Karl Backus

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]}

Karl Backus
Born	Karl Laurence Backus 1963 or 1964 (age 60–61)[1]
Alma mater	Southern Oregon University Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training Portfolio Center
Occupations	Actor art director
Years active	1981–present
Known for	Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Notable credits	Skin: The Movie Thane of East County Walking with the Enemy
Spouse	Summer King ​ (m. 2000)​
Parents	Laurence Backus (father) Joyce Backus (mother)

Career

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

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

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

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

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

Accolades

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