Karl Swenson
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Karl Swenson (July 23, 1908) – (October 8, 1978) was an American radio, film and television actor. He made several appearances on Broadway in stage productions of the 1930s.
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[edit] Radio
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Swenson had extensive credits in radio from the 1930s through the 1950s on such programs as Cavalcade of America, The Chase, Columbia Presents Corwin, The Columbia Workshop, Inner Sanctum Mysteries, Joe Palooka, Lawyer Q, 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. He played the title character of Father Brown in the 1945 Mutual radio program The Adventures of Father Brown [1] as well as the lead in Mr. Chameleon. [2]
[edit] Films and television
He entered the film industry in 1943 with two wartime documentary shorts, December 7th and The Sikorsky Helicopter, followed by more than 35 roles in feature films and TV movies. No Name on the Bullet (1959) is only one of the many Westerns he did for both film and television.
Although Swenson had credits on dozens of TV series, he was best known for his performance as Lars Hanson in 40 episodes of the TV series Little House on the Prairie. In 1978, Swenson died of a heart attack in Torrington, Connecticut. Ironically, he died shortly after filming the episode in which his character (Lars Hanson) died.
[edit] Listen to
[edit] References
- ^ Terrace, Vincent [1999]. Radio Programs, 1924-1984:A Catalog of Over 1800 Shows. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0351-9.
- ^ Dunning, John [1998]. On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old Time Radio. New York City, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-507678-8.
