Ken Stott

Kenneth Campbell Stott was born on 19 October 1954 in Edinburgh, Scotland, to David Stott, a Scottish teacher and educational administrator, and Antonia Stott (née Sansica), a Sicilian lecturer. He attended George Heriot's School in Lauriston, Edinburgh, and spent three years fronting a pop band before committing to an acting career. He subsequently trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London, after which he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. During his early years in the profession, income from acting was insufficient to sustain him, and he supplemented his earnings by working as a double glazing salesman.

Stott's theatrical career began in 1974 at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast. Among his early stage work was a leading role in the dramatisation of Dominic Behan's The Folk Singer, a play about the Northern Ireland troubles, and the part of Judas in the first regional production of Jesus Christ Superstar, directed by Michael Poynor. In 1995, he won the Laurence Olivier Award for his performance in Broken Glass at the Royal National Theatre. The following year, he created the leading role in The Prince's Play, Tony Harrison's translation and adaptation of Victor Hugo's Le Roi s'amuse, for the National Theatre in London. In 1997, he received a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor for his role in Yasmina Reza's Art, performed alongside Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay at Wyndham's Theatre.

In 2008, Stott appeared in a West End production of another Reza play, God of Carnage, at the Gielgud Theatre, alongside Tamsin Greig, Janet McTeer, and Ralph Fiennes. He then starred in a revival of Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge at the Duke of York's Theatre in early 2009. That same year, he reprised his role of Michael in God of Carnage on Broadway at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, replacing James Gandolfini in the production. In 2016, he returned to the Duke of York's Theatre to play the role of Sir, opposite Reece Shearsmith, in Ronald Harwood's The Dresser.

On British television, Stott built an extensive body of work spanning several decades. His early credits include the BBC series Secret Army in 1977, a 1982 production of King Lear as part of The Complete Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare, and Dennis Potter's The Singing Detective in 1986. He played hospital radio DJ Eddie McKenna in BBC Scotland's Takin' Over the Asylum, and took on the leading role of DCI Red Metcalfe in the BBC crime drama Messiah, which ran from 2001 to 2005. He also portrayed DI Chappell in the ITV police drama The Vice from 1999 to 2003, Adolf Hitler in Uncle Adolf for ITV in 2005, and a fictional Chancellor of the Exchequer in Richard Curtis's The Girl in the Café for BBC One in 2005. In 2006, he assumed the title role in Rebus, a television adaptation of Ian Rankin's detective novels that had previously starred John Hannah, continuing in the role through 2007. He received a BAFTA Scotland nomination in 2008 for his portrayal of comedian Tony Hancock in BBC Four's Hancock and Joan, and has won two BAFTA Scotland awards across his career. Additional television credits include the father of cookery writer Nigel Slater in the BBC One adaptation of Toast, opposite Helena Bonham Carter and Freddie Highmore; Arthur Birling in Helen Edmundson's 2015 BBC television adaptation of J. B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls; and Chief Superintendent Bob Toal in the police procedural Crime in 2021.

Stott's film work has largely consisted of supporting roles, including DI McCall in Shallow Grave in 1994, Ted in Fever Pitch in 1997, Marius Honorius in King Arthur in 2004, an Israeli arms merchant in Charlie Wilson's War in 2007, and the voice of Trufflehunter the badger in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian in 2008. He took on starring roles in The Debt Collector in 1999, opposite Billy Connolly and Iain Robertson, and in Plunkett and Macleane the same year. He played a supporting role as Dexter Mayhew's father in One Day in 2011, starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess. Between 2012 and 2014, he portrayed the dwarf Balin in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit film trilogy.

In his personal life, Stott has a son, David, born in 1985, from his first marriage, which ended in divorce. He married the artist Nina Gehl in 2016. He is a supporter of Heart of Midlothian Football Club.