59 Facts About Lenny Henry

Sir Lenworth George Henry was born on 29 August 1958 and is a British actor, comedian, singer, television presenter and writer.

Henry gained success as a stand-up comedian and impressionist in the late 1970s and early 1980s, culminating in The Lenny Henry Show in 1984.

Lenny Henry was the most prominent black British comedian of the time and much of his material served to celebrate and parody his African-Caribbean roots.

Lenny Henry appears in the Amazon Prime series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

The fifth of seven children, Lenny Henry was the first child of the family to be born in the United Kingdom.

In July 2009, Lenny Henry stated he was contractually obligated to perform and regretted his part in the show, telling The Times in 2015 that his appearance on the show led to a profound "wormhole of depression", and he regretted his family not intervening.

In 1976, Lenny Henry appeared with Norman Beaton in LWT's sitcom The Fosters, Britain's first comedy series featuring a predominantly black cast.

Lenny Henry made guest appearances on television programmes including Celebrity Squares, Seaside Special and The Ronnie Corbett Show.

In 1980, Lenny Henry performed in Summer Season in Blackpool with Cannon and Ball.

Lenny Henry has since said that "the summer season was the first time [he] felt that [his] act had received a proper response from an audience".

Lenny Henry 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.

Lenny Henry introduced characters who both mocked and celebrated African Caribbean British culture, such as Brixton pirate radio disc jockey DJ Delbert Wilkins.

Lenny Henry made a guest appearance in the final episode of The Young Ones as The Postman, in 1984.

The first series of The Lenny Henry Show appeared on the BBC in 1984.

The Lenny Henry Show ran periodically for a further 19 years in various incarnations.

Lenny Henry was co-creator with Neil Gaiman and producer of the 1996 BBC drama serial Neverwhere.

In 2003, Lenny Henry was listed in The Observer as one of the fifty funniest acts in British comedy.

Lenny Henry was the voice of the British speaking clock for two weeks in March 2003 in aid of Comic Relief.

Lenny Henry voiced Dre Head, the "shrunken head" on the Knight Bus in the 2004 Alfonso Cuaron movie Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and read the audiobook version of Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys.

Lenny Henry voiced Sporty on the children's show Little Robots.

Lenny Henry appeared in advertisements for butter products in New Zealand, commissioned by the company now known as Fonterra, as well as portraying Saint Peter in the Virgin Mobile advertising campaign in South Africa.

Lenny Henry appeared alongside performers such as Bill Bailey, Jasper Carrott, Bonnie Tyler, Bobby Davro and the Lord of the Dance troupe.

In 2006, Lenny Henry starred in the BBC programme Berry's Way.

On 16 March 2007, Lenny 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.

On 16 June 2007 Lenny Henry appeared with Chris Tarrant and Sally James to present a 25th Anniversary episode of Tiswas.

Lenny Henry starred in the Radio 4 show Rudy's Rare Records.

In October 2009, Henry reprised his role of Deakus to feature in comedy shorts about story writing alongside Nina Wadia, Tara Palmer Tomkinson and Stephen K Amos.

In 2010, Lenny 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 to hold the fort at home.

In 2011, Lenny Henry presented a Saturday night magic series called The Magicians on BBC One.

Lenny 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 Firth's portrayal of King George VI as he stammered over his speech.

In 2014, Lenny Henry appeared in and produced a play based on his radio show Rudy's Rare Records, which played at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre before moving on to a run in London.

Lenny Henry wrote Danny and the Human Zoo, a ninety-minute television film shown on BBC One in 2015.

Lenny Henry played Samson Fearon, a character based on Lenny Henry's own father Winston.

In 2017, Lenny Henry appeared in a recurring role in the third series of Broadchurch.

In December 2020, Lenny Henry was announced as a cast member of Amazon Prime Video's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

In 2021, Lenny Henry appeared as a contestant on the second series of The Masked Singer, masked as "The Blob".

In 2022, Lenny Henry was cast in The Sandman as the voice of Martin Tenbones, a magical, doglike creature who appears in the dreams of another character called Barbie.

In March 2021, Lenny Henry wrote an open letter urging everyone to get a COVID-19 vaccination.

Lenny Henry stated people ought to, "trust the facts" and distrust misinformation.

Lenny Henry has said that he saw parallels between himself and Othello.

In November 2011, Lenny Henry made his debut at the Royal National Theatre in London in Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors, directed by Dominic Cooke, in which he played the character of Antipholus of Syracuse.

In 2015, Henry was asked by Sky Arts to produce a show for them, Lenny Henry's Got The Blues.

Lenny Henry worked with a group of musicians including Jakko Jakszyk, lead singer of King Crimson, to produce the album New Millennium Blues.

Lenny Henry later released "hard-hitting animated blues video" directed by Iranian filmmaker, Sam Chegini titled The Cops Don't Know which was premiered by Classic Rock magazine on 20 April 2016.

Lenny Henry has published four books, two autobiographies, and two young adult fantasies.

Henry begins with his children's show Tiswas and continues through his The Lenny Henry Show, which was broadcast for 20 years though not continuously.

On 6 April 2010, French and Lenny Henry announced they were "amicably" separating after 25 years of marriage.

Lenny Henry obtained a BA Hons degree in English Literature from the Open University in 2007 and an MA in Screenwriting for TV and Film from Royal Holloway, University of London in 2010.

Lenny Henry subsequently studied at the latter institution for a Doctor of Philosophy degree on the role of black people in the media.

Lenny Henry has been an open critic of British television's lack of ethnic diversity in its programmes.

Lenny Henry is a lifelong supporter of West Bromwich Albion Football Club.

Lenny Henry was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1999 New Year Honours.

Lenny Henry received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the British Comedy Awards in 2003.

Lenny Henry was knighted in the Queen's 2015 Birthday Honours for services to drama and charity.

In July 2016, Lenny Henry became the chancellor of Birmingham City University citing his passion to give life changing opportunities to young people from a wide range of backgrounds.

Lenny Henry has been listed in the Powerlist of the 100 most influential Black Britons, including ranking fourth in 2016.

In 2016, Lenny Henry was made a fellow of the Royal Television Society.

Lenny Henry was awarded the BAFTA Television: Special Award, the Alan Clarke Award for Outstanding Contribution to TV, in 2016.

Also in 2016, Lenny Henry was awarded an honorary doctorate from Nottingham Trent University in recognition of his significant contribution to British comedy and drama, along with his achievements in international charity work.