Kenneth Welsh, ‘Twin Peaks’ Actor, Dead at 80

Kenneth Welsh, best known to Twin Peaks fans as the sinister Windom Earle from season two, has died at 80. The longtime character actor was a versatile star of the stage and screen and maintained his career until shortly before his passing. Welsh recently made guest appearances on Charmed and Star Trek Discovery on Paramount+.

A five-time Canadian Screen Award winner, his representatives confirmed his passing Thursday with no cause of death announced yet. “ACTRA Toronto is extremely saddened today by the passing of Kenneth Welsh,” the statement from the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists read. “Ken was one of Canada’s all-time great performers, with hundreds of memorable roles spanning decades. He will be greatly missed. Our condolences to his loved ones.”

Welsh had been acting since the ’60s, with his first screen appearance coming as part of the Shoestring Theater on CBC in 1963. According to Variety, the show featured a group of actors performing “minimalist, experimental productions of plays.” He would later appear in several TV movie versions of classics like Henry V and The Three Musketeers.

His career is long, but many fans can only see the devious Windom Earle when they see Welsh. The former partner of Kyle MacLachlan’s Dale Cooper, the FBI agent went insane, killed his wife and became obsessed with discovering The Black Lodge. That brings him to Twin Peaks and is how he becomes entangled once again with Cooper.

Welsh was only in 10 episodes of the second season of Twin Peaks, but his freakish evil nature made him a memorable mark on the show. He was also a central part of the unforgettable finale for the series that remained the final note on the show until its 2017 revival on Showtime.

The actor would also make appearances in other sci-fi standouts, including The X-Files, The Outer Limits, Smallville, and The Expanse. He is also one of the many actors to have appeared on Law & Order during its run. According to Variety, Welsh was already featured in several projects set for release in the near future. This includes a guest appearance in the upcoming revival of The Kids in the Hall.