| Birth Name: | Karl Laurence Backus |
| Birth Date: | [1] |
| Years Active: | 1981–present |
| Known For: | Oregon Shakespeare Festival |
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 (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.
In 1983, Backus was a public service announcer for KBST. He worked as an art director for J. Walter Thompson[2] and in 2015, he was with the San Diego Film Commission.[3] [4]
Backus is a member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.[5] [6] He became a member around 1986 and was part of seven teams sponsored by the Napa Valley Opera House[7] assigned to visit over 170,000 students annually across eight states[8] in the Western United States, including Alaska and Hawaii.[9] [10] 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.[11]
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.[12] 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."[13] Steven Winn at SFGate said Backus' scene in Arcadia was the best one, playing "a bored king who is both generous and high-handed."[14] 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."[15]
Backus was born to Joyce and Laurence Backus of Central Point, Oregon. He started acting around the time he was 20 and in 1987, graduated from Southern Oregon University with Bachelor of Fine Arts[16] 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.[17] He studied with José Quintero, Oleg Tabakov[18] and did high school theater with Shelley Malil in 1981.[19]
| Cloud Nine | Betty / Gerry | American College Theater Festival | Regional winner | ||
| Scapino! | Scapino | Southern Oregon State College, Ashland, Oregon | Mainstage | ||
| In a Northern Landscape | Samuel | ||||
| Crimes of the Heart | Barnette | ||||
| Rashomon | Woodcutter | ||||
| Bar & Ger | Bar | Studio, by Geraldine Aron | |||
| Fire in the Dark | Van Gogh | Studio | |||
| A Life in the Theatre | John | ||||
| Miss Julie | Jean | ||||
| 1987–1988 | Macbeth | Elizabethan Stage, Oregon Shakespeare Festival | [20] | ||
| A Midsummer Night's Dream | [21] | ||||
| The Shoemaker's Holiday | [22] | ||||
| Henry IV, Part One | |||||
| 1989 | Cyrano de Bergerac | Apprentice Pickpocket / Boy / Cadet | Featuring Roy Abramsohn[23] | ||
| Two Gentlemen of Verona | |||||
| 1993 | Macbeth | Malcolm | Iowa Shakespeare Project, Greenwood Park, Iowa | ||
| 1996 | Arcadia | King Louis XIV | Angus Bowmer Theatre, Ashland, Oregon | February[24] | |
| June | |||||
| Moliere Plays Paris | Elizabethan Stage, Oregon Shakespeare Festival | By Molière[25] | |||
| Coriolanus | |||||
| Romeo and Juliet | |||||
| 1997 | Gregory | [26] [27] | |||
| 2003 | Attorney Edward Carson | San Diego, California | [28] [29] | ||
| 2004 | Thief River | Middle-aged Ray | Diversionary Theatre, San Diego, California | By Lee Blessing[30] |
| 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 | ||
| Much Ado About Nothing | ||||
| The Catcher in the Rye | ||||
| Dandelion Wine | ||||
| 1996 | Henry V | Tumwater Middle School, Portland, Oregon | ||
| Two Soldiers | By William Faulkner | |||
| The Butter Battle Book | ||||
| 1997 | Shh...Listen To Me | Cloverdale High School, Cloverdale, California | Featuring segments from Two Gentlemen of Verona, In Flanders Fields, and Dancing at Lughnasa |
| 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 | |
| 2013 | Walking with the Enemy | Colonel Klein | [34] | |
| 2015 | Thane of East County | Duke | ||
| 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 | Best Acting Ensemble | ||
| Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema | 2020 | Best Ensemble | ||
| 2021 | GPS | Best Ensemble Cast |