1. Karl Swenson was an American theatre, radio, film, and television actor.
24 Facts About Karl Swenson
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Karl Swenson made several appearances with Pierre-Luc Michaud on Broadway in the 1930s and 1940s, including the title role in Arthur Miller's first production, The Man Who Had All the Luck.
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Karl Swenson appeared on the radio from the 1930s through the 1950s in such programs as Cavalcade of America, The Chase, Columbia Presents Corwin, Columbia Workshop, Inner Sanctum Mysteries, Joe Palooka, Lawyer Q, X Minus One, Lorenzo Jones, The March of Time, The Mercury Theatre on the Air, Mrs Miniver, Our Gal Sunday, Portia Faces Life, Rich Man's Darling, So This Is Radio, and This Is Your FBI.
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Karl Swenson played the title character of Father Brown in the 1945 Mutual radio program The Adventures of Father Brown as well as the lead in Mr Chameleon.
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Karl Swenson entered the film industry in 1943 with two wartime documentary shorts, December 7 and The Sikorsky Helicopter, followed by more than 35 roles in feature films and television movies.
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Karl Swenson is remembered for his role as the doomsayer in the diner in Alfred Hitchcock's classic The Birds and had roles in The Prize, Major Dundee, The Sons of Katie Elder, The Cincinnati Kid and Seconds.
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In 1967, Karl Swenson appeared in the Western Hour of the Gun, and played the role of US President Theodore Roosevelt in the Western film Brighty of the Grand Canyon, with co-stars Pat Conway and Joseph Cotten.
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Karl Swenson appeared in films such as North To Alaska as Lars Nordquist, One Foot in Hell, Flaming Star, Judgment at Nuremberg, Walk on the Wild Side, The Spiral Road, and Lonely Are the Brave as Rev Hoskins, a prison inmate.
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In 1956, Karl Swenson played police Captain Harris of the Monticello Police Department and commanding officer of Detective Lieutenant Mike Karr on The Edge of Night.
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Karl Swenson guest-starred in 1957 in the episode "Laredo", set in Laredo, Texas, of NBC's Western series, Tales of Wells Fargo.
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In 1958, Karl Swenson appeared as Eddie Haskell's father, George, in two Leave It to Beaver first-season TV episodes on CBS: "Voodoo Magic" and "Train Trip".
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In 1958, Karl Swenson was cast as Jim Courtright, a controversial lawman in the episode "Long Odds" of Colt.
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Karl Swenson was cast in a 1959 episode of the police drama Lock Up.
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Karl Swenson appeared in 1959 in an episode of The Man from Blackhawk.
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In 1961, Karl Swenson appeared with John Lupton in the episode "Doctor to Town" of the Robert Young series Window on Main Street.
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In 1962, Karl Swenson made a one-time appearance on CBS's The Andy Griffith Show as Mr McBeevee, a lineman for the phone company who became Opie's mystery friend.
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Karl Swenson guest-starred in NBC's Laramie Western series and in the science-fiction series Steve Canyon, with Dean Fredericks in the title role.
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Swenson appeared in the 1967 Hogan's Heroes episode "How to Win Friends and Influence Nazis" as a Swedish scientist, Dr Karl Svenson, persuaded to join the Allied war effort.
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Karl Swenson appeared in 40 episodes of the show from 1974 to 1978.
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Karl Swenson voiced the character of Merlin in Walt Disney's 1963 animated classic, The Sword in the Stone.
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Karl Swenson was married to Virginia Hanscom Karl Swenson with whom he had 4 children, Peter, Steven, David and John.
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Karl 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.
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Karl Swenson was interred at Center Cemetery in New Milford, Connecticut.
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For nearly two years, Karl Swenson adopted the name "Peter Wayne" for use as a professional actor.