Karl Backus

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Karl Backus
Born
Karl Laurence Backus

1963 or 1964 (age 61–62)[1]
Alma mater
Occupations
  • Actor
  • art director
Years active1981–present
Known forOregon Shakespeare Festival
Notable credits

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]

Career

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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]

Reception

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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]

Personal life

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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]

Stage credits

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Theater performances
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]
School visitation performances
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]

Filmography

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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
2024 Sincerely Saul Officer Porter [36]

Accolades

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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

References

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