Lenny Henry
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Hire Lenny Henry
Lenny Henry is a British comedian who was born in 1958 in Dudley, West Midlands. “My family came to the UK at a time when blacks were just beginning to be integrated into British society. I was one of just three blacks in our school”. His first TV exposure was as a comic on ‘New Faces’ talent show. In the late seventies he appeared in TISWAS; the Saturday morning children’s show in which Lenny was a regular contributor alongside Chris Tarrant and Bob Carolgees.
Lenny Henry: TV Comedy
Lenny gained further notoriety in ‘Three of a Kind’ with Tracey Ullman and David Copperfield; which ran for three years on BBC TV. This introduced him to larger TV audiences and was followed by two series of the hugely successful Lenny Henry Show; featuring his popular character Delbert Wilkins. Around this time Lenny 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 which both mocked and celebrated black British culture, such as: Theophilus P. Wildebeeste (a Barry White-a-like), Brixton’s pirate radio DJ Delbert Wilkins and Trevor MacDoughnut (a spoof on Trevor McDonald). Much of his stand up material, which was enormously popular on audio recordings; was due to the writing talents of Kim Fuller.
Live Comedy
Lenny was the first British comic to make a live stand up comedy film; in the tradition of American comedians such as Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy and Robin Williams. Live and Unleashed was filmed before a live audience, at the Hackney Empire; and went on general release throughout the UK in 1989. He has since mixed stand up comedy with a very successful acting career.
Charity
As a co-founder and public face of Comic Relief he has played a central role in the charity raising over £1 billion since 1985. Lenny is a leading advocate for diversity in the arts and has established a centre for Media Diversity at Birmingham City University, written two books on the topic and now has a podcast. He has been a Trustee of the National Theatre since February 2016 and was awarded a Knighthood in 2015 for services to drama and charity.
Award Winning
| Year | Awards | Award Won |
| 2009 | Evening Standard Theatre Awards | Outstanding Newcomer |
| 2003 | British Comedy Awards | Winner of Lifetime Achievement Award (Perf) |
| 2003 | Winner of Lifetime Achievement Award | Black Entertainment Comedy Awards |
| 2002 | Winner of the Inspiration Award | BFM Awards |
| 2001 | Golden Rose of Montreux | Golden Rose of Montreux |
| 1993 | BBC British Personality of the Year | British Personality of the Year |
| 1992 | Monaco Red Cross, Monte Carlo Television Festival | Alive And Kicking |
| 1992 | Monte Carlo Television Festival | The Golden Nymph Award |
Lenny Henry: Career Highlights
TV Credits
- True Identity (1991)
- Alive and Kicking (1991)
- Chef (1993 BBC Drama series)
- White Goods (ITV 1994)
- The Lenny Henry Show (BBC 1995, 2004/5)
- Lenny Henry Goes to Town (BBC1 1998)
- The Man Screen One film (BBC1 1998)
- Hope & Glory (BBC 2000)
- Goodbye Mr Steadman (ITV 2001)
- Magicians (2011)
Lenny Henry Live Tours
- Larger Than Life (1996) New Zealand
- Lenny Henry Large! (1998) sell out tour Australia and New Zealand
- Have You Seen This Man (UK 2002)
- Where You From ? Toured throughout the UK, Australia and New Zealand in 2007 & 2008
- So Much Things To Say UK, Australia and New Zealand in 2004
- Cradle to Rave the UK, Australia and New Zealand (2011/12)
Stage & Theatre
- Othello (2009)
- The Comedy of Errors (2011)
- Corrinne Come Back and Gone (written by Lenny 2011)
Producer & Author
Lenny’s Production Company, Douglas Road, has achieved success in partnership with Banijay and are currently co-producing his new drama series. Lenny has written two memoirs’ with Faber alongside a series of children’s books published through Pan Macmillan.
Table of Contents
Additional information
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Expertise | Character Comedy, Comedy Actor, Corporate Comedian, Stand Up Comedy |
The Independent –
Lenny Henry’s towering performance further proves his status as a serious actor.
THE UNION LEARNING FUND AWARDS –
The event was a triumph and in no small way thanks to Lenny. He was absolutely great. He changed the mood as ever with his stand up and was really good with all the winners of awards in the presentations. What a pro!
CAPPER & Co. –
I have heard back from the client and they were absolutely thrilled with Lenny!! The feedback couldn’t be better; they loved how patient and flexible he was and were blown away by how personal he made it to SPAR. They said everyone (including the children) was recounting his jokes the next day! So absolutely fantastic!!!
KPMG –
I wanted to extend my heartfelt thanks to you both and Lenny for such a sterling effort last week… Please also pass on my massive appreciation to Lenny. He was a complete star on the night in the face of some sharp-end show-cutting shenanigans and he was the perfect host for the show. Everyone loved him!
NATIONAL GRADUATE RECRUITMENT AWARDS –
The client was thrilled at Lenny’s entrance song, they could not get over what a fantastic singer Lenny is and how tightly rehearsed the whole thing was. Lenny was spot on… and superb throughout the whole awards show he was really funny and the audience loved him. There are certainly some excellent comments on Twitter this morning… Lenny ad-libbed, kept control and his experience showed through. Lenny was a consummate professional through the whole booking start to end.
THE OLIVIER AWARDS –
Very happy thanks! Lenny was a dream to work with…