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 r...
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The Cincinnati Kid
As Mr. Rudd
The Birds
As Drunken Doomsayer in Diner
Judgment at Nuremberg
As Heinrich Geuter
The Prize
As Hilding
Seconds
As Dr. Morris
North to Alaska
As Lars Nordqvist
Vanishing Point
As Clerk
The Sword in the Stone
As Merlin (voice)
Major Dundee
As Captain Waller
Ulzana's Raid
As Rukeyser
Lonely are the Brave
As Rev. Hoskins
The Hanging Tree
As Tom Flaunce
Walk on the Wild Side
As Schmidt
The Sons of Katie Elder
As Doc Isdell
Hour of the Gun
As Dr. Charles Goodfellow
Ice Palace
As Scotty Ballantyne
Flaming Star
As Dred Pierce
No Name on the Bullet
As Stricker
Kings Go Forth
As The Colonel
Disney Sing-Along Songs: Colors of the Wind
As (voice) (archive footage)
The Man from Galveston
As Sheriff
The New Healers
As Mr. Fisherman
Alice in Wonderland
As Humpty Dumpty
A Howling in the Woods
As Apperson
Strangers All
As Protester at Communist Meeting
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
As Dr. Keller
The Gallant Hours
As Bill Bailey
The Gun and the Pulpit
As Adams
Tick... Tick... Tick...
As Frank Braddock Sr.
One Foot in Hell
As Sheriff Ole Olson
Gateways to the Mind
As Hal - the Cameraman (uncredited)
Brighty of the Grand Canyon
As Theodore Roosevelt
How the West Was Won
As Train Conductor (uncredited)
December 7th
As Machine-Gunner (uncredited)
The Wild Country
As Jensen
Disney's Halloween Treat
As Merlin (voice) (archive footage)
The Spiral Road
As Insp. Bevers
Four Boys and a Gun
As Mr. Badek
Disney's Greatest Villains
As Merlin (voice) (archive footage)
Disney's Sing-Along Songs: Under the Sea
As Merlin (archive footage) (voice)
The Andy Griffith Show
As Mr. McBeevee
77 Sunset Strip
Maverick
Trackdown
Little House on the Prairie
As Lars Hanson
The Odd Couple
As Captain Potter
Mr. Lucky
Hawaii Five-O
As Abel Morgan
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
As Col. Harper
The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters
As Coley Bishop
Happy Days
Surfside 6
The Mod Squad
The Fugitive
As Axel Nielsen - Service station owner
Gunsmoke
As Hank Luz
Perry Mason
As Axel Norstaad
Hawaiian Eye
Lassie
Cannon
The Amazing Spider-Man
Hallmark Hall of Fame
As Humpty Dumpty
Ironside
As Vet
Leave It to Beaver
As George Haskell
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
As Ed Holland
Klondike
The Greatest Show on Earth
Sam Benedict
Outlaws
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
The Immortal
Rawhide
Have Gun, Will Travel
Cimarron Strip
The Outcasts
The Virginian
As Col. Theodore Roosevelt
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
As Asmussen
Portia Faces Life
The Young Rebels
The Big Valley
As Bert Hadley
Bronco
Judd for the Defense
Profiles in Courage
As Chynoweth
The Adventures of Jim Bowie
As Andre Rochambeau
Tarzan
Black Saddle
As Dr. Wyle
Lock-Up
The Rebel
As Lew Bussey
The Rifleman
The Dakotas
Sugarfoot
As Andy Burke
Bat Masterson
As Jim Pate
Ben Casey
The Rat Patrol
As Colonel Seidner
The Guns of Will Sonnett
Mr. Novak
As Mr. Haskell
Riverboat
As Ansel Torgin
The Texan
The Bill Dana Show
CBS Playhouse
Robert Montgomery Presents
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
As Lee Willis
The Lieutenant
Playwrights '56
Johnny Ringo
As Kramer
General Electric True
Tightrope
The Westerner
As Ben Potts
The Court of Last Resort
Dr. Kildare
As Judge
The Walter Winchell File
Doc Elliot
Ghost Story
As Ed Barnes
Emergency!
As Gus
Hong Kong
As John Olwine
Hogan's Heroes
As Dr. Karl Svenson
Mission: Impossible
As Colonel Dubov
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
As George Sherston
The Wonderful World of Disney
As Laredo Marshal (uncredited)