Kenneth Welsh

Kenneth Welsh, CM (born March 30, 1942) is a Canadian-American film and television actor (sometimes credited as Ken Welsh). He is known to Twin Peaks fans as the multi-faceted villain Windom Earle, and played the father of Katharine Hepburn as portrayed by Cate Blanchett in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator. He lives outside of Toronto.

Life and career

Welsh was born in Edmonton, Alberta, to a father who worked for the Canadian National Railway.^[1] He grew up in Alberta and studied drama at school. He later moved to Montreal and attended the National Theatre School. Following graduation, he auditioned for the Stratford Festival in Ontario and then spent the first seven years of his career on stage.

Welsh has portrayed historical figures including Thomas E. Dewey, Colin Thatcher, Harry S. Truman (twice), Thomas Edison, James "Scotty" Reston, General Harry Crerar and James Baker. He has made guest appearances on the acclaimed TV series Due South and Slings and Arrows.

In 1984, he was nominated for a Genie Award as Best Actor for his portrayal of Reno Colt in the film Reno and the Doc, written and directed by Charles Dennis. In 1997, Welsh directed Dennis in the latter's play SoHo Duo at the West Bank Theatre in New York City. In 2003, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada.

His role as the vice-president of the United States in the 2004 environmental disaster film The Day After Tomorrow sparked some controversy due to his physical resemblance to Dick Cheney, who at the time was the real vice-president. Director Roland Emmerich later confirmed that he deliberately chose Welsh for that very reason. Emmerich stated that the character of the vice-president in the film was intended to be a not-so-subtle criticism of the environmental policies of the George W. Bush Administration.^[2]

Welsh's son Devon was the lead singer of the musical group Majical Cloudz.^[3]

Filmography

• Bailey's Billion$ (2005) as Mouse Delaney
• This Is Wonderland
  • Episode #2.3 (2005) TV Episode
• Tilt
  • The Aftermath (2005 TV Episode) as Seymour Henderson
  • The Whale (2005 TV Episode) as Seymour Henderson
  • Risk Tolerance (2005 TV Episode as Seymour Annisman
  • The Game (2005 TV Episode) as Seymour Henderson
• Our Fathers (2005) (TV) as Bishop Murphy
• Four Brothers (2005) as Robert Bradford
• The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) (as Ken Welsh) as Dr. Mueller
• The Fog (2005) as Tom Malone
• ReGenesis
  • Spare Parts (2004 TV Episode) as Dr. Shelby Sloane
  • Baby Bomb (2004 TV Episode) as Dr. Shelby Sloane
  • The Face of God (2005 TV Episode) as Dr. Shelby Sloane
• Category 7: The End of the World (2005) (mini TV Series) as Chief of Staff Alan Horst
• Smallville
  • Lexmas (2005 TV Episode) as Drunk Santa
• The Snow Queen (2005) (TV) as King
• Above and Beyond (2005) (mini TV Series, in post-production) as Lord Beaverbrook
• Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008) as Uncle Hendrick
• Survival of the Dead (2009)
• Human Target (2010) as Belvilacqua
• Haven (2011) (episode "The Tides That Bind") as Cole Glendower
• The Story of Luke (2012) as Jonas
• The Art of the Steal (2013) as 'Uncle' Paddy McCarthy
• The Best Laid Plans (2014) as Angus McClintock
• The Expanse (2016) as Frank Degraff
• The Ballad of Immortal Joe (2016) - Narrator

References

External links

• Kenneth Welsh at the Internet Movie Database
• Kenneth Welsh at northernstars.ca
• Excerpts from an Interview with Kenneth Welsh, conducted by Charles Prepolec on September 8, 2000.