Movie6.0

    The Wild Country

    1970 · 10 votes

  • Movie6.7
  • Movie
  • Movie5.3

    One Foot in Hell

    1960 · 21 votes

Series24

  • TV7.7

    Perry Mason

    1957 · 139 votes

  • TV7.0

    Maverick

    1957 · 43 votes

  • TV8.0
  • TV7.5

    Bonanza

    1959 · 500 votes

  • TV6.8

    Ironside

    1967 · 71 votes

  • TV5.7

    Dr. Kildare

    1961 · 19 votes

  • TV7.1

    The Rifleman

    1958 · 54 votes

  • TV7.3

    The Fugitive

    1963 · 63 votes

  • TV7.6

    The Andy Griffith Show

    1960 · 175 votes

  • TV7.6

    Mission: Impossible

    1966 · 320 votes

  • TV7.9
  • TV7.5

    Hogan's Heroes

    1965 · 193 votes

  • TV7.2

    Hawaii Five-O

    1969 · 164 votes

  • TV6.0
  • TV6.3

    Lassie

    1954 · 74 votes

  • TV7.3

    Have Gun, Will Travel

    1957 · 44 votes

  • TV7.8

    Alfred Hitchcock Presents

    1955 · 265 votes

  • TV7.8

    The Odd Couple

    1970 · 69 votes

  • TV6.7

    Cannon

    1971 · 41 votes

  • TV6.5

    The Virginian

    1962 · 35 votes

  • TV8.0

    Emergency!

    1972 · 53 votes

  • TV7.6

    Happy Days

    1974 · 319 votes

  • TV6.2

    The Big Valley

    1965 · 59 votes

  • TV7.2

    Rawhide

    1959 · 49 votes