Home >

Kenneth Welsh

Kenneth Welsh

Birthday: 1942-03-30 | Place of Birth: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Kenneth Welsh, CM (born March 30, 1942) is a Canadian film and television actor (sometimes credited as Ken Welsh). He is known to Twin Peaks fans as the multi-faceted villain Windom Earle, and has more recently played the father of Katharine Hepburn (Cate Blanchett) in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator. 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. Welsh was born in Edmonton, Alberta to a father who worked for the Canadian National Railway. 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 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 Presidency of George W. Bush. Description above from the Wikipedia article Kenneth Welsh, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

...

Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

2021
The Middle Man

as    Mr. Miller

2019
And the Birds Rained Down

as    Boychuck

2017
Awakening the Zodiac

as    Ben

2017
The Void

as    Dr. Richard Powell

2017
Undercover Grandpa

as    Harry

2016
A Nutcracker Christmas

as    Dimitri

2014
The Art of the Steal

as    'Uncle' Paddy MacCarthy

2014
The Best Laid Plans

as    Angus McLintock

2014
Wet Bum

as    Ed

2013
Cottage Country

as    Earl

2013
The Story of Luke

as    Jonas

2013
Rewind

as    President

2010
Survival of the Dead

as    Patrick O'Flynn

2009
The Last Templar

as    Bill Vance

2009
The Last Templar

as    Bill Vance

2009
Grey Gardens

as    Max Gordon

2008
The Trojan Horse

as    Randall Spear

2007
Silk

as    Mayor Joncour

2006
The Covenant

as    Provost Higgins

2006
One Way

as    William Henderson

2005
The Exorcism of Emily Rose

as    Dr. Mueller

2005
Bailey's Billion$

as    Mouse Delaney

2005
The Fog

as    Tom Malone