Lenny Henry

Sir Lenworth George Henry CBE (born 29 August 1958),[3] known as Lenny Henry, is a British stand-up comedian, actor, singer, writer and television presenter, known for co-founding the charity Comic Relief,[4] and appearing in TV programmes including children's entertainment show Tiswas, sitcom Chef! and The Magicians for BBC One. He was formerly married to Dawn French. He is currently the Chancellor of Birmingham City University[5] and is acting in the production of the Amazon Prime Lord of the Rings.[6]


Lenny Henry

CBE
Henry in The Comedy of Errors in 2011
Born
Lenworth George Henry

(1958-08-29) 29 August 1958
NationalityBritish
Alma materThe Open University (BA)[1]
Royal Holloway, University of London (MA, PhD)[2]
OccupationComedian, actor, singer, writer, television presenter
Years active1975–present
Known forThe Lenny Henry Show
Chef!
Comic Relief
Spouse(s)
(m. 1984; div. 2010)
Children1

Early life

Lenworth George Henry was born at Burton Road Hospital[7] in Dudley, on 29 August 1958, to Winston Jervis Henry (1910–1978) and Winifred Louise Henry (1922–1998), who emigrated to Britain from Jamaica before he was born. The fifth of seven children, Henry was the first child of the family to be born in the United Kingdom.[8] When Henry was ten years old, he began spending time with the man who was later revealed to be his biological father, Albert Augustus "Bertie" Green (1927–2004), another Jamaican immigrant with whom his mother had a brief relationship when she first arrived in England from their native Jamaica.[9] He was named after the doctor who delivered him Dr Lenworth.

Henry attended St John's Primary School and later The Blue Coat School in Dudley before completing his schooling at W.R. Tuson College in Preston, Lancashire.[10][11]

Career

Early career

Henry's formative years in comedy were spent in working men's clubs, where he impersonated mainly white characters, such as the Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em character Frank Spencer. His earliest television appearance was on the New Faces talent show in 1975, aged 16, which he won with impersonations of Frank Spencer, Stevie Wonder and others.[12]

His first manager was Robert Luff, who signed him in 1975 and gave him the opportunity, from the ages 16 to 21, to perform as a comedian as part of the Luff-produced touring stage version of The Black and White Minstrel Show.[13] In July 2009, Lenny Henry stated he was contractually obligated to perform and regretted his part in the show,[14] 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.[15]

In 1976, he appeared with Norman Beaton in LWT's sitcom The Fosters, Britain's first comedy series with predominantly black performers. He also made guest appearances on television programmes including Celebrity Squares, Seaside Special and The Ronnie Corbett Show.[16]

1980s

Henry in the 1980s

In 1980, Henry performed in Summer Season in Blackpool with Cannon and Ball.[16][17] 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".[17] Around the same time, he co-hosted the children's programme Tiswas from 1978 until 1981 playing such characters as Rastafarian Algernon Razzmatazz, David Bellamy and Trevor McDoughnut (a parody of Trevor McDonald), and subsequently performed and wrote for the show Three of a Kind.

Also in 1980, he teamed up with alternative-comedy collective The Comic Strip. While involved with the group, he met his wife, comedian Dawn French.[18] She 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 homage to Teddy Pendergrass using the 'TP' initials) and Brixton pirate radio disc jockey DJ Delbert Wilkins. 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 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 Ones as The Postman, in 1984.[19][20]

The first series of The Lenny Henry Show 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 Canter.[21][22] The Lenny Henry Show ran periodically for a further 19 years in various incarnations. He performed impressions such as Tina Turner, Prince, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Run DMC, among others.

It was in 1985 that Henry co-founded the British Comic Relief charity organisation,[4] and 1988 when the first ever Red Nose Day was celebrated. Over 150 celebrities and comedians, including Lenny Henry, took part in an evening long BBC broadcast, which was watched by 30 million viewers and raised over £15 million.[23]

Prior to the 1987 general election, Henry lent his support to Red Wedge by participating in a comedy tour organised by the campaign.[24]

In 1987, he appeared in a TV film, Coast to Coast. It was a comedy thriller with John Shea about two DJs with a shared passion for Motown music being chased across Britain. The film has a strong following, but contractual problems[25] have prevented it from being distributed on video or DVD.

1990s

In the early 1990s, Henry starred in the Hollywood film True Identity, in which his character pretended to be a white person (using make-up, prostheses, and a wig) to avoid the mob. The film was not commercially successful. In 1991, he starred in a BBC drama alongside Robbie Coltrane 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 Genie alongside Alan Cumming and Rowan Atkinson. Henry is known 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. He was co-creator with Neil Gaiman and producer of the 1996 BBC drama serial Neverwhere.[26]

Henry appeared as a backing singer on Kate Bush's album The Red Shoes (1993) for the song Why Should I Love You?, on which Prince played guitar.[27] He also performed, backed by David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, at Amnesty International's Big 3-0 fund raising concert.[28] 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.

2000s

Lenny Henry on Red Nose Day 2005

In 2003, Henry was listed in The Observer as one of the fifty funniest acts in British comedy.[29] In 2004, he was listed in The Sunday Times as the fifteenth funniest black performer of all time. He was the voice of the British speaking clock for two weeks in March 2003 in aid of Comic Relief.[30]

Henry voiced Dre Head, the "shrunken head" on the Knight Bus in the 2004 Alfonso Cuarón movie Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and read the audiobook version of Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys. He also voiced Sporty on the children's show Little Robots. 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. In the UK, he used his character of Theophilus P. Wildebeeste to advertise Alpen muesli, and promoted the non-alcoholic lager, Kaliber.

In June 2000, for a BBC documentary, he sailed a trimaran from Plymouth to Antigua with yachtsman Tony Bullimore.[31] 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 Kirby: Squeak Squad. On 16 March 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 fundraising programme of 2007.

On 16 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. In the summer of 2007, he presented Lenny's Britain, a comedy documentary tour made with the Open University on BBC One on Tuesday nights. In late 2007, he hosted a stand-up comedy tour of the UK.

In early 2008, Henry's series lennyhenry.tv was broadcast on BBC One. The programme has an accompanying website of the same name and broadcasts strange, weird and generally amusing online videos and CCTV clips. He starred in the Radio 4 show Rudy's Rare Records. On 31 December 2008 and 1 January 2009, he appeared on Jools Holland's Hootenanny on BBC Two, singing part of the song Mercy along with singer Duffy. 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 Parsons and Ed Byrne, where he referred to Wikipedia as "Wrongopedia" for containing incorrect information about his life.

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. He also offers his own writing tips and amusing anecdotes in the writing tips video clip on BBC raw words – story writing. He supplies the voices of both Big and Small in the BBC CBeebies Children's programs Big & Small.[32]

2010s

Henry (right) and Lucian Msamati in the Royal National Theatre production of The Comedy of Errors, in 2011

In 2010, Henry produced and starred in a five-part web series for the BBC Comedy website, Conversations with my Wife,[33] 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.[34]

In 2008, he became the face of budget hotel operator Premier Inn. One of the 2010 adverts caused controversy and was banned from children's programming hours as it parodied a well-known scene from the film The Shining, with Lenny Henry spoofing the scene originally starring Jack Nicholson, smashing a door with an axe and then thrusting his head through the door saying: "Here's Lenny."[35]

In 2011, Henry presented a Saturday night magic series called The Magicians on BBC One. The show returned in 2012, however, Henry was replaced by Darren McMullen.

In March 2011, he appeared with Angela Rippon, Samantha Womack and Reggie Yates in the BBC fundraising documentary for Comic Relief called Famous, Rich and in the Slums, where the four celebrities were sent to Kibera in Kenya, the African continent's largest slum.[36]

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. The Sun reported that the British Stammering Association had branded the sketch as "a gross and disgusting gleefulness at pointing out someone else's misfortune".[37]

In 2014, 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.[38]

Henry wrote Danny and the Human Zoo, a ninety-minute television film shown on BBC One in 2015. Directed by Destiny Ekaragha, it was a fictionalised account of Henry's life as a teenager in 1970s Dudley. Henry played Samson Fearon, a character based on Henry's own father Winston.[39][40][41]

In November 2019, it was announced that Henry would guest star in "Spyfall", the two-part opening episode of Doctor Who's twelfth revived series, which began broadcast on New Year's Day 2020. Henry played technology billionaire Daniel Barton.[42][43]

2020s

In December 2020, Henry was announced as a cast member of Amazon Prime's Lord of the Rings spin-off series.[44]

In 2021, Henry appeared as a contestant on the Masked Singer, masked as the Blob. He finished in 6th place.[45]

In March 2021, Henry is starring in a Scandinavian biopic about the life and times of former Norwegian football and entrepreneur Jonny Hansen, entitled Hansen.

Shakespeare

Henry was introduced to Shakespeare when he made the 2006 Radio 4 series Lenny and Will, which saw him going "in search of the magic of Shakespeare in performance".[46] In February 2009, he appeared in the title role in the Northern Broadsides production of Othello at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds.[47] Before the production opened the director Barrie Rutter 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."[48]

Henry received widespread critical acclaim in the role. Charles Spencer in 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."[49] Michael Billington in The Guardian 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".[50] Lynne Walker of The Independent 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."[51]

Henry has said that 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."[52]

The production was scheduled to transfer to the West End of London from 11 September to 12 December 2009, to be performed at the Trafalgar Studios in Whitehall.[53]

In November 2011, 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. The production was selected to be broadcast live to selected cinemas worldwide in March 2012 as part of the National Theatre Live programme. Henry's performance gained positive reviews. Paul Taylor in The Independent wrote that "Henry beautifully conveys the tragicomic plight of an innocent abroad."[54]

Music career

In 2015, Henry was asked by Sky Arts to produce a show for them, Lenny Henry's Got The Blues. He worked with a group of musicians including Jakko Jakszyk, lead singer of King Crimson, to produce the album New Millennium Blues. The album consists of both covers of blues classics, as well as original tracks co-written by Lenny.[55] 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.[56]

Personal life

Henry met Dawn French on the alternative comedy circuit. They married in 1984 in Covent Garden, London[57] and have one child, a daughter named Billie.[58] On 6 April 2010, French and Henry announced they were 'amicably' separating after 25 years of marriage.[59] Their divorce was finalised in 2010.[60] Since 2012, Henry has been in a relationship with theatre producer and casting director Lisa Makin.

He graduated with a BA Hons in English Literature, from the Open University, in 2007.[61] He studied for an MA at Royal Holloway, University of London in screenwriting for television and film, where he received a distinction and in 2010 he began studying at the same institution for a PhD on the role of black people in the media.[62] His PhD was awarded in July 2018 for a thesis titled Does the Coach Have to be Black? The Sports Film, Screenwriting and Diversity: A Practice-Based Enquiry.[63]

Henry has been an open critic of British television's lack of ethnic diversity in its programmes. During a speech at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in March 2014, he called the lack of minorities "appalling" and he has continued to raise the issue publicly.[64]

Henry is a lifelong supporter of West Bromwich Albion Football Club.[65]

Honours

Henry was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1999 New Year Honours.[66] He was knighted in the Queen's 2015 Birthday Honours for services to drama and charity.[67][68] In July 2016, 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.[69] Henry has also been listed in the Powerlist of the 100 most influential Black Britons, including ranking fourth in 2016.[70]

In 2016, Henry was made a fellow of the Royal Television Society.[71] Henry was awarded the BAFTA Television: Special Award in 2016.[72] On 20 July 2016, 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.

Bibliography

  • Margolis, Jonathan. Lenny Henry – A Biography, Orion, 1995; ISBN 978-0-7528-0087-5
  • Henry, Lenny. Who am I, again?, Faber & Faber, 2019; ISBN 978-0571342594 288 pages.

Narration

Screen and stage

Film
Year Title Role
1987 Coast to Coast Ritchie Lee
1988 The Suicide Club Cam
1989 Work Experience Terence Welles
1991 True Identity Miles Pope
1997 Famous Fred Fred (voice)
2004 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Shrunken Head (voice)
2008 Penelope Krull (voice)
2012 The Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists Peg-Leg Hastings (voice)
2014 Postman Pat: The Movie Mr Bernard (Tow Truck Manager; voice)
2020 Zog and the Flying Doctors[73] Narrator
Television
Year Title Role
1976–1977 The Fosters Sonny Foster
1978–1981 Tiswas Himself, David Bellamy, Tommy Cooper, Trevor Mcdonut & various characters
1981–1983 Three of a Kind
1984–1985,

1987–1988,

1994, 1995

2004–2005

The Lenny Henry Show Himself

Delbert Wilkins (sitcom version)

1987–2007, 2011— Comic Relief Presenter
1991 Alive and Kicking
Bernard and the Genie Josephus the Genie
1992 In Dreams Lenny
1993–1996 Chef! Gareth Blackstock
1999–2000 Hope and Glory Ian George
2000–2003 Lenny Henry in Pieces Himself
2008 lennyhenry.tv Presenter
2008–2011 Big & Small Big/Small (voice)
2009, 2011 Live at the Apollo Presenter (two episodes)
2010–2011 Britain's Classroom Heroes Presenter
2011 The Magicians Presenter
Rich, Famous and in the Slums Contributor
2012 Jackanory Junior – "The Enormous Crocodile"[74] Narrator
The One Lenny Henry[75]
2015 Operation Health for Comic Relief Contributor
The Olivier Awards Presenter
The Syndicate Godfrey Watson
Danny and the Human Zoo Samson Fearon
2017 Broadchurch Ed Burnett
2018 The Long Song Godfrey
2020 Doctor Who Daniel Barton
The Big Night In Co-presenter
Back To The 80s With Lenny Henry[76] Presenter
2021 The Masked Singer Blob (contestant)
TBA Three Little Birds[77] Writer


Stage

Year Title Role Theatre
2009 Othello Othello Northern Broadsides / West Yorkshire Playhouse

Trafalgar Studios, London

2011, 2012 The Comedy of Errors Antipholus of Syracuse National Theatre, London (Olivier)
2013 Fences Troy Maxson UK tour

Duchess Theatre, London

2014 Rudy's Rare Records Adam

(also dramaturg and co-creator)

Birmingham Repertory Theatre

Hackney Empire, London

2015 Educating Rita Frank Minerva Theatre, Chichester
2017 The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui Arturo Ui Donmar Warehouse, London
2019 King Hedley II Elmore Theatre Royal Stratford East, London

References

  1. "News from The Open University". www3.open.ac.uk. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  2. "Lenny Henry pens his first play". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  3. "Pieces of Sir Lenny Henry". BBC News. 12 June 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  4. "Lenny Henry | Comic Relief". www.comicrelief.com. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  5. "Birmingham City University : Sir Lenny Henry appointed as Chancellor of Birmingham City University". www.bcu.ac.uk. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  6. Otterson, Joe (December 3, 2020). "'Lord of the Rings' Series at Amazon Adds 20 Actors to Cast". Variety. https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/lord-of-the-rings-series-amazon-cast-1234845274/ Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  7. "Series 4, Episode 5". Live at the Apollo. 9 January 2009. BBC One.
  8. Mark Duguid. "Lenny Henry profile at". screenonline.org.uk. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  9. Lanre Bakare (21 October 2019). "Lenny Henry: 'I wish somebody had taught me how to defend myself'". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  10. Owen Gibson (11 February 2008). "Where are all the black new faces?". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 9 January 2009.
  11. "Lenny Henry's Preston memories". This is Lancashire. Newsquest Media Group. 27 January 2008. Retrieved 11 October 2008. Henry left school without any qualifications but decided to retake his "O" levels at Preston College – then called W.R. Tuson College – while appearing in a summer season in Blackpool with Cannon and Ball in the early 1980s. [...] "I thought 'I'm going to do my O levels', which is a bizarre thing for a rock 'n' roll 21-year-old comedian to do".
  12. "Lenny Henry: 'I wish somebody had taught me how to defend myself'". The Guardian. 21 October 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  13. "Robert Luff (obituary)". The Daily Telegraph. London, England. 23 February 2009. Retrieved 1 March 2009.
  14. Five Minutes With: Lenny Henry. BBC News, 18 July 2009.
  15. Midgley, Carol (6 June 2015). "Lenny Henry on racism and regret". The Times. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  16. "Comedy Kings – an unofficial Cannon and Ball website". Archived from the original on 10 March 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
  17. Henry, Lenny. "About Me: The Story So Far". Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
  18. "BBC Comedy Profiles: Lenny Henry". Retrieved 4 March 2011.
  19. "Summer Holiday (1984)". British Film Institute. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  20. oGeMmAo (11 April 2009), The Young Ones – Summer Holiday – Part 3, retrieved 23 July 2016
  21. "Jon Canter". Pbjmgt.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 March 2007.
  22. "BBC Guide to Comedy: Jon Canter". Bbc.co.uk.
  23. "Our history | Comic Relief". www.comicrelief.com. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  24. "Where will the next generation get its political anthems from?". LabourList. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  25. "Coast To Coast details". guerilla films. Archived from the original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  26. "Neil Gaiman's Urban Fantasy "Neverwhere", Adapted by Robert Kauzlaric, Nov 6–10". Cornish College of the Arts. 9 October 2013. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  27. "Lenny Henry on Prince: 'I almost passed out. This was my hero talking to me'". The Guardian. 24 April 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  28. Miles, Barry; Mabbett, Andy (1994). Pink Floyd - The Visual Documentary. Omnibus. ISBN 0-7119-4109-2.
  29. Guardian Staff (7 December 2003). "The 50 funniest people in Britain (part one)". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  30. "The History Press | Celebrating 80 years of the Speaking Clock". www.thehistorypress.co.uk. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  31. "BBC News | UK | Comic's yacht runs into trouble". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  32. "BBC – CBeebies Grownups – Big & Small". BBC. Archived from the original on 26 March 2010. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
  33. "BBC Comedy – Conversations with my Wife". BBC. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
  34. Bennett, Steve. "Comedy imitating life? : News 2010 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  35. "Premier Inn 'horror' ad banned from children's network". BBC. 24 March 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
  36. Mangan, L. (4 March 2011). "TV Review". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
  37. Ryan Love (2011). "Digital Spy". Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  38. "Rudy's Rare Records review", theguardian.com, 14 September 2014.
  39. "BBC orders Lenny Henry biographical drama". The List. 28 February 2014. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
  40. "BBC orders Lenny Henry biographical drama". Virgin Media. 28 February 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
  41. Young, Gary (28 February 2014). "Lenny Henry writes TV drama about Dudley childhood". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
  42. "Stephen Fry and Sir Lenny Henry CBE to appear in the twelfth series of Doctor Who". BBC Media Centre. 20 November 2019.
  43. "Doctor Who to land on Who Year's Day in Spyfall". BBC Media Centre. 2 December 2019.
  44. Otterson, Joe; Otterson, Joe (3 December 2020). "'Lord of the Rings' Series at Amazon Adds 20 Actors to Cast". Variety. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  45. "Who went home on The Masked Singer UK? Blob revealed to be Lenny Henry". Metro. 30 January 2021. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  46. "Othello – Resource Pack". BBC. 25 March 2006. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
  47. "Lenny just a jealous guy... and it's no joke". Yorkshire Evening Post. 10 April 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2008.
  48. Brown, Mark (10 February 2008). "A new Moor for West Yorkshire". The Guardian. London, England. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
  49. Spencer, Charles (19 February 2008). "Othello with Lenny Henry at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, review". The Daily Telegraph. London, England. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
  50. Michael Billington (19 February 2008). "Othello". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
  51. Walker, Lynne (19 February 2008). "First Night: Othello, Quarry Theatre, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds". The Independent. London, UK. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
  52. Larkin, Maeve (19 February 2008). "Othello – Resource Pack" (PDF). Northern Broadsides. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
  53. "Henry brings Othello to West End". BBC News. 24 April 2008. Retrieved 24 April 2008.
  54. Taylor, Paul (23 November 2011). "First Night". The Independent. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  55. "Lenny Henry on his music career: 'I had Jeremy Paxman getting down to Sex Machine' | Lenny Henry". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  56. "Lenny Henry launches The Cops Don't Know video". Classic Rock. 20 April 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  57. "Dawn French: Someone firebombed the home I shared with Lenny Henry" BirminghamLive (UK). Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  58. "Dawn French: The French connection" The Independent (UK). Retrieved 13 December 2007.
  59. "Lenny Henry and Dawn French split". BBC. 6 April 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  60. "Comedian Dawn French marries for second time". BBC Online. 22 April 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  61. Lenny Henry Collects Degree 28 April 2007
  62. "Lenny Henry's long road to a PhD". BBC. 5 October 2010. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  63. "Lenny Henry receives Doctorate from Royal Holloway". Royal Holloway, University of London. 13 July 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  64. Khaleeli, Homa (20 June 2014). "Lenny Henry: diversity in the TV industry 'is worth fighting for'". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  65. "Lenny Henry recalls West Brom's Boing Boing chant". www.bbc.co.uk. 20 July 2013. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  66. "Lenny sees red over nose ban". BBC. 2 March 1999. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  67. "No. 61256". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 June 2015. p. B2.
  68. "Lenny Henry 'chuffed' at knighthood". BBC News. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  69. "superb opportunity for me to pursue my three passions". bcu. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  70. "Sir Lenny Henry and Mo Farah among top 10 most influential black Britons". The Independent. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  71. "Sir Lenny Henry awarded RTS fellowship and judges award". BBC News. 23 March 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  72. "BAFTA Television in 2016". Retrieved 25 December 2016.
  73. "Meet the cast of Zog and the Flying Doctors". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  74. "Jackanory Junior – 'Rastamouse'". Bbc.co.uk. BBC. 23 November 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  75. "BBC One - The Ones, Series 1, The One Lenny Henry". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  76. "Back To The 80s With Lenny Henry". channel4.com. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  77. "ITV commissions Three Little Birds written by Sir Lenny Henry". itv.com. Retrieved 18 January 2021.

Articles

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.