Kenneth Clifford Welsh, CM (March 30, 1942 – May 5, 2022)[2][3] was a Canadian actor,[4] who made over 300 stage, film, and television appearances over a nearly 60-year career.
Educated at the National Theatre School, he was a member of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival for six years,[5] before to New York and appearing in many Off-Broadway and Broadway plays.[5] Beginning in the late 1970s, he worked regularly in film and television, both in Canada and the United States. He was well-known to television audiences for his portrayal of the multi-faceted villain Windom Earle on Twin Peaks (1990-91), and for playing Dr. Watson in a series of CTV Sherlock Holmes telefilms.
He was a four-time Genie Award nominee - winning Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Margaret's Museum (1996), with Best Actor nods for Reno and the Doc (1984) and Loyalties (1986). He also won four Gemini Awards, and was nominated for an Daytime Emmy Award. In 2003, he was acclaimed to the Order of Canada.
Welsh was born in Edmonton, Alberta, to a father who worked for the Canadian National Railway and mother who worked in a dress shop.[6] He studied drama at school, as Alberta was the only province at the time which included drama on the curriculum.[5] He continued his acting studies at the University of Alberta under Gordon Peacock,[7] before moving to Montreal to attend the National Theatre School.[5] He graduated in 1965.[7]
Following graduation, he auditioned for the Stratford Festival in Ontario and then spent the first seven years of his career on stage.[4]
Following graduation, Welsh joined the Stratford Festival in Ontario. He made his debut during the 1966 season in Henry V, playing Sir Thomas Grey. He spent the next six years with the Festival, appearing in numerous Shakespearean roles. After their highly-successful 1973 European tour, he left the Festival, and took stints at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis and the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. He was a member of the Guthrie's ensemble company during the mid-70's under artistic director Michael Langham. In 1975, he won a Joseph Jefferson Award for his performance in The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui at the Goodman.[8]
He made his Off-Broadway debut in the world premiere of Curse of the Starving Class at The Public Theater, and his Broadway debut in The Government Inspector. During the 1980's, he starred in such notable Broadway productions as Piaf, The Real Thing, Social Security, and Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune.[9] He directed and starred in multiple acclaimed stagings of the Dylan Thomas-penned radio drama Under Milk Wood.[10]
Welsh also wrote the book for Standup Shakespeare, a cabaret musical that sets Shakespearean dialogue to contemporary jazz, baroque, samba and gospel-rock music.[11]
In the 2010s, he was a member of Toronto's Soulpepper Theatre Company.[10]
He was a two-time Genie Award nominee for Best Actor, receiving nods at the 6th Genie Awards in 1985 for his portrayal of Reno Colt in the film Reno and the Doc[12][13] and at the 8th Genie Awards in 1987 for his performance as David Sutton in Loyalties,[14] and a two-time Genie nominee for Best Supporting Actor, receiving a nomination at the 5th Genie Awards in 1984 for Tell Me That You Love Me[15] and winning the award at the 16th Genie Awards in 1996 for Margaret's Museum.[16]
Reno and the Doc was 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.[17]
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.[18] He played Thomas Norval Hepburn, the father of Katharine Hepburn, in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator (2004).
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, the real-life vice-president at the time. 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.[19]
Welsh's best-known television role is as Windom Earle, the primary antagonist and cunning foil to Dale Cooper, during the second season of the Twin Peaks (1990-91, 2017). He played Dr. Watson in a series of CTV Sherlock Holmes telefilms, opposite Matt Frewer as Holmes.
Welsh won four Gemini Awards out of six total nominations - Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Limited Series for And Then You Die (1987), Love and Hate: The Story of Colin and JoAnn Thatcher (1987), and Hiroshima (1995). He won Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Program or Series for Deadly Betrayal: The Bruce Curtis Story. He was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in Children's Programming for his performance in the HBO telefilm Edison: The Wizard of Light.
He made guest appearances on numerous series, including Seeing Things, the 1980s revival of The Twilight Zone, The X-Files, Due South,[20] Law & Order, The Practice, Murdoch Mysteries, Stargate Atlantis, Slings & Arrows,[21] The Expanse, The Blacklist, Lodge 49, and The Kids in the Hall.
In 2003, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada.[22]
Welsh married Lynne Mcilvride in March 2022.[23] He had a son, musician Devon Welsh (b. 1988), from his previous marriage.[24][25]
Welsh was baptized by Anglican priest Rev. RuthAnne Ward in his house in the last months of his life. He was also a follower of American spiritual teacher Adi Da, who primarily focused on prioritizing spiritual enlightenment, Welsh narrated Da's 2000 audiobook, "What, Where, When, How, Why, and Who to Remember to Be Happy".[26]
Welsh died on May 5, 2022, at the age of 80, from cancer.[27] His son son Devon announced on Twitter: "My dad passed away on Thursday peacefully at home. I will always love him beyond words. He lived a wonderful life, he was the best father I could have asked for, and he touched so many lives. Please make a toast, watch a film/TV show he was in, celebrate a giant of acting."[28]
Upon his death, the official ACTRA Twitter account eulogized him saying "Ken was one of Canada’s all-time great performers, with hundreds of memorable roles spanning decades."[29]
His ashes were scattered in Lake Ontario following cremation.
In this CD, Avatar Adi Da tells children exactly what to do every day to remember, feel, and breathe everlasting happiness. Narrated by award-winning actor Kenneth Welsh (Legends of the Fall, Perfectly Normal), with music by acclaimed composer Ray Lynch. Listen to this magical CD and be transported into the feeling of the Mystery!