Karl Swenson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Karl Swenson (July 23, 1908 – October 8, 1978) was an American theatre, radio, film, and television actor. Early in his career, he was credited as Peter Wayne Swenson was born in Brooklyn, New York, of Swedish parentage. Planning to be a doctor, he enrolled at Marietta College and undertook pre-medical studies but left that field to pursue acting. Swenson appeared extensively on the radio from the 1930s through the 1950s. Swenson entered the film industry in 1943 with two wartime documentary shorts, December 7 and The Sikorsky Helicopter, followed by more than thirty-five roles in feature films and television movies. No Name on the Bullet (1959) is only one of the many westerns in which he performed for both film and television. Swenson is remembered for his role as the doomsayer in the diner in Alfred Hitchcock's classic The Birds (1963) and had roles in The Prize (1963), Major Dundee (1965), The Sons of Katie Elder (1965), The Cincinnati Kid (1965) and Seconds (1966). In 1967, Swenson appeared in the western Hour of the Gun, and played the role of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt in the western film Brighty of the Grand Canyon, with co-stars Pat Conway and Joseph Cotten. His later film appearances included roles in ...tick...tick...tick... (1970), The Wild Country (1970), Vanishing Point (1971) and Ulzana's Raid (1972). Swenson was married to actress Joan Tompkins. Swenson 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. Swenson was interred at Center Cemetery in New Milford, Connecticut. CLR

Known For: Acting

Born: Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA, 1908-07-23

Died: 1978-10-08

Film

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1935	Strangers All	Protester at Communist Meeting	55
2	1943	December 7th	Machine-Gunner (uncredited)	57
3	1955	Alice in Wonderland	Humpty Dumpty	0
4	1957	Four Boys and a Gun	Mr. Badek	63
5	1958	Kings Go Forth	The Colonel	62
6	1958	Gateways to the Mind	Hal - the Cameraman (uncredited)	0
7	1959	No Name on the Bullet	Stricker	66
8	1959	The Hanging Tree	Tom Flaunce	67
9	1960	Ice Palace	Scotty Ballantyne	58
10	1960	The Gallant Hours	Bill Bailey	67
11	1960	One Foot in Hell	Sheriff Ole Olson	53
12	1960	North to Alaska	Lars Nordqvist	65
13	1960	Flaming Star	Dred Pierce	65
14	1961	Judgment at Nuremberg	Heinrich Geuter	80
15	1962	Walk on the Wild Side	Schmidt	66
16	1962	Lonely are the Brave	Rev. Hoskins	74
17	1962	The Spiral Road	Insp. Bevers	52
18	1962	How the West Was Won	Train Conductor (uncredited)	70
19	1963	The Birds	Drunken Doomsayer in Diner	75
20	1963	The Man from Galveston	Sheriff	52
21	1963	The Prize	Hilding	68
22	1963	The Sword in the Stone	Merlin (voice)	72
23	1965	Major Dundee	Captain Waller	67
24	1965	The Sons of Katie Elder	Doc Isdell	70
25	1965	The Cincinnati Kid	Mr. Rudd	70
26	1966	Seconds	Dr. Morris	73
27	1966	Brighty of the Grand Canyon	Theodore Roosevelt	55
28	1967	Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night	Dr. Keller	0
29	1967	Hour of the Gun	Dr. Charles Goodfellow	64
30	1970	Tick... Tick... Tick...	Frank Braddock Sr.	65
31	1970	The Wild Country	Jensen	60
32	1971	Vanishing Point	Clerk	72
33	1971	A Howling in the Woods	Apperson	52
34	1972	The New Healers	Mr. Fisherman	0
35	1972	Ulzana's Raid	Rukeyser	70
36	1974	The Gun and the Pulpit	Adams	65
37	1977	Disney's Greatest Villains	Merlin (voice) (archive footage)	0
38	1982	Disney's Halloween Treat	Merlin (voice) (archive footage)	59
39	1990	Disney's Sing-Along Songs: Under the Sea	Merlin (archive footage) (voice)	83
40	1995	Disney Sing-Along Songs: Colors of the Wind	(voice) (archive footage)	83

Television

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1950	Robert Montgomery Presents		52
2	1951	Schlitz Playhouse of Stars	Asmussen	70
3	1951	Hallmark Hall of Fame	Humpty Dumpty	87
4	1954	Portia Faces Life		10
5	1954	Lassie		61
6	1955	Gunsmoke	Hank Luz	66
7	1955	Gunsmoke	Raff	66
8	1955	Gunsmoke	Hutch	66
9	1955	Gunsmoke	Adam	66
10	1955	Gunsmoke	Tabe	66
11	1955	Gunsmoke	Ian McGovern	66
12	1955	Gunsmoke	Lars Karlgren	66
13	1955	Gunsmoke	McGruder	66
14	1955	Gunsmoke	Mr. Hubert	66
15	1955	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Ed Holland	77
16	1955	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	John	77
17	1955	Playwrights '56		60
18	1956	The Adventures of Jim Bowie	Andre Rochambeau	37
19	1956	Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre	Lee Willis	55
20	1956	Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre	Lud Greening	55
21	1956	Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre	Will Harmon	55
22	1957	Have Gun, Will Travel		74
23	1957	Sugarfoot	Andy Burke	48
24	1957	Sugarfoot	Bill Manning	48
25	1957	Sugarfoot	Alexi Sharlokov	48
26	1957	Sugarfoot	Dennis O'Hara	48
27	1957	Perry Mason	Axel Norstaad	77
28	1957	Perry Mason	Corley Ketchum	77
29	1957	Perry Mason	Charles Norman	77
30	1957	Perry Mason	Unk Hazekian	77
31	1957	Maverick		68
32	1957	Maverick	Captain Nares	68
33	1957	Maverick	Sheriff Griffin	68
34	1957	The Walter Winchell File		50
35	1957	Trackdown		64
36	1957	Leave It to Beaver	George Haskell	69
37	1957	The Court of Last Resort		0
38	1958	Bronco		52
39	1958	The Texan		50
40	1958	The Rifleman		70
41	1958	Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse		53
42	1958	Bat Masterson	Jim Pate	61
43	1958	77 Sunset Strip		67
44	1959	Rawhide		72
45	1959	Black Saddle	Dr. Wyle	60
46	1959	Tightrope		55
47	1959	Riverboat	Ansel Torgin	62
48	1959	Lock-Up		62
49	1959	Johnny Ringo	Kramer	57
50	1959	The Rebel	Lew Bussey	51
51	1959	Hawaiian Eye		52
52	1959	Mr. Lucky		64
53	1960	Hong Kong	John Olwine	0
54	1960	Outlaws		62
55	1960	The Westerner	Ben Potts	68
56	1960	The Andy Griffith Show	Mr. McBeevee	76
57	1960	Surfside 6		50
58	1960	Klondike		62
59	1961	Dr. Kildare	Judge	53
60	1961	Ben Casey		56
61	1962	Sam Benedict		60
62	1962	The Virginian	Col. Theodore Roosevelt	64
63	1962	The Virginian	Karl Swenson	64
64	1962	The Virginian	Ben Wallace	64
65	1962	The Alfred Hitchcock Hour	George Sherston	78
66	1962	General Electric True		0
67	1963	The Dakotas		57
68	1963	The Lieutenant		60
69	1963	The Fugitive	Axel Nielsen - Service station owner	72
70	1963	The Greatest Show on Earth		50
71	1963	The Fugitive	Morgan	72
72	1963	The Bill Dana Show		60
73	1963	Mr. Novak	Mr. Haskell	65
74	1963	The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters	Coley Bishop	53
75	1964	Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.		71
76	1964	Profiles in Courage	Chynoweth	50
77	1965	The Big Valley	Bert Hadley	61
78	1965	The Big Valley	Aaron Moyers	61
79	1965	The Big Valley	Steve Minter	61
80	1965	Hogan's Heroes	Dr. Karl Svenson	75
81	1966	Tarzan		67
82	1966	The Rat Patrol	Colonel Seidner	72
83	1966	Mission: Impossible	Colonel Dubov	76
84	1966	Mission: Impossible	Dr. Ziegler	76
85	1966	CBS Playhouse		70
86	1967	Ironside	Vet	68
87	1967	Cimarron Strip		50
88	1967	Judd for the Defense		75
89	1967	The Guns of Will Sonnett		63
90	1968	Hawaii Five-O	Abel Morgan	71
91	1968	The Outcasts		53
92	1968	The Mod Squad		63
93	1970	The Young Rebels		45
94	1970	The Odd Couple	Captain Potter	78
95	1970	The Immortal		74
96	1971	Cannon		64
97	1972	Emergency!	Gus	78
98	1972	Ghost Story	Ed Barnes	71
99	1973	Doc Elliot		0
100	1974	Happy Days		77
101	1974	Little House on the Prairie	Lars Hanson	79
102	1974	Little House on the Prairie	Mr. Hanson	79
103	1978	The Amazing Spider-Man		58