His humor was gentler than other "alternative comedy" performers and his TV show aired in prime time. But Henry retained his pioneering edge and in he became the first British comedy performer to make a live stand-up movie, Lenny Live and Unleashed. Offers from Hollywood followed and in he made True Identity , which was supposed to be the first of three movies for Disney. Unfortunately the film failed and the remainder of the contract was canceled. In he returned to the big screen as a shrunken head in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
Besides his work as a performer Henry is also a founder, frontman, and an important creative force behind the charity Comic Relief, which raises money to fund education, immunization, rebuilding, and community work in the United Kingdom and around the world. Launched at Christmas in from a refugee camp in Sudan, Comic Relief runs a fundraising effort every two years in the United Kingdom culminating in "Red Nose Day," a day when Britons are encouraged to do silly things to raise money.
The centerpiece of the campaign is a mammoth telethon that contrasts comedy routines with documentaries about the various causes. In the s Henry's production company, Crucial Films, involved him in many new projects including a workshop for new writers and performers called Step Forward. He also began to garner a reputation as a television actor. His performance in Alive and Kicking alongside Robbie Coltrane won several awards, while his situation comedy Chef!
Watch the video. Sign In. Lenny Henry Actor Writer Producer. Down 2, this week. View rank on IMDbPro ». View Resume ». He made his TV debut on a talent show called "New Faces" in at the age of He won and went on to things such as The Fosters and Tiswas , which was when his career as a comedian took off.
In , Lenny See full bio ». Filmography by Job Trailers and Videos. Hollywood Icons, Then and Now. Share this page:. The Rise of Will Smith. Around The Web Provided by Taboola. Details only on IMDbPro ». Create a list ». Film people I've spotted or met in real life. Black British actors. Black and British. See all related lists ». Do you have a demo reel?
Add it to your IMDb page. Find out more at IMDbPro ». How Much Have You Seen? How much of Lenny Henry's work have you seen? User Polls Brit please! LENNY Henry is an English stand-up comedian and actor, who is known for being the co-founder of Comic Relief and his parts in various television series.
But, what else is there to know about the star, and when was he married to Dawn French? Lenny Henry is a British stand-up comedian, actor, and writer - with his full name being Lenworth George Henry.
The year-old was born to Jamaican immigrant parents in Dudley, Worcestershire, on August 29, Apart from his stage and TV projects, he is also known for co-founding Comic Relief. Lenny was also knighted in the Queen's Birthday Honours for his services to drama and charity. I turned to face the audience — me as Frank Spencer — and my life changed for ever. If you were black and on TV in the Seventies, the jokes told tended to be against yourself rather than about any other subject.
Rule number one seemed to be: get all the dodgy racist jokes in before they did. Lenny Henry writes: 'If you were black and on TV in the Seventies, the jokes told tended to be against yourself rather than about any other subject'. I had no plan at first. My sole joy was simply to make my friends and, whoever else was around, squirt milk or lager from either nostril.
I might impersonate someone nearby, the way they stood or talked; I might do an impression from the cartoons — a Jamaican Scooby-Doo, or Barney Rubble swearing. Some of them sounded quite good. All copied from Mike Yarwood, Freddie Starr etc — sorry guys….
I started getting up at other clubs in the West Midlands too. These were thrilling, halcyon days. But in truth, without his intervention it might have taken me many, many years to get to a point where anyone was interested in what I was doing. Mike really was the catalyst to my career; he lit the blue touch-paper and watched me take off. Mike wanted to become my manager, so he wrote out a contract in felt-tip pen and knocked on our door at Douglas Road, wanting to meet my mama and papa.
He charmed Mama into co-signing a contract with me. Contained in this contract was a section that stated he would get I would have signed a burning log with my own spit to be on TV at the time.
Unfortunately, there was no Henry lawyer kindly looking over the paperwork in case there were any anomalies; just my family standing around wondering why this smoothly dressed white dude was in our house. I signed this makeshift, written-on-the-back-of-a-fag-packet, legally binding document gladly. The contract did eventually change once it was shown to a professional solicitor.
Mike would manage my career for ten years, while also maintaining his gigging and radio work. But, particularly in the beginning, who was I to question his wobbly showbusiness experience? After my first couple of turns at the Queen Mary Ballroom, Mike had written to both of them, and New Faces had written back with the offer of an audition.
That was that. I was in. The auditions took place on a Friday during school hours. As we made our way through the foyer, over the sticky carpet, you could smell the stale sweat and cigarettes. The panel of judges sat at the front of the nightclub auditorium, near the stage. There was a comedy show band. One of the upsides of my season experience with the Black And White Minstrel Show was you got to meet everyone else on the circuit. Bob Monkhouse was a brilliant student of comedy with the memory of an elephant.
He collected joke books, taped every comedy radio show and videoed the debut set of every comic working on television. When I was invited by a producer to watch my long lost debut performance again in , I thought he was teasing me. At last my name is called. I looked like a monochrome bumblebee. I pour everything into the first three minutes. There are laughs and rounds of applause.
I feel strangely unassailable up there, like this moment was meant to be. What a glorious feeling. In the end I just bow, and the audience stand up, clap their hands and cheer. Remember, I was 15 at the time — my mind may have embellished these memories over the years. Absolutely no shadow of a doubt, this is one of the most brilliant moments of my life.
That night, Mike dropped me back outside my house and zoomed off. I got to the door, full of confidence and joy, all of which dropped off me in chunks as soon as I saw her face. I got through. A pause as she took it all in. I went to the dentist. I then pulled my Frank Spencer beret from my pocket and put it on my head. He was furious. This was better than the audition. Never for my family. But the secret was out now.
There was a time lag between the auditions and the recording of my appearance on New Faces. They made me wait till I was Factory work was gruelling and unending. Racism would rear its head occasionally. As usual, I tried joking my way out of it by playing to the gallery. Sometimes it worked. Nothing ever came of it; it was just the way things were in the mid-Seventies.
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