Personal details
Born:
- Birthday: 1977-05-09
- Born Place: Cape Town, South Africa
Also Known As:
Karl Thanning , Karl Otto Thaning
Karl Thaning
Karl Thaning (born Karl Otto Thaning on May 9, 1977) is a distinguished South African actor and former world-class athlete who has transitioned from a successful career in professional sports to become a staple of international film and television. Raised in Cape Town, he attended Diocesan College before beginning legal studies at university; however, he soon pivoted to the arts, earning a scholarship to study Theatre Arts at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. Before becoming a full-time actor, Thaning was an elite international swimmer and water polo player, most notably representing South Africa at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. His athletic background often informs his screen presence, as he is frequently cast in physically demanding roles across the action and thriller genres. In the 2025 sequel Muzzle: City of Wolves, he plays a pivotal role as Officer Beekman, a corrupt police detective who serves as a primary antagonist by attempting to frame Jake Rosser (Aaron Eckhart) and dismantle his life on behalf of the cartel. Thaning's filmography is marked by a steady presence in high-profile international productions filmed in South Africa. He is widely recognized for his role as O'Malley, a mercenary working for Eleanor Guthrie, in the Starz pirate epic Black Sails, and has appeared in notable films such as Dredd (2012) as Judge Chan, the post-apocalyptic thriller Doomsday (2008), and the action film Momentum (2015), where he starred alongside Morgan Freeman and Olga Kurylenko as Doug MacArthur. His television credits are equally diverse, including roles in the Syfy series Dominion, the maritime rescue drama SAF3, and the South African mystery series The Girl from St Agnes.
