Karl Backus | |
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Born | Karl Laurence Backus 1963or1964(age 59–60) [1] |
Alma mater |
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Occupations |
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Years active | 1981–present |
Known for | Oregon Shakespeare Festival |
Notable credits | |
Spouse | Summer King (m. 2000) |
Parents |
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Karl Laurence Backus is an American actor and art director who appeared in multiple productions of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in the 1980s and 90s, a San Diego production of Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde (2003), and the films Skin: The Movie (2018), Thane of East County (2015), and Walking with the Enemy (2013). Backus has multiple ensemble nominations at the Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
In 1983, Backus was a public service announcer for KBST. [7] He worked as an art director for J. Walter Thompson [8] [2] and in 2015, he was with the San Diego Film Commission. [9] [10]
Backus is a member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. [3] [11] He became a member around 1986 [6] and was part of seven teams sponsored by the Napa Valley Opera House [4] assigned to visit over 170,000 students annually across eight states [12] in the Western United States, including Alaska and Hawaii. [13] [5] [3] Following a performance at Edward C. Reed High School, Backus and his coworker were robbed of their equipment and clothing after discovering their car was stolen. [14]
Phyllis Wolfe at The Des Moines Register said his performance as Malcolm in Macbeth "hones his battle ax with a low, resounding ring downstage" and brought clarity to his lines. [15] Ron Cowan at Statesman Journal said his performance in Moliere Plays Paris "is briefly but unforgettably seen as a king who offhandedly invents the musical comedy." [16] Steven Winn at SFGate said Backus' scene in Arcadia was the best one, playing "a bored king who is both generous and high-handed." [17] George Weinberg-Harter at Backstage Magazine said Backus' performance as Edward Carson in Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde was the "understated seriousness of a complete legal professional." [18]
Backus was born to Joyce and Laurence Backus of Central Point, Oregon. [8] He started acting around the time he was 20 [1] and in 1987, graduated from Southern Oregon University with Bachelor of Fine Arts [7] in theatre arts. Backus earned a master's degree in 1992 at Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training. Backus graduated from the Portfolio Center in 1999 and married Summer King in 2000. [8] He studied with José Quintero, Oleg Tabakov [19] and did high school theater with Shelley Malil in 1981. [20]
Year | Title | Role | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Cloud Nine | Betty / Gerry | American College Theater Festival | Regional winner [7] | |
Scapino! | Scapino | Southern Oregon State College, Ashland, Oregon | Mainstage [7] | |
In a Northern Landscape | Samuel | |||
Crimes of the Heart | Barnette | |||
Rashomon | Woodcutter | |||
Bar & Ger | Bar | Studio, by Geraldine Aron [7] | ||
Fire in the Dark | Van Gogh | Studio [7] | ||
A Life in the Theatre | John | |||
Miss Julie | Jean | |||
1987–1988 | Macbeth | Elizabethan Stage, Oregon Shakespeare Festival | [7] [21] | |
A Midsummer Night's Dream | [7] [22] | |||
The Shoemaker's Holiday | [7] [23] [22] | |||
Henry IV, Part One | [7] | |||
1989 | Cyrano de Bergerac | Apprentice Pickpocket / Boy / Cadet | Featuring Roy Abramsohn [7] [6] | |
Two Gentlemen of Verona | [6] | |||
1993 | Macbeth | Malcolm | Iowa Shakespeare Project, Greenwood Park, Iowa | [15] |
1996 | Arcadia | King Louis XIV | Angus Bowmer Theatre, Ashland, Oregon | February [24] |
June [17] | ||||
Moliere Plays Paris | Elizabethan Stage, Oregon Shakespeare Festival | By Molière [16] [25] | ||
Coriolanus | [25] | |||
Romeo and Juliet | ||||
1997 | Gregory | [26] [27] [25] | ||
2003 | Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde | Attorney Edward Carson | San Diego, California | [18] [28] [29] |
2004 | Thief River | Middle-aged Ray | Diversionary Theatre, San Diego, California | By Lee Blessing [30] |
Year | Title | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1987 | Romeo and Juliet | Yerington High School | [31] [32] |
The Taming of the Shrew | |||
'Tis Pity She's a Whore | |||
Shoemaker's Holiday | |||
1988 | The Tempest | Little Theater, Kingsburg High School | [6] |
Much Ado About Nothing | |||
The Catcher in the Rye | |||
Dandelion Wine | |||
1996 | Henry V | Tumwater Middle School, Portland, Oregon | [5] |
Two Soldiers | By William Faulkner [5] | ||
The Butter Battle Book | [5] | ||
1997 | Shh...Listen To Me | Cloverdale High School, Cloverdale, California | Featuring segments from Two Gentlemen of Verona, In Flanders Fields, and Dancing at Lughnasa [3] |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1993 | Hidden Fears | Man at the Y | |
2006 | What's the Vig? | Kenneth Hart | [33] |
2011 | Misdirection | Simsung | Also executive producer [33] |
2013 | Walking with the Enemy | Colonel Klein | [34] [19] |
2015 | Thane of East County | Duke | [33] |
2016 | A Life Lived | Jefferson | [35] |
Undocumented | Reporter | Short film | |
2018 | Skin: The Movie | Lance | |
2019 | GPS | Malcomb | Short film |
Event | Year | Film | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
Blast Off Film Festival | 2019 | Skin: The Movie | Best Acting Ensemble | Nominated |
Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema | 2020 | Best Ensemble | Nominated | |
2021 | GPS | Best Ensemble Cast | Nominated |
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