Talk:Lenny Henry

Black & White Minstrel Show

I just heard something on TV about this so I looked it up on youtube: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=2MCYzb1vENQ It says that Lenny Henry was the first black person to appear on this show (check the info). Why isn't this mentioned? Its utterly bizaare and I can't believe a show like that existed so recently. Also, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_and_White_Minstrel_Show. Its mentioned there with a source from the BBC website. He was in it for five years and was the first black comedian on it.. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.44.223.176 (talk) 10:35, 18 January 2009 (UTC)

There's lots about this in his autobiography, could add this with a reference. RomQuant (talk) 18:15, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

Chef!

I've removed "dreadful" from the sentence about this show since it's clear POV. The reason I'm mentioning it here as well is that I actually rather liked Chef!, so am declaring a bit of an interest. I'd have removed "fantastic" as well, though, as it would be equally POV. Something like "poorly received", or a quote from someone saying it was "dreadful", would be fine if someone can find a reference. Loganberry (Talk) 13:18, 15 December 2005 (UTC)

Edits 9th May 2006

Why the revert all the way back to december? The article has improved somewhat since that date, and the revert appears to achieve little beyond removing information and re-introducing typographical errors. So I reverted back to yesterday's version. Blufive 19:37, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

Edits 23rd Dec 2007

Trivial gossip removed. This is meant to be an encyclopedia, but the entry looks like a snoopy tabloid fluff. Please can we keep this to the important stuff? ... which doesn't include the exact date the subject got his BA, or his planned house move, surely. Trevor H. (UK) 01:28, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Removed passages

I took the following out as they have no reference, and a Google of "Lenny Henry The Car" produced a single hit - this article:

Original plans for a new sketch show in 2009 have recently been put on hold. Named 'Lenny Henry The Car', producers were upset when they discovered Lenny already had a car with the same name. Talks are currently on-going.

and

In 2007, Lenworth and his wife Dawn got a cat and named it Lenny Henry The Cat after the comedian. Currently the cat is enjoying a good quality of life. Loganberry (Talk) 16:14, 20 February 2008 (UTC)

Live at the Apollo

Lenny Henry is on Live at the Apollo at the moment saying the stuff bout where he grew up is wrong, and that it should be called "Wrongpedia" lol ;) Ryan4314 (talk) 22:46, 9 January 2009 (UTC)

Gosh, does he have any jokes that aren't racist? He's funny, but I wish he'd move on. LaFoiblesse 2009-01-09 22h49 (GMT)

I dunno, I think he's well tame (in a good way) compared to some of the Black American comedians. Anyway I've sourced the Burton Road Hospital bit, but I can't remember what school he said he went to :( Ryan4314 (talk) 22:56, 9 January 2009 (UTC)

He definitely mentioned The Blue Coat school. Would be good to get it properly referenced, though. Stephenb (Talk) 22:57, 9 January 2009 (UTC)

I just seen someone get reverted for changing the St John thing, although I'm sure he said he wasn't at St John's. He's blog mentions being at primary school, but not the school's name :( Ryan4314 (talk) 23:08, 9 January 2009 (UTC)

Unlike some other editors, I sit here (sadly) with a notepad, and write down the *correct* versions, which can later be sourced using {{cite episode}}. Although I may be half-asleep, I doubt my confusion is that real. Anyone who doubts it is free to find a better source than the man himself. --Rodhullandemu 23:14, 9 January 2009 (UTC)

LOL I just wrote to you on your talk page, didn't see you had posted here sorry. Ryan4314 (talk) 23:23, 9 January 2009 (UTC)

Sorry I sort of carried on the conversation here. I'm gonna tag the St John's bit up as ((citation needed)) per the talk there. Ryan4314 (talk) 23:49, 9 January 2009 (UTC)

Is the joke about Wikipedia being 'Wrongopedia' actually significant enough to warrant a mention in the article? He made a ton of other jokes too! They've not been put it! 213.106.45.6 (talk) 01:20, 14 June 2009 (UTC)

A comedian telling jokes? Man the barricades! It's scarcely worth mentioning, and I spent some time looking into his allegations the first time that show was broadcast. The guy now has a 30+ years career in comedy, so singling out one gag seems unnecessary to me. Rodhullandemu 01:25, 14 June 2009 (UTC)

I took out the part in the apollo reference that said wikipedia contains "a large amount" of wrong information about his life, it wasn't a "large" amount compared with the size of the article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.97.25.33 (talk) 02:22, 15 September 2010 (UTC)

During the weekend of October 23/24 2010, Henry appeared on Live at the Apollo (I am pretty sure it was on Dave) and mentioned that a lot of details about his life in the Wikipedia article were incorrect. Perhaps some one who remembers what he said can do the necessary corrections. ACEOREVIVED (talk) 23:21, 25 October 2010 (UTC)

So much things to say

Is this tour/DVD not notable? Biscit (talk) 11:00, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

Comic Relief: significant?

I think he's much better known for Comic Relief than for Chef. I remember an interview with (I think) The Radio Times in which he said that "People who watch me on Comic Relief might wonder what I do for the rest of the year, if they're not into Chef." (not exact quote). Saul Taylor

Depends. Chef has at least some exposure this side of the Atlantic, while Comic relief gets none. DJ Clayworth 03:58, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

However he is not a celeb outside the UK. A larger number of people will know him for Comic Relief.74.65.39.59 (talk) 20:13, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

I have to agree 100% with that. He's synonymous with Comic Relief in the UK yet there's *one* mention of it in the article...ONE mention! As far as I know, Lenny Henry's been a host *every* year so far and always supports the charity...surely this is a major part of who he is a a person and should be in the article? SmUX 01:12, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

Real name

Incidentally I find it hard to believe that up until I edited it, we had the man's real name wrong! It's been wrong for eighteen months. Where did we get Lenworth Hinton from? Pigsonthewing? DJ Clayworth 03:58, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

I always thought he was born Lenworth Hinton. My grandmother comes from the same community as Lenny's family (the Buffery area of Dudley) but only ever pointed out the house where he used to live, not any details about his family. He did put out a CD in late 2003 entitled "Have You Seen This Man" which did have a brief autobiography in the liner notes - I've still got the CD so I'll see if it says anything - after all, the words of Lenny himself can be considered a reputable source. 62.172.108.117 15:02, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

With all due respect to Lenny (whom I admire greatly), I don't think the words of the article's subject can be considered reliable. Some try to hide their background for various reasons, personal or professional or other. Lenny is a notoriously private person and may not want his family bothered by his fans or journalists. What was the name of his first wife? as there is no mention of her on this site Some BLP subjects may give false information to hide their real age, or previous names. DavidFarmbrough (talk) 12:59, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

This isn't right, my mother and grandmother grew up on the same estate as Lenny did with his family, the Priory estate the back of Priory Park!!! 87.194.19.178 (talk) 14:10, 19 September 2008 (UTC)

Please change the name of Sir Lenny Henry's page to Dr. Sir Lenny Henry. Whilst many other Entertainment Industry people (particularly actors) have honorary Doctor status given to them simply for being alumni, Dr. Henry went away and quietly completed the years of actual work required to obtain a doctorate. After working hard for a degree, he then did his work for a Masters. Only then did he begin work for his doctorate. For Lenny, as for many other people, it was never a foregone conclusion.

Dr. Henry and his awe inspiring achievements deserve respectful recognition.  I think the least to be done is to give him his rightful appellation. Without publicity, black children will not see, will not comprehend that: Yes. People with a black face like mine,  c  a  n   become 'Dr' Whomever. The putatively long term social effect of being re-branded within an environment of academia, must not be squandered. Wikipedia should lead this effort. Particularly as Wikipedia is an of the people, for the people, project. 
Sadly, I cannot help feeling that, if it was a white man involved, the bestowing of these titles - especially the consequence of the knighthood, would be known, globally.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by DieselEstate (talk • contribs) 21:26, 27 January 2020 (UTC) 

Brixton Broadcasting Corporation

this could be merged here, but i think the TV show needs an article in it's own right. Most TV series of similar significance have their own articles. Andrewjlockley (talk) 01:25, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

Dudley

...is nowhere near Worcestershire. Try West Midlands. :) 81.23.53.165 (talk) 20:27, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

IIRC, Dudley was part of Worcestershire up until 1966, and Henry was born before that (in 1958). —Sladen (talk) 20:30, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

CBE?

when did lenny henry get his CBE?! and why? surely there should be info on his page about this! 62.30.163.182 (talk) 20:48, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

fair point - answers to both questions now added. Tallguyuk (talk) 21:59, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

His birthday - the same day that Michael Jackson was born

August 29, 1958 - the same day that Michael Jackson was born — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.81.38.66 (talk) 19:01, 8 November 2011 (UTC)

And both were born black! CAN THIS BE A COINCIDENCE? 94.219.69.18 (talk) 00:33, 26 March 2014 (UTC)

Peculiar way of phrasing. Why not simply state that both men share a birthday date? DieselEstate 27th January 2020. — Preceding unsigned comment added by DieselEstate (talk • contribs) 19:52, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

Shakespeare

Would it not make sense for the section entitled 'Shakespeare' to be changed to 'theatre'? I know he has an interest in Shakespeare and has performed in a lot of these works, but this leaves out his non-Shakespearean theatrical roles as well, such as Fences at the Duchess Theatre in 2013. Just a thought...feel free to disagree. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.99.166.185 (talk • contribs)

Charitable Works

Lenny Henry's work as co-founder of Comic Relief and Red Nose Day deserves its own section. (Somebody deleted my previous contributions). I will be working on this Special Section in due course as there are plenty of excellent resources and references to achieve this aim. This also applies to the Comic Scriptwriter, Richard Curtis. — Preceding unsigned comment added by TouchingHeaven247 (talk • contribs)

Protected edit request on 13 June 2015

Persondata to be removed (now officially deprecated). No text needs to be added. Data has been transferred to Wikidata. Eagleash (talk) 09:23, 13 June 2015 (UTC)

Now done; protection expired. Eagleash (talk) 09:30, 14 June 2015 (UTC)

Marriage location

This article says he and Dawn French were married in Westminster whereas French's article says they were married in Covent Garden. Either one of the articles is wrong or they had a v-e-r-y large wedding party. 208.81.28.208 (talk) 16:57, 22 April 2016 (UTC)

Found this story in the Birmingham Mail which says that French and Henry were married at St Paul's Church in Covent Garden, this is in the London Borough of Westminster. https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/comedy-news/dawn-french-someone-firebombed-home-714049 82.10.142.150 (talk) 13:21, 18 July 2019 (UTC) Chris

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Lenworth

He just said on BBC Radio 4 in conversation with Louis Theroux that his name, Lenworth was chosen by his mother as he was delivered by a Dr Lenworth. He was only called Lenworth by his school teachers. 81.187.1.83 (talk) 19:48, 27 May 2020 (UTC)

Yes, the link to the show is here: Grounded with Louis Theroux. JezGrove (talk) 20:24, 27 May 2020 (UTC)

Which points to quite a bit more about him here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/Y0Vm65Kfjqh9XCPTSjkQNN/nine-things-we-learned-when-sir-lenny-henry-spoke-to-louis-theroux 81.187.1.83 (talk) 20:59, 27 May 2020 (UTC)