LENNY HENRY

'Lenworth George Henry' CBE (born 29 August 1958), better known as 'Lenny Henry', is an English writer, comedian and actor.

Contents

Early life

Career

Personal life

Bibliography

Filmography

References

External links

Early life

Henry was born in Dudley, the son of parents who emigrated to England from Jamaica in the 1950s. He studied at Sledmere Primary School, Bluecoat Secondary Modern School, WR Tewson School, and Preston College.
His earliest television appearance was on the ''New Faces'' talent show in 1975 where he repeatedly won. The following year he appeared in LWT's sitcom ''The Fosters'' alongside Norman Beaton, Britain's first comedy series with predominantly black performers. His formative years were in working men's clubs where his unique act — a young black man impersonating white characters such as the ''Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'' character Frank Spencer (whom he impersonated on ''New Faces'') — gave him an edge in what were racially divisive times.
He co-hosted the children's programme ''Tiswas'' from 1978 until 1981, and subsequently performed and wrote for the show ''Three of a Kind'', with comedians Tracey Ullman and David Copperfield. Around this time, he met his future wife, Dawn French, who encouraged him to move over to the fledgling alternative comedy 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 (a Barry White-a-like), Brixton pirate radio disc jockey DJ Delbert Wilkins and Trevor MacDoughnut (a parody of Trevor McDonald). His stand-up material, which sold well on LP, owed much to the writing abilities of Kim Fuller. During this time he also spent three years as a DJ on BBC Radio 1, playing cutting edge soul and electro tracks and introducing some of the characters that he would later popularise on television.
Henry's television work started principally with his own self-titled show, which has appeared in variant forms ever since. A principal scriptwriter for his television and stage shows during the 1990s was Jon Canter.^[1][2] Henry was also a part-time member of ''The Comic Strip''.

Career

Henry appeared in the final episode of The Young Ones as The Postman, in 1984.
In the early 1990s, Henry went to Hollywood to star in the film ''True Identity'', in which his character spent most of the film pretending to be a white person (using make-up, prostheses, and a wig) in order to avoid the mob. The film was not commercially successful.
In 1991, he starred in a BBC drama along side Robbie Coltrane called ''Alive and Kicking'', in which he played a heroin addict, which was based on a true story.
Henry is perhaps best known to modern audiences as the choleric chef Gareth Blackstock from the 1990s television comedy series ''Chef!'', or from his 1999 straight-acting lead role in the BBC drama ''Hope And Glory''.
Henry tried his hand at soul singing, appearing, for example, as a back-up singer on Kate Bush's album ''The Red Shoes'' (1993) and, backed by David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, at Amnesty International's Big 3-0 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 Pieces'', a character-based comedy sketch show which was followed by ''The Lenny Henry Show'', in which he combined stand-up, character sketches and song parodies.
In 2003, he was listed in ''The Observer'' as one of the fifty funniest acts in British comedy.
Henry is also one of the celebrities most associated with the British Comic Relief'charity organisation, along with his wife, well-known comedienne Dawn French, and Griff Rhys Jones, 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 clock for two weeks, 10 March–23 March 2003, in aid of Comic Relief.
He was the voice of the "shrunken head" on the Knight Bus in the 2004 movie ''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'', and read the audio book version of Neil Gaiman's ''Anansi Boys''. He also voices a character on the children's show ''Little Robots'', broadcast on CBeebies.
Henry has also appeared in advertisements for butter products in New Zealand, which were commissioned by the company now known as Fonterra, as well as portraying Saint Peter in the Virgin Mobile advertising campaign in South Africa. In the UK, he used his character of Theophilus P. Wildebeeste to advertise Alpen muesli, and also promoted the non-alcoholic lager, Kaliber.
In 2005, he appeared in Birmingham, as an act for "Jasper Carrott's Rock with Laughter". He appeared alongside performers such as Bill Bailey, Jasper Carrott, Bonnie Tyler, Bobby Davro and the Lord of the Dance troupe.
In 2006 Henry starred in the BBC programme ''Berry's Way''. He did the voice of Dark Nebula in ''. On March 16 2007, Henry made a cameo appearance as himself in a sketch with Catherine Tate, who appeared in the guise of her character Geordie Georgie from ''The Catherine Tate Show''. The sketch was made for the BBC Red Nose Day fund raising programme of 2007.
In March 2007, Henry visited Ipswich to emphasise community.^[3]
On the 16th of June 2007, Lenny appeared with Chris Tarrant and Sally James to present a 25th Anniversary episode of Tiswas. 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.
He is currently (June-July 2007) presenting ''Lenny's Britain'', a comedy documentary tour made with the Open University on BBC1 on Tuesday nights

Personal life

Henry met his future wife Dawn French on the alternative comedy circuit. The couple married on 20 October 1984, and have an adopted daughter, Billie. The couple have a home in Spencers Wood at Shinfield, near Reading, in Berkshire but have put it on the market in light of their purchase of a home close to Dawn's mother in Fowey, Cornwall.^[4]
Henry studied for English Literature with the Open University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree with honours on April 28 2007.^[5]
He supports West Bromwich Albion.^[6]

Bibliography

★ ''Lenny Henry - A Biography'', Jonathan Margolis (Orion, 1995) ISBN 978-0752800875

Filmography

★ ''Lenny Live and Unleashed''

★ ''True Identity'' (1991)

★ ''Alive and Kicking'' (1991)

★ ''Bernard and the Genie'' (1991)

★ ''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'' (voice) (2004)

★ ''Kirby & the Amazing Mirror 2'' (2007)

References

1. Jon Canter
2. BBC Guide to Comedy: Jon Canter
3. Lenny Henry calls for more youth funding
4. Dawn and Lenny's £2.4 million mansion
5. Lenny Henry Collects Degree April 28 2007
6. WBA vs Burnley match report

External links

★ Official website

★ Lenny Henry at the BFI's Screenonline

★ Lenny Henry at the MBC's Encyclopedia of Television

★ Lenny Henry at the bbc.co.uk Guide to Comedy

★

★ Lenny Henry at h2g2

★ Lenny Henry at the BBC Programme Catalogue
'Articles'

★ "Not enough black people in top media jobs, says Henry" (Media Guardian)