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
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
Disney Sing-Along Songs: Colors of the Wind
Disney's Halloween Treat
The Amazing Spider-Man
Little House on the Prairie
The Gun and the Pulpit
Happy Days
Doc Elliot
Ulzana's Raid
Ghost Story
The New Healers
Emergency!
A Howling in the Woods
Cannon
Vanishing Point
The Wild Country
The Immortal
The Young Rebels
Tick... Tick... Tick...
The Mod Squad
The Outcasts
Hawaii Five-O
Hour of the Gun
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
The Guns of Will Sonnett
Cimarron Strip
Ironside
Brighty of the Grand Canyon
Seconds
Mission: Impossible
The Rat Patrol
Tarzan
The Cincinnati Kid
Hogan's Heroes
The Big Valley
The Sons of Katie Elder
Major Dundee
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
The Prize
The Man from Galveston
Mr. Novak
The Bill Dana Show
The Fugitive
The Lieutenant
The Birds
The Dakotas
How the West Was Won
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
The Virginian
Sam Benedict
The Spiral Road
Lonely Are the Brave
Pericles on 31st Street
Walk on the Wild Side
Judgment at Nuremberg
Ben Casey
Dr. Kildare
Flaming Star
North to Alaska
Klondike
Surfside 6
The Andy Griffith Show
The Westerner
Outlaws
One Foot in Hell
The Gallant Hours
Hong Kong
Ice Palace
Mr. Lucky
Hawaiian Eye
The Rebel
Johnny Ringo
Lock-Up
Riverboat
Tightrope
The Hanging Tree
No Name on the Bullet
Black Saddle
Rawhide
Gateways to the Mind
77 Sunset Strip
Bat Masterson
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
The Rifleman
The Texan
Bronco
Kings Go Forth
The Walter Winchell File
Maverick
Perry Mason
Sugarfoot
Have Gun, Will Travel
Four Boys and a Gun
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
The Adventures of Jim Bowie
Alice in Wonderland
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Gunsmoke
Lassie
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Robert Montgomery Presents
December 7th
Strangers All