Karl E Makinen Jr., was born in Queens, New York, to a Swedish/Finnish father and Italian/Irish mother.  He moved to Lake Ronkonkoma Long Island at the age of two until he was 20, when he moved to Los Angeles to study and pursue acting.

Karl has acted in over 60 film and television shows, including recurring roles on The Walking Dead, Twin Peaks 2019, Perry Mason ‘2020, Desperate Housewives and in movies such as Call of the Wild, Joe Dirt, Princess Diaries and more... ‍

Karl’s father was a NYPD detective and his mother ran a dry-cleaning business on Long Island. He is the third of four boys.  Karl’s first big break was on Season 1 of NYPD Blue, much to the delight of his NYPD detective father.  Karl began to work steadily in both film and television projects, appearing in guest-star roles on shows such as NCIS, CSI Miami, Bones, Monk, Six Feet Under, Cold Case, How to Get Away with Murder, Charmed, Hawaii 5-0, Criminal Minds and
9-1-1.  Recurring roles followed on shows such as The Unit, Desperate Housewives, Prison Break, and most recently as Richard in AMC’s The Walking Dead, as Commander Joe Morton in HBO’s Perry Mason and as General Braxton in ABC’s Strange Angel.

Notable film roles include Proprietor in Call of the Wild with Harrison Ford, Houdini with Mark Ruffalo, FBI agent in Thirteen Days with Kevin Costner, and a cop (go figure) in both Joe Dirt and The House of Sand and Fog.
Karl lives in Los Angeles with his wife Victoria Makinen and his 2 children.

Karl lives in Los Angeles with his wife Victoria Makinen and his 2 children.