Karl Swenson (July 23, 1908 β 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 r...
The Sword in the Stone
1963
The Birds
1963
How the West Was Won
1962
Judgment at Nuremberg
1961
The Sons of Katie Elder
1965
The Prize
1963
North to Alaska
1960
Hour of the Gun
1967
Seconds
1966
The Cincinnati Kid
1965
Major Dundee
1965
Vanishing Point
1971
No Name on the Bullet
1959
Lonely are the Brave
1962
Walk on the Wild Side
1962
Ulzana's Raid
1972
Ice Palace
1960
The Hanging Tree
1959
Flaming Star
1960
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1970
The Wild Country
1970
The Gallant Hours
1960
December 7th
1943
The Spiral Road
1962
The Man from Galveston
1963
Kings Go Forth
1958
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
1967
Disney Sing-Along Songs: Colors of the Wind
1995
Strangers All
1935
Disney's Greatest Villains
1977
The New Healers
1972
The Gun and the Pulpit
1974
Disney's Halloween Treat
1982
A Howling in the Woods
1971
Alice in Wonderland
1955
One Foot in Hell
1960
Four Boys and a Gun
1957
The Sunrise Gun
1959
Disney's Sing-Along Songs: Under the Sea
1990
Gateways to the Mind
1958