Know For
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1908-07-23 (70 years old)
Deathday
1978-10-08
Place of Birth
Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Also known As
Peter Wayne
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 Ci...
1965
as Mr. Rudd
1963
as Drunken Doomsayer in Diner
1961
as Heinrich Geuter
1963
as Hilding
1966
as Dr. Morris
1960
as Lars Nordqvist
1971
as Clerk
1963
as Merlin (voice)
1965
as Captain Waller
1972
as Rukeyser
1959
as Tom Flaunce
1962
as Rev. Hoskins
1962
as Schmidt
1965
as Doc Isdell
1967
as Dr. Charles Goodfellow
1960
as Scotty Ballantyne
1960
as Dred Pierce
1959
as Stricker
1958
as The Colonel
1995
as (voice) (archive footage)
1963
as Sheriff
1972
as Mr. Fisherman
1955
as Humpty Dumpty
1971
as Apperson
1935
as Protester at Communist Meeting
1967
as Dr. Keller
1960
as Bill Bailey
1974
as Adams
1970
as Frank Braddock Sr.
1960
as Sheriff Ole Olson
1958
as Hal - the Cameraman (uncredited)
1966
as Theodore Roosevelt
1962
as Train Conductor (uncredited)
1943
as Machine-Gunner (uncredited)
1970
as Jensen
1982
as Merlin (voice) (archive footage)
1962
as Insp. Bevers
1957
as Mr. Badek
1977
as Merlin (voice) (archive footage)
1990
as Merlin (archive footage) (voice)
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