Tony Hendra
Encyclopedia
Tony Hendra is an English satirist
and writer who has worked mostly in the United States. Educated at St Albans School
(where he was a classmate of Stephen Hawking
) and Cambridge University, he was a member of the Cambridge University Footlights
revue in 1962, alongside John Cleese
, Graham Chapman
and Tim Brooke-Taylor
.
as "Hendra and Ullett," appearing on the Merv Griffin Show multiple times and six times on the Ed Sullivan Show. He wrote for National Lampoon magazine from its beginning in 1970 and in 1971 became the first editor hired by founders Doug Kenney and Henry Beard
. In 1972 Hendra co-created National Lampoon's first album Radio Dinner with Michael O'Donoghue
on which he performed a parody of John Lennon entitled Magical Misery Tour. In 1973 he produced, directed and co-wrote (with Sean Kelly), the Lampoon's off-Broadway
revue Lemmings
in which Hendra cast John Belushi
, Chevy Chase
and Christopher Guest
in their first starring roles. Hendra was an editor of the Lampoon until 1974, and was co-editor-in-chief with Sean Kelly from 1975-1978.
, George Plimpton
, and Rusty Unger, and published by Larry Durocher and Josh Feigenbaum. In 1982 he was editor-in-chief of Off the Wall Street Journal and, in 1983, of Off the Wall Street Journal II. Other parodies Hendra created and edited included The Irrational Inquirer, Playboy: the Parody and Not the Bible (1983).
Hendra was featured on the cover of Newsweek (April 25, 1983) with Sean Kelly and Alfred Gingold.
Hendra was editor-in-chief of Spy Magazine from 1993 to 1994.
for which he, Jon Blair, and John Lloyd were nominated for a British Academy Award in 1985. He was ousted from the production after the first six shows, to be replaced by Rob Grant
and Doug Naylor
.
His most notable acting role was starring in This Is Spinal Tap
, as the band's manager, Ian Faith. He also had roles in several other films and television programs, including appearances on "Miami Vice", "The Bill Cosby Mysteries", and "Law and Order - Criminal Intent".
In 1997 Hendra co-wrote with director Ron Shelton
The Great White Hype
, a satire of racism in boxing, starring Samuel Jackson
, Damon Wayans
, Jamie Foxx
, Jeff Goldblum
and Peter Berg
.
He co-conceived and wrote the English dubs of 3 of the films created by Belgian animator Picha
, including The Missing Link (1980), The Big Bang (1987), and Snow White: The Sequel
(2007).
In 2004, at the time that Father Joe was achieving best-seller status, Jessica Hendra contacted the New York Times, requesting that the newspaper publish an op-ed piece she had written in which she alleged that her father had sexually abused her as a young child. The newspaper declined to publish the op-ed piece, but they did assign a reporter to investigate her charges. On July 1, 2004, the Times published an article on the front page of the Arts section about Jessica Hendra's allegations. The story, by reporter N.R. Kleinfield, included details about the alleged acts of molestation, along with Tony Hendra's denial: "I can only just categorically deny this. It's not a new allegation. It's simply not true, I'm afraid."
After the Times was criticized for publishing the story in the absence of proof, the paper's ombudsman
, Daniel Okrent, wrote an article examining the newspaper's decision. Okrent quoted an email exchange with Kleinfield in which the latter wrote that, based on his reporting, he had concluded that Jessica Hendra had indeed been molested. At the same time, Okrent expressed concern about the possibility that Jessica Hendra's charges were false, citing in particular the damage that could be caused to Hendra's young children who were 11, 12 and 14 at the time. "As an editor," Okrent concluded, "the verities of the profession might have led me to publish this article. But as a reader, I wish The Times hadn't."
Jessica Hendra subsequently published a memoir, How to Cook Your Daughter, that repeated the abuse allegations. The book was published by Judith Regan
of ReganBooks
.
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
and writer who has worked mostly in the United States. Educated at St Albans School
St Albans School (Hertfordshire)
St Albans School is an independent school in the city of St Albans in Hertfordshire, in the East of England. Entry before Sixth Form is for boys only, and co-educational thereafter. Founded in 948 by Wulsin , St Albans School is not only the oldest school in Hertfordshire but also one of the oldest...
(where he was a classmate of Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking
Stephen William Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA is an English theoretical physicist and cosmologist, whose scientific books and public appearances have made him an academic celebrity...
) and Cambridge University, he was a member of the Cambridge University Footlights
Footlights
Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, commonly referred to simply as the Footlights, is an amateur theatrical club in Cambridge, England, founded in 1883 and run by the students of Cambridge University....
revue in 1962, alongside John Cleese
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
, Graham Chapman
Graham Chapman
Graham Arthur Chapman was a British comedian, physician, writer, actor, and one of the six members of the Monty Python comedy troupe.-Early life and education:...
and Tim Brooke-Taylor
Tim Brooke-Taylor
Timothy Julian Brooke-Taylor OBE is an English comic actor. He became active in performing in comedy sketches while at Cambridge University, and became President of the Footlights club, touring internationally with the Footlights revue in 1964...
.
Career
In 1964 Hendra moved to America, where he worked as a comedian, sometimes teamed with comic actor Nick UllettNick Ullett
Nicholas Metson "Nick" Ullett is a British-born American actor.-Filmography:*Call of Duty: Finest Hour *Yes, Dear...
as "Hendra and Ullett," appearing on the Merv Griffin Show multiple times and six times on the Ed Sullivan Show. He wrote for National Lampoon magazine from its beginning in 1970 and in 1971 became the first editor hired by founders Doug Kenney and Henry Beard
Henry Beard
Henry N. Beard is an American humorist, one of the founders of the magazine National Lampoon and the author of several best-selling books.-Biography:...
. In 1972 Hendra co-created National Lampoon's first album Radio Dinner with Michael O'Donoghue
Michael O'Donoghue
Michael O'Donoghue was a writer and performer. He was known for his dark and destructive style of comedy and humor, was a major contributor to National Lampoon magazine, and was the first head writer of Saturday Night Live.-Childhood:O'Donoghue was born Michael Henry Donohue in Sauquoit, New York...
on which he performed a parody of John Lennon entitled Magical Misery Tour. In 1973 he produced, directed and co-wrote (with Sean Kelly), the Lampoon's off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
revue Lemmings
National Lampoon's Lemmings
National Lampoon's Lemmings, a spinoff of the humor magazine National Lampoon, was a 1973 stage show which helped launch the performing careers of John Belushi, Christopher Guest, and Chevy Chase. The show was co-written and co-directed by a number of people including Sean Kelly...
in which Hendra cast John Belushi
John Belushi
John Adam Belushi was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, The Star of the Films National Lampoon's Animal House and the The Blues Brothers and for fronting the American blues and soul...
, Chevy Chase
Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase is an American comedian, writer, and television and film actor, born into a prominent entertainment industry family. Chase worked a plethora of odd jobs before moving into comedy acting with National Lampoon...
and Christopher Guest
Christopher Guest
Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest , better known as Christopher Guest, is an American screenwriter, composer, musician, director, actor and comedian. He is most widely known in Hollywood for having written, directed and starred in several improvisational "mockumentary" films that...
in their first starring roles. Hendra was an editor of the Lampoon until 1974, and was co-editor-in-chief with Sean Kelly from 1975-1978.
Freelance editor
After leaving the Lampoon in 1978 Hendra began working as a freelance editor, writer and actor. During the New York newspaper strike of 1978 he helped create the parody Not the New York Times featuring Christopher CerfChristopher Cerf
Christopher Cerf is a U.S. author, composer-lyricist, voice actor, and record and television producer. He is known for his musical contributions to Sesame Street, for co-creating and co-producing the award-winning PBS literacy education television program Between the Lions, and for his humorous...
, George Plimpton
George Plimpton
George Ames Plimpton was an American journalist, writer, editor, and actor. He is widely known for his sports writing and for helping to found The Paris Review.-Early life:...
, and Rusty Unger, and published by Larry Durocher and Josh Feigenbaum. In 1982 he was editor-in-chief of Off the Wall Street Journal and, in 1983, of Off the Wall Street Journal II. Other parodies Hendra created and edited included The Irrational Inquirer, Playboy: the Parody and Not the Bible (1983).
Hendra was featured on the cover of Newsweek (April 25, 1983) with Sean Kelly and Alfred Gingold.
Hendra was editor-in-chief of Spy Magazine from 1993 to 1994.
Television and movies
In 1984 Hendra co-created, co-produced and co-wrote the British television satirical show Spitting ImageSpitting Image
Spitting Image is a British satirical puppet show that aired on the ITV network from 1984 to 1996. It was produced by Spitting Image Productions for Central Television. The series was nominated for 10 BAFTA Awards, winning one for editing in 1989....
for which he, Jon Blair, and John Lloyd were nominated for a British Academy Award in 1985. He was ousted from the production after the first six shows, to be replaced by Rob Grant
Rob Grant
Robert Grant is a British comedy writer and television producer, who was born in Salford and studied Psychology at Liverpool University for two years....
and Doug Naylor
Doug Naylor
Douglas R. Naylor is a British comedy writer, science fiction writer, director and television producer.Naylor was born in Manchester, England and studied at the University of Liverpool. In the mid-1980s, Naylor wrote two regular comedy sketch shows for BBC Radio 4 entitled Cliché and Son of Cliché...
.
His most notable acting role was starring in This Is Spinal Tap
This Is Spinal Tap
This Is Spinal Tap is an American 1984 rock musical mockumentary directed by Rob Reiner about the fictional heavy metal band Spinal Tap...
, as the band's manager, Ian Faith. He also had roles in several other films and television programs, including appearances on "Miami Vice", "The Bill Cosby Mysteries", and "Law and Order - Criminal Intent".
In 1997 Hendra co-wrote with director Ron Shelton
Ron Shelton
Ron Shelton is a U.S. film director and screenwriter, most notable for making movies about sports.Shelton is an alumnus of Santa Barbara High School and of the University of Arizona and Westmont College...
The Great White Hype
The Great White Hype
The Great White Hype is a 1996 film directed by Reginald Hudlin. It stars Samuel L. Jackson, Peter Berg, Damon Wayans, Jeff Goldblum, Jon Lovitz, Cheech Marin, John Rhys-Davies, Salli Richardson and Jamie Foxx....
, a satire of racism in boxing, starring Samuel Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...
, Damon Wayans
Damon Wayans
Damon Kyle Wayans is an American stand-up comedian, writer and actor, one of the Wayans brothers.-Early life:Wayans was born in New York City, New York, the son of Elvira, a homemaker and social worker, and Howell Wayans, a supermarket manager...
, Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx
Eric Marlon Bishop , professionally known as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, singer-songwriter, stand-up comedian, and talk radio host. As an actor, his work in the film Ray earned him the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Actor as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a...
, Jeff Goldblum
Jeff Goldblum
Jeffrey Lynn "Jeff" Goldblum is an American actor. His career began in the mid-1970s and he has appeared in major box-office successes including The Fly, Jurassic Park and its sequel Jurassic Park: The Lost World, and Independence Day...
and Peter Berg
Peter Berg
Peter Berg is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is known for directing films such as Friday Night Lights, The Kingdom, The Rundown, Hancock and Battleship. He also developed the television series Friday Night Lights, which was adapted from the film he directed. As an actor...
.
He co-conceived and wrote the English dubs of 3 of the films created by Belgian animator Picha
Picha
Jean-Paul "monda" Walravens is a cartoonist and film director. He was born in Brussels, Belgium.-Biography:Jean-Paul Walravens, quickly fascinated by drawing, performs his studies at the Institute of Fine Arts Saint-Luc...
, including The Missing Link (1980), The Big Bang (1987), and Snow White: The Sequel
Snow White: The Sequel
Snow White: The Sequel is a 2007 Belgian-French X-rated animated film directed by Picha. It's based on the fairy tale of Snow White and intended as a sequel to Disney's classic animated adaptation. However, like all of Picha's cartoons the film is actually a sex comedy featuring a lot of bawdy...
(2007).
Books
- Last WordsLast Words (book)Last Words is an autobiography by American stand-up comedian George Carlin. It was published on November 10, 2009. In Last Words George Carlin tells the story of his life from birth to his final years. He also wrote a special parting gift to the world. The book contains photos taken throughout...
(2009) co-author with George CarlinGeorge CarlinGeorge Denis Patrick Carlin was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, actor and author, who won five Grammy Awards for his comedy albums.... - The Messiah of Morris AvenueThe Messiah Of Morris AvenueThe Messiah Of Morris Avenue is a 2006 novel by English satirist Tony Hendra. The novel depicts the Second Coming of Christ in a future United States ruled by the religious right...
(2006) Hendra's first novel depicts the second coming of Christ in a future United States ruled by the religious right. - Father Joe: The Man Who Saved My SoulFather Joe: The Man Who Saved My SoulFather Joe: The Man Who Saved My Soul is a memoir written by Tony Hendra, an English humorist and satirist. It was on the New York Times Best Seller list for many weeks.- Plot summary :When Hendra was 14, he had an affair with a married woman...
(2004) A memoir. - Brotherhood (A photographic tribute to the NYFD heroes of 9/11), with foreword by Frank McCourtFrank McCourtFrancis "Frank" McCourt was an Irish-American teacher and Pulitzer Prize–winning writer, best known as the author of Angela’s Ashes, an award-winning, tragicomic memoir of the misery and squalor of his childhood....
. (2001) - The GIGAWIT Dictionary of the E-nglish Language (2000)
- The Book of Bad Virtues (1994)
- Brad '61: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man with Roy Lichtenstein (1993)
- Born to Run Things: An Utterly Unauthorized Biography of George Bush (1992)
- Tales from the Crib (with Bob SagetBob SagetRobert Lane "Bob" Saget is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and television host. Although he is best known for his roles as Danny Tanner in Full House, host of America's Funniest Home Videos and Future Ted Mosby on How I Met Your Mother, Saget is also known outside of television for his blue...
) (1991) - The 90's: A Look Back co-edited with Peter Elbling, designed by Paula ScherPaula ScherPaula Scher, born October 6, 1948, in Washington, DC., is an American graphic designer, illustrator, painter and art educator in design, and the first female principal at Pentagram, which she joined in 1991...
(1989) - Going Too FarGoing Too FarGoing Too Far: the Rise and Demise of Sick, Gross, Black, Sophomoric, Weirdo, Pinko, Anarchist, Underground, Anti-establishment Humor is a 1987 American non-fiction book by British-born humorist Tony Hendra about black humor, what Hendra calls "boomer humor", a twisted style of humor that was...
The Rise and Demise of Boomer Humor 1955-1980 (1987) - The Sayings of Ayatollah Khomeini Trans. The Little Green Book of Ayatollah Khomeini (Paris). (Editor) (1980)
- The 80's: A Look Back at the Tumultuous Decade 1980-1989The 80's: A Look Back at the Tumultuous Decade 1980-1989The 80s: A Look Back at the Tumultuous Decade 1980-1989 is a humor book published in 1979.It was edited by Tony Hendra, Christopher Cerf and Peter Elbling, with art direction by Michael Gross. Contributors to the book included Henry Beard, Valerie Curtin, Amy Ephron, Jeff Greenfield, Abbie Hoffman,...
(1979) Editor with Christopher CerfChristopher CerfChristopher Cerf is a U.S. author, composer-lyricist, voice actor, and record and television producer. He is known for his musical contributions to Sesame Street, for co-creating and co-producing the award-winning PBS literacy education television program Between the Lions, and for his humorous...
and Peter Elbling.
Family life and controversy
Hendra married Judith Christmas in 1964. The couple had two daughters, the younger of whom is Jessica Hendra. Tony and Judith Hendra underwent an acrimonious divorce in 1985. Hendra subsequently remarried; he and his second wife, Carla Hendra, live in New York and have three children together.In 2004, at the time that Father Joe was achieving best-seller status, Jessica Hendra contacted the New York Times, requesting that the newspaper publish an op-ed piece she had written in which she alleged that her father had sexually abused her as a young child. The newspaper declined to publish the op-ed piece, but they did assign a reporter to investigate her charges. On July 1, 2004, the Times published an article on the front page of the Arts section about Jessica Hendra's allegations. The story, by reporter N.R. Kleinfield, included details about the alleged acts of molestation, along with Tony Hendra's denial: "I can only just categorically deny this. It's not a new allegation. It's simply not true, I'm afraid."
After the Times was criticized for publishing the story in the absence of proof, the paper's ombudsman
Ombudsman
An ombudsman is a person who acts as a trusted intermediary between an organization and some internal or external constituency while representing not only but mostly the broad scope of constituent interests...
, Daniel Okrent, wrote an article examining the newspaper's decision. Okrent quoted an email exchange with Kleinfield in which the latter wrote that, based on his reporting, he had concluded that Jessica Hendra had indeed been molested. At the same time, Okrent expressed concern about the possibility that Jessica Hendra's charges were false, citing in particular the damage that could be caused to Hendra's young children who were 11, 12 and 14 at the time. "As an editor," Okrent concluded, "the verities of the profession might have led me to publish this article. But as a reader, I wish The Times hadn't."
Jessica Hendra subsequently published a memoir, How to Cook Your Daughter, that repeated the abuse allegations. The book was published by Judith Regan
Judith Regan
Judith Regan is an American editor, producer, book publisher and television and radio talk show host. She is the mother of a son and a daughter and lives in New York City and Los Angeles.-Early life:...
of ReganBooks
ReganBooks
ReganBooks was an American bestselling imprint or division of HarperCollins book publishing house , headed by editor and publisher Judith Regan, started in 1994 and ended in late 2006. During its existence, Regan was called, by LA Weekly, "the world's most successful publisher". The division...
.
External links
- A link to "Magical Misery Tour" Hendra's 1972 parody of John Lennon
- Lemmings review
- A profile of Hendra by The Independent.
- New York Times Book Review by Andrew Sullivan of Tony Hendra's book Father Joe.
- http://harpers.org/archive/1996/11/0008177 Articles in Harpers Magazine by Hendra on bullfighting and the Spanish Civil War and his memoirs of life in comedy.
- http://www.thecommentary.ca/ontheline/20060418a.html Tony Hendra audio interview re: The Messiah of Morris Avenue (18 April 2006).
- God Save This Book An essay by Davis Sweet defending Father Joe.