Valentine Pelka (born 23 February 1956) is an English actor who is renowned for his versatile range of roles in film, television and theatre productions.

Early life Pelka was born in Dewsbury, West Riding of Yorkshire, to a Polish engineer father (Tadeusz Pelka) and an Irish actress (Alma Herley). He is the nephew of actor Randal Herley, and his maternal grandparents were WWI veteran and ophthalmologist Randal HerleyMy Tommy’s War: Randal Herley, nationalarchives.gov.uk, 13 September 2013. Accessed 18 August 2023. and Irish singer Annie ( Mahon) Herley. He attended St Michael's College, Leeds (now part of Mount St Mary's Catholic High School, Leeds). His sister, Kazia, is also an actress, who starred in Brookside, Heartbeat and The Bill, among other television programmes.

Career Pelka studied English at university, where he developed an interest in drama through extracurricular involvement in various university stage productions, before subsequently training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), where he honed skills in stage combat and horse riding, which later came in useful in his frequent portrayals of historical and action-orientated characters. Pelka began his career as a professional actor in 1983 on stage with the Oedipus Trilogy as a member of the chorus. Later the same year he apeared as Curio in Twelfth Night and Scarus in Anthony and Cleopatra. He continued to play a number supporting roles including the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley in the touring production of Bloody Poetry,. By the late 1980's he took on lead roles including Nechaev in Dead Men Roman in Winter in the Morning and Samuel Gerridge in Caste repectively.

In 1984, he transferred to television, his early screen roles were mainly historical characters including Boguslaw Banas in Pope John Paul II, Efrem Sakharov in Sakharov and Shammah in King David (1985). He gained further prominence in the recurring role as the rebel leader Roland in the first series Crossbow (UK, William Tell) in 1987. Pelka has featured in a number of supporting roles in various television series including Lytton's Diary, Robin of Sherwood, If Tomorrow Comes, Rockliffe's Folly, Boon, Campion, The Bill, Peak Practice, Ivanhoe, Life Force, Prime Suspect, Hustle and Ultimate Force. In 1995, he appeared with his sister in an episode of Heartbeat where he played Danny, a pirate radio D.J. in the episode "Sitting Off on the Dock of the Bay".

Despite his television and film work taking precedence by the 1990's, on stage he featured in a succession of acclaimed performances, include a stint with the Royal Shakespeare Company between 1992-93 where he appeared in Romeo and Juliet, A Women Killed with Kindness and the title role in Hamlet.

He guest-starred in the 1990 TV series Zorro in the episode "All that Glitters" which preceded his starring role as the military governor, Colonel Montoya, in the 2000 syndicated TV series Queen of Swords, the part of Montoya was written for Pelka by executive producer David Abramowitz who in October 1999 offered him the part subject to approval by the other show producers. Between 1996-98, Pelka appeared in Highlander: The Series as Kronos, an enemy of Duncan MacLeod (Adrian Paul) and former acolyte of Methos (Peter Wingfield) in the episodes "Comes a Horseman", "Revelations 6:8", "Archangel" and "Not To Be". In 1999 he appeared in the sequel series, in a guest starring role in Highlander: The Raven as Andre Korda, an immortal who is a criminal and once trained the main character Amanda. The episodes were 'The French Connection' and 'A Matter of Time'.

The same year, Pelka appeared in the British TV soap opera Family Affairs as Simon Thornton. His sister, Kazia, was also a leading player in Family Affairs; however, that was after he had appeared in the soap opera. Of the feature films in which Pelka has performed, the best-known was Roman Polanski's 2002 film The Pianist. His supporting comedic role in Under the Tuscan Sun (2003) was performed mute. In 2004, he appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival as John Lennon in Sandy Marshall's biopic And in the End, which he later reprised in 2013 at the Jeremy Street Theatre in London.

Selected Filmography YearTitleRole Notes1984Pope John Paul II Boguslaw BanasTV movieSakharovEfrem SakharovFilm1985King David ShammahFilm1986Lytton's DiaryGerryEpisode: "The Ancien Regime"If Tomorrow ComesGinoEpisode #1.2NanouJacquesFilmRobin of Sherwood SarakEpisode: "The Sheriff of Nottingham"1987CrossbowRoland6 episodesHold the DreamWinston HarteEpisode #1.1PulaskiShadwellEpisode: "The Fictional Detective"1988Rockliffe's FollyMr. CunninghamEpisode: "Lie of the Land"Rowing with the Wind Percy Bysshe ShelleyFilm1989BoonCharlie CochraneEpisode: "Love Letters from a Dead Man"1990CampionEager-WrightEpisode: "Sweet Danger" (2 parts)Casualty StuartEpisode: "Salvation"South of the BorderDr. ManciEpisode #2.3ZorroLeonardo MontezEpisode: "All That Glitters"1991The BillGraham WoodwardEpisode: "In Chambers"1994Peak PracticeMichael MasseyEpisode: "Power Games"1995First Knight Sir PatriseFilmHeartbeatDannyEpisode: "Sitting Off on the Dock of the Bay"The Plant MaxTV movie1996Cadfael Richard BoterelEpisode: "The Virgin in the Ice"1996 - 1998Highlander: The SeriesKronos Ahriman Koren5 episodes1997IvanhoeMaurice De Bracy4 episodes1998Mortimer's LawJohn Keswick3 episodesWhat Rats Won't DoGrahamFilm1999BugsVaizeyEpisode: "Twin Geeks"Family Affairs Simon Thornton250 episodesHighlander: The RavenAndre Korda2 episodes2000The Last of the Blonde Bombshells LeslieTV movieLife ForceRichard Webber2 episodesSabotage!Prussian hussarFilm2000 - 2001Queen of Swords Col. Luis Montoya21 episodes2002The Pianist Dorota's HusbandFilm2003Prime SuspectSO19 CommanderEpisode: "The Last Witness" (Part 2)Under the Tuscan Sun JerzyFilm2004HustleAntique Shop OwnerEpisode: "Picture Perfect"Lie With MeAlexFilm20058mm 2Gorman BellecFilmEgypt Pierre Lacau2 episodes2006Ultimate ForceColonel BundarchukEpisode: "The Changing of the Guard"2008Fake IdentityMatthew MurdochFilm2010A Touch of FrostSam CragueEpisode: "If Dogs Run Free" (Part 2)DoctorsLaurence MetcalfeEpisode: "Risky Business"2011Come Fly With MePolish Ambassador DubrovskyEpisode #1.62013I Spit on Your Grave 2Father DimovFilm2015Churchill: When Britain Said NoAlanbrookeTV movieThe PowerDelFilm2018MacbethSiwardFilm

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