Bo Svenson
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Bo Svenson (born Bo Ragnar Svensson; 13 February 1941) is a Swedish-American actor, film director, film producer, published author and award winning screenwriter, known for his roles in American genre films of the 1970s and 1980s. He has appeared in two Quentin Tarantino movies.
Bo Svenson | |
|---|---|
Bo Svenson | |
| Born | 13 February 1941 Gothenburg, Sweden |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, film director, film producer, published author, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1965–present |
| Spouse | Lise Svenson (m. 1966) |
| Children | 3[1] |
| Website | bosvenson |
Early life
Svenson was born in Sweden the son of Birger Ragnar Svensson (1917–?), an athlete and the personal driver and bodyguard for the King of Sweden, and musician/big band leader Iris Viola "Lola" Svensson (1912–1998).
Svenson emigrated to the United States when he was 17, joined the United States Marine Corps, and served until his honorable discharge six years later. After his military service, Svenson settled in Florida, where he earned his living in various jobs, including professional race car driver.[2] [3] His first state of residence in the United States was Georgia, where he became familiar with the rural Southern accent he later employed in some of his roles.[3] He has since become a naturalized United States citizen.[4]
He also holds a fourth degree (Yondan) black belt in judo. He earned his first degree (Shodan) belt at Kodokan in Japan, the home dojo of Judo, while stationed in Japan in 1961 as a Marine.[5] He was the 1961 Far East Judo Champion in the Heavyweight Division.[3]
Career
In the late 1960s, Svenson had a recurring role in the hit TV series Here Come the Brides as Lumberjack Olaf "Big Swede" Gustavsen. He appeared in the 1973 made-for-TV movie Frankenstein, in which he plays the "Creature".
One of his first big-screen movie roles was opposite Robert Redford in The Great Waldo Pepper, where Redford and Svenson play rival ex-WWI U.S. Army Air Service pilots who are now employed in the hard and dangerous but wildly adventurous lives of 1920s barnstorming pilots, touring the Midwest.
In his next pursuit, Svenson took over the role of lawman Buford Pusser from Joe Don Baker in both sequels to the hit 1973 film Walking Tall, after Pusser himself, who had originally agreed to take over the role, died in an automobile crash. He reprised the role again for the short-lived 1981 television series of the same name.[6]
One of his most famous roles in films was as murder-witness-turned-vigilante Michael McBain in the 1976 cult classic Breaking Point. He played the Soviet agent Ivan in the Magnum, P.I. episode "Did You See the Sunrise?" (1982) and many years later had a cameo as an American colonel in Inglourious Basterds, as a tribute to his role in The Inglorious Bastards; he is the only actor to appear in both films.[6]
Svenson got name-checked by Breaking Bad's Mike Ehrmantraut.[7]
Svenson maintains an active role in the entertainment industry and is the Founder and CEO of MagicQuest Entertainment, a Hollywood production company since 1975, and Founder and CEO of CanAm Film Corp., a British Columbia corporation since 1992.[8]
Interviews
- Interview from The Quentin Tarantino Archives, tarantino.info; accessed 20 August 2015.
Filmography
Actor
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Maurie | Jack Twyman | |
| 1974 | The Great Waldo Pepper | Axel Olsson | |
| 1975 | Walking Tall, Part 2 | Buford Pusser | |
| 1976 | Breaking Point | Michael McBain | |
| Special Delivery | Jack Murdock | ||
| 1977 | The Son of the Sheik | Unknown | |
| Snowbeast | Gar Seberg | ||
| Walking Tall: Final Chapter | Buford Pusser | ||
| 1978 | The Inglorious Bastards | Lieutenant Robert Yeager | |
| 1979 | Portrait of a Hitman | Dr. Bob Michaels | |
| North Dallas Forty | Jo Bob Priddy | ||
| 1980 | Sverige åt svenskarna | The Lad | |
| Virus | Major Carter | ||
| 1982 | Night Warning | Detective Joe Carlson | |
| 1983 | Thunder Warrior | Sheriff Bill Cook | |
| 1984 | Deadly Impact | George Ryan | |
| The Manhunt | Sheriff | ||
| 1985 | Wizards of the Lost Kingdom | Kor | |
| 1986 | The Delta Force | Captain Campbell | |
| Choke Canyon | Captain Oliver Parkside | ||
| Armour of God | Monk | ||
| Heartbreak Ridge | Roy Jennings, Palace Bar Owner | ||
| 1987 | Maniac Killer | Count Silvano | |
| Movie in Action | The Director | ||
| Thunder Warrior II | Sheriff Roger | ||
| Double Target | Colonel Galckin | ||
| White Phantom | The Colonel | ||
| Brothers in Blood | Steven Elliott Logan / Steel | ||
| 1988 | Andy Colby's Incredible Adventure | Kor The Conqueror | |
| Delta Force Commando | Colonel Keitel | ||
| Deep Space | Captain Robertson | ||
| Primal Rage | Ethridge | ||
| 1989 | Soda Cracker | Ivan Moss | |
| Curse II: The Bite | The Sheriff | ||
| Beyond the Door III | Professor Andromolek | ||
| 1990 | Tides of War | SS Colonel | |
| Laser Mission | Colonel | ||
| 1991 | Critical Action | Ex-Con | |
| Steele's Law | Sheriff Barnes | ||
| 1992 | Three Days to a Kill | Rick | |
| 1994 | Savage Land | Jeb | |
| 1995 | Private Obsession | Sam Weston | |
| Steel Frontier | Colonel Roy Ackett | ||
| 1996 | Cheyenne | Captain Starrett | |
| 1997 | Speed 2: Cruise Control | Captain Pollard | |
| 1998 | Yukie | Richard | |
| 2000 | Crackerjack 3 | Jack Thorn | |
| 2001 | Outlaw | Detective Maize | |
| 2004 | Legacy | Purse Snatcher | |
| Kill Bill: Volume 2 | Reverend Harmony | ||
| 2005 | Hell to Pay | Del Shannon | |
| 2006 | Raising Jeffrey Dahmer | Detective John Amos | |
| 2008 | I Am Somebody: No Chance in Hell | Bo, Foreman | |
| 2009 | Inglourious Basterds | American Colonel | |
| 2010 | Jersey Justice | W.W. Tolliver | |
| The 7 Adventures of Sinbad | Simon Magnusson | ||
| Angry | Bill | ||
| Icarus | Vadim | ||
| 2014 | The Dependables | Mick Skinner |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | Flipper | Harry Hobson | Episode: "Coral Fever" |
| 1967 | N.Y.P.D. | Actor | Episode: "Shakedown" |
| 1968 | Premier | Milovan Drumm | Episode: "The Freebooters" |
| Mission Impossible | Karl | Episode: "The Mercenaries" | |
| Here Comes the Brides | 'Big Swede' | 10 episodes | |
| 1969 | Lancer | Josh | Episode: "The Wedding" |
| The Name of the Game | G.B. Mosbie | Episode: "Love-In at Ground Zero" | |
| Daniel Boone | Haskins | Episode: "A Pinch of Salt" | |
| The High Chaparral | Bennett | Episode: "Trail to Nevemore" | |
| Ironside | Baron Lars Von Gyllenskjold | Episode: "Love My Enemy" | |
| 1970 | The Virginian | Lonnie | Episode: "The Price of the Hanging" |
| Mod Squad | Bubba | Episode: "Welcome to the Human Race, Levi Frazee!" | |
| 1971 | The Chicago Teddy Bears | Georgi | Episode: "Billy the Kid" |
| McCloud | Charles 'Bubba' White | Episode: "Top of the World, Ma" | |
| 1972 | The Bravos | Raeder | TV movie |
| The Rookies | Bud Reeves | Episode: "The Commitment" | |
| Banyon | Carlo | Episode: "Meal Ticket" | |
| 1973 | ABC's Wide World of Entertainment | Monster | 2 part episode: "Frankenstein" |
| You'll Never See Me Again | Sam | TV movie | |
| Kung Fu | Pike | Episode: "The Spirit-Helper" | |
| 1974 | The Snoop Sisters | Chet Marion | Episode: "Fear Is a Free-Throw" |
| 1975 | Target Risk | Lee Driscoll | TV movie |
| 1977 | Snowbeast | Gar Seberg | TV movie |
| 1979 | Gold of the Amazon Women | Tom Jensen | TV movie |
| The Spirit of Adventure: Night Flight | Fabien | TV movie | |
| 1981 | Walking Tall | Sheriff Buford Pusser | 7 episodes |
| 1982 | Magnum, P.I. | Ivan | Episode: "Did You See the Sun Rise?" |
| 1983 | The Fall Guy | Colonel Baker | 2 episodes |
| 1984 | Jealousy | Ho Hutton | TV movie |
| Hunter | Sheriff Jake Cutter | Episode: "A Long Way from L.A." | |
| 1985 | Crazy like a Fox | Unknown | Episode: "Motor Homicide" |
| 1987 | The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission | Maurice Fontenac | TV movie |
| 1988 | Murder, She Wrote | Karl Anderson | 2 episodes |
| 1993 | Neon Rider | Maitland | Episode: "Walking Tall" |
| Street Justice | Captain Stryker | Episode: "Countdown" | |
| The Commish | George Hayes | Episode: "Hero" | |
| 1994 | Lonesome Dove: The Series | Colonel Jeb Quintano | Episode: "Last Stand" |
| Cobra | Frank McLory | Episode: "Death Dive" | |
| Kung Fu: The Legend Continues | Ben Kinasay | Episode: "Only the Strong Survive" | |
| 1995 | Pointman | Uncle Nick | Episode: "Going Home" |
| 1997 | Heartless | Sheriff Sam | TV movie |
| 1998 | Dead Man's Gun | Colonel Horace Buckthorn | Episode: "The Mimsers" |
| 1998 | Due South | Holloway Muldoon | 2-part episode: "Call of the Wild" |
| 2002 | JAG | Captain Mikhail Yerastov | 2 episodes |
| 2004 | I'll Be Seeing You | Philip Carter | TV movie |
| Proof of the Man | Ken Shuftan | TV mini-series | |
| 2012 | Arne Dahl: Bad Blood | Daniel Brink | TV movie |
Director
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | The Road Home | |
| 1996–1998 | Kung Fu: The Legend Continues | |
| 1998 | He's Not Heavy | |
| 2001 | Outlaw | |
| 2004 | Legacy | |
| 2010 | Moomins and the Comet Chase | Voices |
Producer
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Yukie | Co-producer |
| 2004 | Legacy | Producer |
| 2006 | Raising Jeffrey Dahmer | Co-producer |
Writer
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Outlaw | |
| 2004 | Legacy |
References
- ^ Bo Svenson bio, imdb.com; accessed 12 August 2016.
- ^ [1], tcm.com;
- ^ a b c Bo Svenson profile, bosvenson.com; 26 February 2012.
- ^ Bo Svenson resume, imdb.com; accessed 20 August 2015.
- ^ "JUDOKA AND WALKING TALL ACTOR BO SVENSON". judotalk.com. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
- ^ a b Bo Svenson at IMDb
- ^ "No More Half Measures, Walter" | Half Measures | Breaking Bad, retrieved 23 March 2022
- ^ "Biography". Bosvenson. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
External links
- Official website
- Bo Svenson at IMDb