Lenworth George "Lenny" Henry, (born 29 August 1958) is a
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
actor, writer,
comedianA comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
and occasional television
presenterA presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...
.
Early life
Henry, the son of
JamaicaJamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n
immigrantsImmigration to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland since 1922 has been substantial, in particular from Ireland and the former colonies and other territories of the British Empire - such as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Caribbean, South Africa, Kenya and Hong Kong - under...
, was born at Burton Road Hospital in
DudleyDudley is a large town in the West Midlands county of England. At the 2001 census , the Dudley Urban Sub Area had a population of 194,919, making it the 26th largest settlement in England, the second largest town in the United Kingdom behind Reading, and the largest settlement in the UK without...
in 1958. He was a pupil at St John's Primary School and later
The Blue Coat SchoolThe Blue Coat School was a mixed secondary school located in Dudley, England. It was opened in 1869 within buildings in Bean Road, several hundred yards east of Dudley town centre...
outside Dudley, before completing his school education at W.R. Tuson College (now
Preston CollegePreston College is a further education college in the city of Preston, Lancashire, England. The college originally opened as W.R. Tuson College in September 1974 and was renamed on 1 September 1989.-Campus:...
).
Early career
His first manager was
Robert LuffRobert Charles William Luff, CBE was a theatrical agent and producer. He was most notable for producing the stage version of The Black and White Minstrel Show and being the former agent of Lenny Henry, the Tiller Girls and Beryl Reid...
, who signed him in 1975 and gave him the opportunity to perform as part of the Luff-produced touring stage version of
The Black and White Minstrel ShowThe Black and White Minstrel Show was a British light entertainment show that ran on BBC television from 1958-1978 and was a popular stage show. It was a weekly light entertainment and variety show presenting traditional American minstrel and Country songs, as well as show and music hall numbers,...
. In July 2009, Lenny Henry stated he was contractually obliged to perform and regretted his part in the show.
Shortly before this, on 17 December 1974, the then 16-year-old Henry had been voted Britain's top non-smoker for his declaration aimed at teenagers that
smokingSmoking is a practice in which a substance, most commonly tobacco or cannabis, is burned and the smoke is tasted or inhaled. This is primarily practised as a route of administration for recreational drug use, as combustion releases the active substances in drugs such as nicotine and makes them...
was not fashionable.
His earliest television appearance was on the
New FacesNew Faces was a British television talent show popular in the 1970s and 1980s, presented originally by Derek Hobson. It was produced by ATV Network Limited for the ITV Network. The first run of the show was from 29 September 1973 to 2 April 1978 and was recorded at the ATV Centre, Birmingham...
talent show, which he won in 1975 with an impersonation of
Stevie WonderStevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
. The following year he appeared with
Norman BeatonNorman Lugard Beaton was a Guyanese actor long resident in the United Kingdom....
in
LWTLondon Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...
's sitcom
The FostersThe Fosters is a British sitcom, produced by London Weekend Television which aired on ITV from 9 April 1976, until 9 July 1977.It was created and developed by Jon Watkins, who adapted the American sitcom, Good Times, developed by Norman Lear, and created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans...
, Britain's first comedy series with predominantly black performers. His formative years were spent in
working men's clubWorking men's clubs are a type of private social club founded in the 19th century in industrial areas of the United Kingdom, particularly the North of England, the Midlands and many parts of the South Wales Valleys, to provide recreation and education for working class men and their families.-...
s, where his act was as a young black man impersonating white characters such as the
Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'EmSome Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em was a BBC situation comedy, written by Raymond Allen and starring Michael Crawford and Michele Dotrice.The series followed the accident-prone Frank Spencer and his tolerant wife Betty through Frank's various attempts to hold down a job, which frequently end in...
character Frank Spencer (whom he impersonated on New Faces). He also made guest appearances on television programmes including Celebrity Squares,
Seaside SpecialSeaside Special was a BBC light entertainment show broadcast from the mid-late 1970s. It was an outside broadcast and was always filmed in a big top in a British seaside resort. Originally the big top belonged to various circuses , but in later seasons, the BBC purchased their own big top to act...
and The
Ronnie CorbettRonald Balfour "Ronnie" Corbett, OBE is a Scottish actor and comedian of Scottish and English parentage who had a long association with Ronnie Barker in the British television comedy series The Two Ronnies...
Show.
1980s
In 1980, he performed in Summer Season in
BlackpoolBlackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
with
Cannon and BallCannon and Ball are an English comedy double act consisting of Tommy Cannon and Bobby Ball. The duo met in the early 1960s while working as welders in Oldham, Lancashire...
. He has since said that "the summer season was the first time [he] felt that [his] act had received a proper response from an audience". Around the same time, he co-hosted the children's programme
TiswasTiswas was a Saturday morning children's British television series which ran from 5 January 1974 to 3 April 1982 and was produced for the ITV network by ATV Network Limited....
from 1978 until 1981, and subsequently performed and wrote for the show Three of a Kind, with comedians
Tracey UllmanTracey Ullman is a British stage and television actress, comedienne, singer, dancer, screenwriter and author ....
and
David CopperfieldDavid Copperfield is best known from the BBC 1980s sketch show Three of a Kind, in which he starred alongside Tracey Ullman and Lenny Henry. His real name is Stanley Barlow. He was born and raised in Yorkshire, where he began his professional career performing in various cabaret venues. His big...
.
Also in 1980, he teamed up with
The Comic StripThe Comic Strip is a group of British comedians, known for their television series The Comic Strip Presents.... The core members are Adrian Edmondson, Dawn French, Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer, Peter Richardson and Jennifer Saunders, with frequent appearances by Keith Allen, Robbie Coltrane and...
where he met his wife, comedienne
Dawn French. She encouraged him to move over to the fledgling
alternative comedyAlternative comedy is a term that originated in the 1980s for a style of comedy that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era, and typically avoids relying on a standardised structure of a sequence of jokes with punch lines. Patton Oswalt defines it as "comedy where the...
scene, where he established a career as a stand-up comedy performer and character comedian. He introduced characters who both mocked and celebrated black British culture, such as Theophilus P. Wildebeeste (an homage to
Teddy PendergrassTheodore DeReese "Teddy" Pendergrass was an American R&B/soul singer and songwriter. Pendergrass first rose to fame as lead singer of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes in the 1970s before a successful solo career at the end of the decade...
using the 'TP' initials), Brixton pirate radio disc jockey DJ Delbert Wilkins and Trevor MacDoughnut (a parody of
Trevor McDonaldSir Trevor McDonald OBE is a Trinidadian-British newsreader and journalist. He had a long career as a news presenter with ITN...
). His stand-up material, which sold well on LP, owed much to the writing abilities of
Kim FullerKim Fuller is a British writer for film, radio and television. His brother Simon Fuller is Britain's most successful music manager as manager of Annie Lennox and The Spice Girls amongst others and creator of the Idol Series...
. During this time he also spent three years as a DJ on
BBC Radio 1BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
, playing soul and electro tracks and introducing some of the characters that he would later popularise on television. He made a guest appearance in the final episode of
The Young OnesThe Young Ones is a British sitcom, first broadcast in 1982, which ran for two series on BBC2. Its anarchic, offbeat humour helped bring alternative comedy to television in the 1980s and made household names of its writers and performers...
as The Postman, in 1984.
The first series of
The Lenny Henry ShowThe Lenny Henry Show is a comedy sketch show featuring Lenny Henry. In its first incarnation it ran for two seasons on BBC 1, in 1984 and 1985. Each season had six episodes. A 40-minute special was aired in December 1987...
appeared on the BBC in 1984. The show featured stand up, spoofs like his send up of Michael Jackson's Thriller video, and many of the characters he had developed during Summer Season, including Theophilus P. Wildebeeste and Delbert Wilkins. A principal scriptwriter for his television and stage shows during the 1990s was
Jon CanterJon Canter is an English television comedy writer for Lenny Henry and other leading comedians. Canter was born and brought up in the Jewish community of Golders Green, North London and studied law at the University of Cambridge where he became President of Footlights.After a spell in advertising...
. The Lenny Henry Show ran for a further 20 years in various incarnations.
Prior to the 1987 general election (UK), Henry lent his support to
Red WedgeRed Wedge was a collective of musicians who attempted to engage young people with politics in general, and the policies of the Labour Party in particular, during the period leading up to the 1987 general election, in the hope of ousting the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher.Fronted by...
by participating in a comedy tour organised by the campaign.
In 1987, he appeared in a TV film
Coast to CoastCoast to Coast is a 1987 comedy thriller starring Lenny Henry, John Shea, with cameos from Peter Vaughan, Pete Postlethwaite and Cherie Lunghi. It was directed by Sandy Johnson from a script by Stan Hey...
. It was a comedy thriller with
John SheaJohn Victor Shea III is an American actor and director who has starred on stage, television and in film. He is best known for his role as Lex Luthor in the 1990s TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and also starred in the short lived 1990s TV series WIOU as Hank Zaret...
about two DJ's with a shared passion for Motown music being chased across Britain. The film has a strong following, but contractual problems have prevented it from being distributed on video or DVD.
1990s
In the early 1990s, Henry starred in the Hollywood film
True IdentityTrue Identity is a 1991 American comedy film directed by Charles Lane and starring Lenny Henry, Frank Langella and Anne-Marie Johnson. The plot revolves around a black man , who disguises himself as a white man to escape the mob....
, in which his character pretended to be a white person (using make-up,
prosthesesA facial prosthetic or facial prosthesis is an artificial device used to change or adapt the outward appearance of a person's face or head....
, and a wig) in order to avoid the mob. The film was not commercially successful.
In 1991, he starred in a BBC drama alongside
Robbie ColtraneRobbie Coltrane, OBE is a Scottish actor, comedian and author. He is known both for his role as Dr...
called Alive and Kicking, in which he played a heroin addict, which was based on a true story.
Also in 1991, he starred in the Christmas comedy
Bernard and the GenieBernard and the Genie is a seventy-minute British TV movie co-produced by Attaboy and Talkback for BBC Television. It was first shown on BBC1 on 23 November 1991...
along side
Alan CummingAlan Cumming, OBE is a Scottish stage, television and film actor, singer, writer, director, producer and author. His roles have included the Emcee in Cabaret, Boris Grishenko in GoldenEye, Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler in X2: X-Men United, Mr. Elton in Emma, and Fegan Floop in the Spy Kids trilogy...
and
Rowan Atkinson Rowan Sebastian Atkinson is a British actor, comedian, and screenwriter. He is most famous for his work on the satirical sketch comedy show Not The Nine O'Clock News, and the sitcoms Blackadder, Mr. Bean and The Thin Blue Line...
.
Henry is known as the choleric
chefA chef is a person who cooks professionally for other people. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who cooks for a living, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation.-Etymology:The word "chef" is borrowed ...
Gareth Blackstock from the 1990s television comedy series
Chef!Chef! is a British situation comedy starring Lenny Henry that aired as twenty episodes over three series from 1993 to 1996 on the BBC. The show was created and primarily written by Peter Tilbury based on an idea from Lenny Henry and produced for the BBC by Henry's production company, Crucial...
, or from his 1999 straight-acting lead role in the
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
drama
Hope And GloryHope and Glory is a BBC television drama about a comprehensive school struggling with financial, staffing and disciplinary problems, and faced with closure...
. He was co-creator with
Neil GaimanNeil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
and producer of the 1996 BBC drama serial
NeverwhereNeverwhere is an urban fantasy television series by Neil Gaiman that first aired in 1996 on BBC Two. The series is set in "London Below", a magical realm coexisting with the more familiar London, referred to as "London Above". It was devised by Neil Gaiman and Lenny Henry, and directed by Dewi...
.
Henry tried his hand at soul singing, appearing, for example, as a backing singer on
Kate BushKate Bush is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and idiosyncratic vocal style have made her one of the United Kingdom's most successful solo female performers of the past 30 years.In 1978, at the age of 19, Bush topped the UK Singles Chart...
's album
The Red ShoesThe Red Shoes is a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen.The Red Shoes may also refer to:in film:* The Red Shoes , by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, inspired by the fairy tale, one of the BFI's Top 10 British films...
(1993) and, backed by
David GilmourDavid Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
of
Pink FloydPink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
, at
Amnesty InternationalAmnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
's
Big 3-0The Secret Policeman's Balls is the collective name informally used to describe the long-running series of benefit shows staged in England to raise funds for the human rights organisation Amnesty International...
fund raising concert. He would later say that neither move showed him at his best, and that he felt most comfortable with character comedy. Henry would occasionally return to singing, performing in small local venues in the West Midlands. Henry returned to the BBC to do
Lenny Henry in PiecesLenny Henry in Pieces was a British stand-up and sketch show by comedians Lenny Henry and Gina Yashere. It aired on BBC One between 2000 and 2003....
, a character-based comedy
sketchA sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
show which was followed by
The Lenny Henry ShowThe Lenny Henry Show is a comedy sketch show featuring Lenny Henry. In its first incarnation it ran for two seasons on BBC 1, in 1984 and 1985. Each season had six episodes. A 40-minute special was aired in December 1987...
, in which he combined stand-up, character sketches and song parodies.
2000s
In 2003, Henry was listed in
The ObserverThe Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
as one of the fifty funniest acts in British comedy.
In 2004, he was listed in
The Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
as the fifteenth funniest black performer of all time. Henry is associated with the British Comic Relief charity organisation, along with his former wife, comedienne Dawn French, and
Griff Rhys JonesGriffith "Griff" Rhys Jones is a Welsh comedian, writer, actor, television presenter and personality. Jones came to national attention in the early 1980s for his work in the BBC television comedy sketch shows Not the Nine O'Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones along with his comedy partner Mel Smith...
, and has hosted the show and also presented filmed reports from overseas on the work of the charity. He was the voice of the British
speaking clockA speaking clock service is a recorded or simulated human voice service, usually accessed by telephone, that gives the correct time. The first telephone speaking clock service was introduced in France, in association with the Paris Observatory on 14 February 1933.The format of the service is...
for two weeks, 10–23 March 2003, in aid of Comic Relief.
He was the voice of the "
shrunken headA shrunken head is a severed and specially prepared human head that is used for trophy, ritual, or trade purposes.Headhunting occurred in many regions of the world. But the practice of headshrinking has only ever been recorded in the northwestern region of the Amazon rain forest...
" on the Knight Bus in the 2004 movie Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and read the audio book version of
Neil GaimanNeil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
's
Anansi BoysAnansi Boys is a novel by Neil Gaiman, a spin-off of Gaiman's earlier novel American Gods. In Anansi Boys we discover that 'Mr. Nancy' has two sons, and the two sons in turn discover each other...
. He also voices a character on the children's show
Little RobotsLittle Robots is a stop-motion animated children's TV series, produced by Cosgrove Hall Films for Create TV and Film Limited and broadcast on CBeebies . The fiction series was based on the eponymous book by Mike Brownlow, published by Ragged Bears Publishing...
.
Henry appeared in advertisements for butter products in New Zealand, commissioned by the company now known as
FonterraFonterra Co-operative Group Limited is a New Zealand multinational dairy co-operative owned by almost 10,500 New Zealand farmers. The company is responsible for approximately 30% of the world's dairy exports and with revenue exceeding NZ$19.87 billion, is New Zealand's largest company.- History :In...
, as well as portraying
Saint PeterSaint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
in the
Virgin MobileVirgin Mobile is a brand used by many mobile phone service providers across the globe; its headquarters are based in the United Kingdom. Virgin Mobile has local operations in Australia, Canada, France, India, South Africa, Greece, United Kingdom and the United States. It briefly also had operations...
advertising campaign in South Africa. In the UK, he used his character of Theophilus P. Wildebeeste to advertise
AlpenAlpen is a line of muesli varieties manufactured by the Weetabix cereal company of Kettering, Northamptonshire, England.-Introduction into the United States:...
muesliMuesli is a popular breakfast cereal based on uncooked rolled oats, fruit and nuts. It was developed around 1900 by Swiss physician Maximilian Bircher-Benner for patients in his hospital...
, and promoted the non-
alcoholIn chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
ic
lagerLager is a type of beer made from malted barley that is brewed and stored at low temperatures. There are many types of lager; pale lager is the most widely-consumed and commercially available style of beer in the world; Pilsner, Bock, Dortmunder Export and Märzen are all styles of lager...
, Kaliber.
In June 2001, for a BBC documentary, he sailed a trimaran from Plymouth to Antigua, Jamaica with yachtsman Tony Bullimore. His motive was to as he put it, "have one last adventure".
In 2005, he appeared in
BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, as an act for "Jasper Carrott's Rock with Laughter". He appeared alongside performers such as
Bill BaileyBill Bailey is an English comedian, musician and actor. As well as his extensive stand-up work, Bailey is well known for his appearances on Black Books, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Have I Got News for You, and QI.Bailey was listed by The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy in...
,
Jasper CarrottJasper Carrott OBE is a British comedian, actor, television presenter and personality.-Early life:...
,
Bonnie TylerBonnie Tyler is a Welsh singer, most notable for her hits in the 1970s and 1980s including "It's a Heartache", "Holding Out for a Hero" and "Total Eclipse of the Heart".-Early life:...
,
Bobby DavroBobby Davro is a British actor and comedian. He is mainly known for his work as an impressionist...
and the
Lord of the DanceLord of the Dance is an Irish musical and dance production that was created, choreographed, and produced by Irish-American dancer Michael Flatley, who also took a starring role...
troupe.
In 2006, Henry starred in the BBC programme Berry's Way. He did the voice of Dark Nebula in
Kirby: Squeak SquadKirby: Squeak Squad, known in Europe as Kirby: Mouse Attack and in Japan as , is a 2006-07 platforming video game developed by Flagship and Natsume and published by Nintendo and HAL Laboratory for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console.Unlike the previous Nintendo DS title, Kirby: Canvas...
. On 16 March 2007, Henry made a
cameo appearanceA cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
as himself in a sketch with
Catherine TateCatherine Tate is an English actress, writer, and comedian. She has won numerous awards for her work on the sketch comedy series The Catherine Tate Show as well as being nominated for an International Emmy Award and four BAFTA Awards...
, who appeared in the guise of her character Geordie Georgie from
The Catherine Tate ShowThe Catherine Tate Show is a British television sketch comedy written by Catherine Tate and Aschlin Ditta. Tate also stars in all but one of the show's sketches, which feature a wide range of characters. The Catherine Tate Show airs on BBC Two and is shown worldwide through the BBC...
. The sketch was made for the BBC Red Nose Day fund raising programme of 2007.
On 16 June 2007, Lenny appeared with
Chris TarrantChristopher John "Chris" Tarrant, OBE is an English radio and television broadcaster, now best known for hosting the first version of the television game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in the United Kingdom and later Ireland, as the two national versions of the show merged in 2002.Chris...
and Sally James to present a 25th Anniversary episode of
TiswasTiswas was a Saturday morning children's British television series which ran from 5 January 1974 to 3 April 1982 and was produced for the ITV network by ATV Network Limited....
. The show lasted 90 minutes and featured celebrities discussing their enjoyment of Tiswas as children, as well as appearances from kids and people who had appeared on the original show.
In the summer of 2007, he presented Lenny's Britain, a comedy documentary tour made with the Open University on BBC1 on Tuesday nights.
In late 2007, he hosted a stand-up comedy tour of the UK.
In early 2008, his show lennyhenry.tv was broadcast on
BBC OneBBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
. The programme has an accompanying website of the same name and broadcasts strange, weird and generally amusing on-line videos and
CCTVClosed-circuit television is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors....
clips. He starred in the
Radio 4BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
show Rudy's Rare Records.
On 31 December 2008 and 1 January 2009, he appeared on
Jools HollandJulian Miles "Jools" Holland OBE, DL is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer, and television presenter. He was a founder of the band Squeeze and his work has involved him with many artists including Sting, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, The Who, David Gilmour and Bono.Holland is a...
's Hootenanny on BBC Two, singing part of the song
Mercy"Mercy" is a soul song performed by Welsh blue-eyed soul singer Duffy, released as the second single from her debut album, Rockferry . Co-written by Duffy and Steve Booker and produced by Booker, it was released over 2008 worldwide to critical acclaim and unprecedented chart success...
along with singer
DuffyAimée Ann Duffy , known as Duffy, is a Welsh singer-songwriter. Her 2008 debut album Rockferry entered the UK Album Chart at number one. It was the best-selling album in the United Kingdom in 2008 with 1.68 million copies sold...
.
In January 2009, he appeared on the BBC's comedy show, Live at The Apollo, in which he played host for the night, introducing
Andy ParsonsAndy Parsons is an English comedian and writer, who regularly appears on Mock the Week. With comedy partner Henry Naylor, he has written and presented nine seasons of Parsons and Naylor’s Pull-Out Sections for BBC Radio 2.-Early life:...
and
Ed ByrneEd Byrne is a Perrier Award-nominated, Irish stand-up comedian, voice over artist and actor. He has presented television shows Uncut! Best Unseen Ads and Just for Laughs, and is a regular guest on various television panel games...
, where he referred to Wikipedia as "Wrongopedia" for containing incorrect information about his life.
In October 2009, Lenny Henry reprised his role of Deakus to feature in comedy shorts about story writing alongside
Nina Wadia-Television and film:Wadia first came to prominence in BBC sketch show Goodness Gracious Me, playing characters such as Mrs "I can make it at home for nothing!" and one half of The Competitive Mothers...
, Tara Palmer Tomkinson and
Stephen K. AmosStephen Kehinde Amos is a British stand-up comedian of Nigerian origin. A regular on the international comedy circuit, he is known for including his audience members during his shows...
. He also offers his own writing tips and amusing anecdotes in the writing tips video clip on BBC raw words - story writing.
He also supplies the voices of both Big and Small in the
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
CBeebiesCBeebies is the brand used by the BBC for programming aimed at children 6 years and under. It is used as a themed strand in the UK on terrestrial television, as a separate free-to-air domestic British channel and used for international varients supported by advertising, subscription or both...
Children's programs
Big & SmallBig & Small is a British children's television series aimed at preschoolers. Big & Small is a co-production between Kindle Entertainment and 3J's Productions, produced in association with the BBC, Treehouse TV, and Studio 100. The first series was deemed a success worldwide and a second series was...
. And provides the voices of Elephant,Buffalo and Cougar in
Tinga Tinga TalesTinga Tinga Tales is a Kenyan/British 78 episodes children's series based on African folk tales and aimed at 4- to 6-year olds. It was commissioned by the BBC for its CBeebies channel, and by Disney Channel for its Disney Junior block....
.
2010s
In 2010, Henry produced and starred in a five-part web series for the BBC Comedy website, Conversations with my Wife, about a fictional couple conversing over Skype while the wife is away on business leaving the husband (played by Henry) to hold the fort at home.
In 2009, he became the face of budget hotel operator Premier Inn, and continues to star in adverts for them.
In 2011, he presented a Saturday night magic series called
The MagiciansThe Magicians is a British family entertainment television show, first broadcast throughout January 2011 on BBC One. The show features magicians Luis de Matos,Barry and Stuart, and Chris Korn performing a number of magic tricks with guest celebrities, competing for audience support...
on BBC1.
In March 2011, he appeared with
Angela RipponAngela M. Rippon, OBE, born 12 October 1944, Plymouth, Devon, England, is an English television journalist, newsreader, writer and presenter. Rippon presented radio and television news programmes in South West England before moving to BBC One's Nine O'Clock News, becoming a regular presenter in 1975...
, Samantha Womack and
Reggie YatesReginald "Reggie" Yates is a British actor, television presenter and radio DJ of Ghanaian descent. He went to Central Foundation Boys' School.-Early career:...
in the BBC fundraising documentary for
Comic ReliefComic Relief is an operating British charity, founded in 1985 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Lenny Henry in response to famine in Ethiopia. The highlight of Comic Relief's appeal is Red Nose Day, a biennial telethon held in March, alternating with sister project Sport Relief...
called Famous, Rich and in the Slums, where the four celebrities were sent to
KiberaKibera is a division of Nairobi Area, Kenya, and neighbourhood of the city of Nairobi, located from the city centre. Kibera is the largest slum in Nairobi, and the second largest urban slum in Africa...
in
KenyaKenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
,
Africa'sAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
largest
slumA slum, as defined by United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the percentage of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the...
.
Henry was criticised for his opening sketch for the 2011 Comic Relief, during which he spoofed the film The King's Speech and grew impatient with
Colin FirthSirColin Andrew Firth, CBE is a British film, television, and theatre actor. Firth gained wide public attention in the 1990s for his portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 television adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice...
's portrayal of King George VI as he stammered over his speech. The Sun reported that the
British Stammering AssociationThe British Stammering Association , a charity since 1978, is a national membership organisation in the United Kingdom for adults and children who stammer...
had branded the sketch as "a gross and disgusting gleefulness at pointing out someone else's misfortune.
Henry said: "I thought the King's Speech sketch was funny. Very funny. I make no apologies for it".
He recently presented the Teachers Awards on television.
Shakespeare
In February 2009, Henry appeared in the
Northern BroadsidesNorthern Broadsides is a theatre company formed in 1992 and based at Dean Clough Mill in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. The founder and artistic director is Barrie Rutter. The company performs in Halifax and on tour, a mix of Shakespeare and other productions. Music is specially written for...
production of
OthelloThe Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
, in the title role, at the
West Yorkshire PlayhouseThe West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds, England is a theatre which opened in March 1990 as part of the regeneration of the Quarry Hill area of the city...
in
LeedsLeeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
. Directed by
Barrie RutterBarrie Rutter is an English actor and the founder and Artistic Director of the Northern Broadsides theatre company based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England....
, who, before the production opened, said of the decision to cast him, "knives might be out at me or at Lenny. I don't care. This has come about from a completely genuine desire to do a piece of theatrical work. Bloody hell, how long has the Donmar had Hollywood stars going there for £200? He's six foot five. He's beautifully black. And he's Othello".
Henry received widespread critical acclaim in the role. The Daily Telegraph said "This is one of the most astonishing debuts in Shakespeare I have ever seen. It is impossible to praise too highly Henry's courage in taking on so demanding and exposed a role, and then performing it with such authority and feeling."
Michael BillingtonMichael Billington may refer to:* Michael Billington , British film and television actor* Michael Billington , drama critic of The Guardian* Michael Billington , author and activist in the LaRouche movement...
in
The GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
noted "Henry's voice may not always measure up to the rhetorical music of the verse, but there is a simple dignity to his performance that touches one".
Lynne WalkerLynne Walker was a British music and theatre critic who also had experience as a broadcaster.Born in Edinburgh, she attended the Mary Erskine School. She won a medal at the end of her time at Napier College in 1976, and gained a degree from the Huddersfield School of Music...
of
The IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
said of Henry that his "emotional dynamism is in no doubt. The frenzy within his imagination explodes into rage and, finally, wretchedness. It’s not a subtle reading but it works powerfully in this context."
Henry has said he saw parallels between himself and Othello. "I’m used to being the only black person wherever I go...There was never a black or Asian director when I went to the BBC. Eventually I thought ‘where are they all?’ I spent a lot of time on my own. Things have changed a bit, but rarely at the BBC do I meet anyone of colour in a position of power."
The production was scheduled to transfers to the
West End of LondonThe West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
from 11 September to 12 December 2009, to be performed at the
Trafalgar StudiosTrafalgar Studios, formerly The Whitehall Theatre until 2004, is a West End theatre in Whitehall, near Trafalgar Square, in the City of Westminster, London....
in
WhitehallWhitehall is a road in Westminster, in London, England. It is the main artery running north from Parliament Square, towards Charing Cross at the southern end of Trafalgar Square...
.
He was introduced to Shakespeare when he made the 2006
Radio 4BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
series Lenny and Will. Which saw him going "in search of the magic of Shakespeare in performance." This was where he first met Barrie Rutter.
Personal life
Henry met
Dawn French on the
alternative comedyAlternative comedy is a term that originated in the 1980s for a style of comedy that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era, and typically avoids relying on a standardised structure of a sequence of jokes with punch lines. Patton Oswalt defines it as "comedy where the...
circuit. They married in 1984 in
WestminsterThe City of Westminster is a London borough occupying much of the central area of London, England, including most of the West End. It is located to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and its southern boundary...
, London; they have an adopted daughter, Billie (born 1991)
Henry graduated in
English LiteratureEnglish literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
, (BA Hons), with the
Open UniversityThe Open University is a distance learning and research university founded by Royal Charter in the United Kingdom...
in 2007.
Henry studied for an MA at Royal Holloway, University of London in screenwriting for television and film, where he received a distinction and where he is now studying for a
PhDPHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
on the role of
black peopleThe term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
in the media.
On 6 April 2010, it was announced that Henry and French were to separate after 25 years of marriage. It is believed that the separation was amicable, and they decided to split in October 2009, but postponed it as they were still in discussion over the separation. They were officially divorced in October 2010.
Filmography
- The Suicide Club (1988)
- Work Experience
Work Experience is a 1989 short comedy film directed by James Hendrie. It won an Academy Award in 1990 for Best Short Subject.-Cast:* Lenny Henry - Terence Weller* Kathy Burke - Sally* Neil Pearson - Greg* Shelagh Fraser* Neil McCaul...
(1989)
- Lenny Live and Unleashed
- True Identity
True Identity is a 1991 American comedy film directed by Charles Lane and starring Lenny Henry, Frank Langella and Anne-Marie Johnson. The plot revolves around a black man , who disguises himself as a white man to escape the mob....
(1991)
- Alive and Kicking
Alive and Kicking may refer to:* Alive & Kicking an African social enterprise* Alive N Kickin', a U.S. band formerly known as Alive and Kicking* "Alive and Kickin'", a song by Mr.Big from the 1991 album Lean into It...
(1991)
- Bernard and the Genie
Bernard and the Genie is a seventy-minute British TV movie co-produced by Attaboy and Talkback for BBC Television. It was first shown on BBC1 on 23 November 1991...
(1991)
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is a 2004 fantasy film directed by Alfonso Cuarón and based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. It is the third instalment in the Harry Potter film series, written by Steve Kloves and produced by Chris Columbus, David Heyman and Mark Radcliffe...
(voice) (2004)
- Kirby & the Amazing Mirror 2 (2007)
- Penelope (2008)
External links
- Official website
- Interview with Lenny Henry and Barrie Rutter on BBC News
- Lenny Henry at the BFI
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
's ScreenonlineScreenonline is a Web site devoted to the history of British film and television, and to social history as revealed by film and television. The project has been developed by the British Film Institute and funded by a £1.2 million grant from the National Lottery New Opportunities Fund.Reviews...
- Lenny Henry at the MBC
The Museum of Broadcast Communications is an American museum that currently exists exclusively on the Internet and not in any physical capacity. Its stated mission is "to collect, preserve, and present historic and contemporary radio and television content as well as educate, inform and entertain...
's Encyclopedia of Television
- Lenny Henry at the bbc.co.uk
BBC Online is the brand name and home for the BBC's UK online service. It is a large network of websites including such high profile sites as BBC News and Sport, the on-demand video and radio services co-branded BBC iPlayer, the pre-school site Cbeebies, and learning services such as Bitesize...
Guide to Comedy
- Learn how to write stories with Lenny Henry BBC raw words
Articles