Naming him one of the 50 funniest people in Britain in , the Observer newspaper described Lenny Henry as "a comic genius with a highly effective social conscience. Henry became famous for his gentle and affectionate mockery of the Jamaican community in which he grew up, but he has also been a savage critic of jokes that exploit minority groups out of bigotry or ignorance.
He had a brief and unsuccessful flirtation with Hollywood in the s, but has since returned to the "character comedy" for which he is best known. In he was awarded a CBE meaning Commander of the British Empire, an honor bestowed by the royalty of England , in part for his years of campaign work with the charity Comic Relief.
His family was from Jamaica and moved to Birmingham in the s. Tewson School, and Preston College, but in , aged just 17, his show business career took off when he was a repeat winner on the weekly TV talent show, New Faces. His act consisted of impersonating white TV celebrities, and for the next few years he performed in pubs and local clubs around Britain. He also went on tour with the Black and White Minstrels' Show— a variety show featuring white performers with blacked-up faces—and endured many jokes based on his color.
On his official Web site he explains: "I think by '79—I'd had enough. The jokes were boring—'And now the only one of 'em who doesn't need make up' …It hurts thinking about it now. Between and he performed on the chaotic British Saturday morning children's TV show Tiswas , where he was allowed to improvise and where he invented characters such as Delbert Wilkins, an inept pirate radio DJ from the West Indian London suburb of Brixton, who would later become part of his adult stand-up act.
What are you people doing out here at this time of night? I really enjoyed the challenge of it. Chichester is a lovely venue. But literally, Lashana [Lynch, who played Rita] and I were the only black people within mile radius. It was a really, really long play to do. I think there are people in the audience still watching it now.
Bloody hell, it was long. And it was a real trip. I adore acting. To embody another human being and to do that on stage in front of people seems like the ultimate in play acting. I love that. Touring is great, but exhausting, and it takes you away from home. But I do love doing stand-up and I do love being on stage. I was always envious of Rowan Atkinson, being somewhere for five weeks, and I always thought how great to be able to do your set and then go home.
I write more than I used to — and I thank having a computer for that. I used to make lots of lists all the time. When I was starting out, I was a compulsive list-maker. I wrote lots of lists and had lots of ideas, but I never really finished anything. It still is, so if anybody knows of a calligraphy teacher, please let me know. But my handwriting looks like some ants crawled through some spilled ink and just made a squiggle across the page. The first few were done with a brilliant Radio 4 producer called Claire Grove, who sadly is no longer with us.
Claire did this fantastic thing where she encouraged me, she had empathy for the things I wanted to write about, and she absolutely gave me permission to write. Then she leaves Jamaica to live in Britain, but she leaves her kids with him.
Then when she goes back 20 years later, she has to cope with the fact that she left and she has to explain herself to her daughters.
I actually remember I cried at the read-through. I want to write more for the radio. I was an associate on that.
It was great. We had lots of fun. Every single recording was like a party. I also wrote my first ever proper drama for BBC One, Danny and the Human Zoo, which is a kind of alternate-universe version of my life up until the age of 17 or Nicola Schindler and Caroline Hollick from Red were the premier development and production team in the UK at the time.
Lionel Richie. Bryan Adams. George Michael. Lenny Henry facts: Comedian's partner, children, age, career and more revealed 15 October , Lenny Henry in Picture: Getty. Latest Features See more Latest Features. Mark Duguid.
Black and White in Colour Fosters, The Hope and Glory Lenny Henry Show, The , , Lenny Henry in Pieces Three of a Kind Young Ones, The
0コメント