1930-1993
Born in Iowa on January 23, 1932, raised in South Dakota, Swen Swenson moved to New York City to study performing arts as soon as he graduated from high school. In less than two years, he made his debut on Broadway in 1950’s, Great to be Alive! Openly gay, he went on to featured and co-starring roles on Broadway in eight more musicals, including Bless You All, Destry Rides Again, Wildcat, and Little Me, for which he received a Theater World Award and a Tony nomination.
An artist of many talents and media, he was a featured dancer on television’s pioneering, classic Your Show of Shows; performed for a year at the famed Lido in Paris and co-produced off-Broadway’s And Puppy Dog Tales, among others. He also assembled one of the world’s largest collections of wooden carousel figures.
Swenson was a pioneering activist for human rights for LGBTs. After moving to Los Angeles in 1989, he became deeply involved with West Hollywood’s ACT UP chapter; on weekends he could be found raising money to fight AIDS at the intersection of Santa Monica and La Cienega boulevards by offering to let people pet his “gay” dog for a dollar.