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Karl Backus

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Karl Backus
Born
Karl Laurence Backus

1963 or 1964 (age 59–60)[1]
Alma mater
Occupations
  • Actor
  • art director
Years active1981–present
Known forOregon Shakespeare Festival
Notable credits
Spouse
Summer King
​
(m. 2000)​
Parents
  • Laurence Backus (father)
  • Joyce Backus (mother)

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]
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

[edit]
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

[edit]
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

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Locals enjoy Shakespeare presentation". Mason Valley News. 1987-11-27. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-08-28 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b "On the move". Adweek. 2000-10-30. Archived from the original on 2018-12-16. Retrieved 2024-07-31.
  3. ^ a b c d "Oregon Shakespeare Festival Actors to visit Cloverdale High". Cloverdale Reveille. 1997-03-12. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-07-31 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b Givens, Ann (1997-01-24). "The broad side of the Bard". Napa Valley Register. p. 13. Retrieved 2024-07-31 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b c d e Johnson, Oscar (1996-12-02). "Shakespeare opens students' eyes". The Olympian. p. 15. Retrieved 2024-07-31 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Shakespeare on stage in Kingsburg". The Selma Enterprise. 1988-11-09. p. 20. Retrieved 2024-07-31 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Winter–Spring 1989". Oregon Shakespeare Festival. 1989. Retrieved 2024-08-18.
  8. ^ a b c "King-Backus". Tallahassee Democrat. 1999-12-26. p. 54. Retrieved 2024-07-31 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Accomando, Beth (2015-05-23). "San Diego's Film Community Optimistic After City Council Budget Meeting". KPBS Public Media. Retrieved 2024-07-31.
  10. ^ "San Diego Mayor's Office Outlines Plans To Attract Film, Television Production". KPBS Public Media. 2015-06-04. Retrieved 2024-07-31.
  11. ^ Leary, Kathleen F. (2009). Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Internet Archive. Carleston, SC : Arcadia Pub. p. 126. ISBN 978-0-7385-7086-0.
  12. ^ "Timberline Shakespeare". The Olympian. 1989-11-18. p. 17. Retrieved 2024-08-28 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Actors in Visalia". The Hanford Sentinel. 1988-11-10. p. 19. Retrieved 2024-08-28 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "New teaching tool gets Reno preview". Reno Gazette-Journal. 1987-11-19. p. 51. Retrieved 2024-08-28 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ a b Wolfe, Phyllis (1993-07-31). "Get thee thither to 'Macbeth' in the park". The Des Moines Register. p. 27. Retrieved 2024-08-28 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ a b Cowan, Ron (1996-02-26). "An enjoyable course of fluffy farce". Statesman Journal. pp. 27–28. Retrieved 2024-08-28 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ a b Winn, Steven (1996-06-20). "'Arcadia' – Encore In Ashland / Stoppard's work tops non-Shakespeare plays". SFGATE. ProQuest 303490247. Retrieved 2024-07-31.
  18. ^ a b Weinberg-Harter, George (2019-11-05). "Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde". Backstage. Retrieved 2024-07-31.
  19. ^ a b "Walking with the Enemy | Trailer & Official Movie Site". Walking with the Enemy. Archived from the original on 2013-12-06. Retrieved 2024-07-31.
  20. ^ Schroder, Susan (2010-09-08). "Actor's friends testify in his defense". San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on 2024-07-30. Retrieved 2024-07-31.
  21. ^ "Review of MACBETH". Shakespeare Bulletin. 5/6 (6/1): 18–19. 1987. ISSN 0748-2558. JSTOR 26352373.
  22. ^ a b "Review of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream". Shakespeare Bulletin. 5/6 (6/1): 20–21. 1987. ISSN 0748-2558. JSTOR 26352376.
  23. ^ "Review of 'The Shoemakers Holiday'". Shakespeare Bulletin. 5/6 (6/1): 21. 1987. ISSN 0748-2558. JSTOR 26352378.
  24. ^ Hurwitt, Robert (1996-02-28). "Ashland plans on growing up Oregon Shakespeare Festival reaches for overdue big-time status". SFGATE. ProQuest 270421710. Retrieved 2024-07-31.
  25. ^ a b c Theatre world, 1996–1997 season. Internet Archive. New York : Applause. 1999. pp. 200–201. ISBN 978-1-55783-343-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  26. ^ Armstrong, Alan (1997). "Review of 'Romeo and Juliet'". Shakespeare Bulletin. 15 (2): 33–34. ISSN 0748-2558. JSTOR 26353079.
  27. ^ "Romeo and Juliet". Shakespeare Quarterly. 48 (5): 732–743. 1997. ISSN 0037-3222. JSTOR 2871361.
  28. ^ Welsh, Anne Marie (2003-01-20). "A righteous 'Gross Indecency'". San Diego Union Tribune. ProQuest 272062586. Retrieved 2024-07-31.
  29. ^ Jacques, Ken (2005). The play's the thing : a photographic odyssey through theatre in San Diego. Internet Archive. San Diego: Sunbelt Publications. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-932653-71-0.
  30. ^ de Poyen, Jennifer (2004-08-30). "Diversionary has an intricate study of passion and denial". San Diego Union Tribune. ProQuest 272381824. Retrieved 2024-07-31.
  31. ^ "Shakespearean actors at local schools". Mason Valley News. 1987-11-27. p. 17. Retrieved 2024-08-28 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ^ "Oregon Shakespearean Festival actors to present school & public programs here". Mason Valley News. 1987-11-13. p. 13. Retrieved 2024-08-28 – via Newspapers.com.
  33. ^ a b c "Karl Backus | Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
  34. ^ Chang, Justin (2014-04-26). "Film Review: 'Walking With the Enemy'". Variety. Retrieved 2024-07-31.
  35. ^ "Actress Denise Richards Takes On Rare Dramatic Role in Award Winning Independent Film, A Life Lived". M2 PressWIRE. 2017-08-14. ProQuest 1928293514. Retrieved 2024-07-31.
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