History Creator / LennyHenry

[[UsefulNotes/KnightFever Sir]] Lenworth George "Lenny" Henry CBE (born 29 August 1958 in Dudley, England) is an English actor, writer, comedian and occasional television presenter, but to American audiences, he's best known as the ShrunkenHead from ''Film/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban''.

He was the first host of UsefulNotes/ComicRelief, and is still heavily involved with the event. His best known sitcom is ''[[Series/Chef1993 Chef!]]''. Branched out into theatre acting in the 2000s with roles in Creator/WilliamShakespeare's ''Theatre/{{Othello}}'' and ''Theatre/TheComedyOfErrors''.

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* ''Series/{{Tiswas}}''

* ''Series/Chef1993'': Gareth Blackstock

* ''Series/HopeAndGlory'': Ian George (one of his rare non-comedy roles)

* TheParody: He is very fond of parodies. The most notable are his spoofs of pop stars and their music videos: Music/MichaelJackson, Music/{{Prince}} and Creator/BeyonceKnowles.

[[UsefulNotes/KnightFever Sir]] Lenworth George "Lenny" Henry, Kt CBE (born 29 August 1958 in Dudley, England) is an English actor, writer, comedian and occasional television presenter, but to American audiences, he's best known as the ShrunkenHead from ''Film/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban''.

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* ''Film/BernardAndTheGenie''

* ''Series/Chef1993''
* ''Series/BernardAndTheGenie'': The Genie.

He was married to fellow comic Creator/DawnFrench from 1984 to 2010. In recent years Henry has heavily criticised the British entertainment industry for its lack of minority representation in both on and off camera roles.

* TakeThat: A 1985 sketch on ''The Lenny Henry Show'' parodying ''Series/DoctorWho'' had Lenny as the Doctor [[note]](the opening sequence and first few lines of dialogue indicate this was an alternate Seventh incarnation)[[/note]] confronting the Cyberman dictator [[UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher Thatchos]] (and her ineffectual underling Denos).
** Interestingly, this makes Lenny one of only two knighted actors to play the Doctor, official or otherwise (Creator/JohnHurt being the other).

* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': Sardoc Bellows

* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower''

* BenevolentGenie: In ''Series/BernardAndTheGenie'' Henry plays one of these to Creator/AlanCumming's Bernard.

He was the first host of UsefulNotes/ComicRelief, and is still heavily involved with the event. His best known sitcom is ''Series/{{Chef}}''. Branched out into theatre acting in the 2000s with roles in Creator/WilliamShakespeare's ''Theatre/{{Othello}}'' and ''Theatre/TheComedyOfErrors''.

* ''Series/{{Chef}}''

* ''Film/{{Mirrormask}}'' (2005): Cameo.

* TokenBlack: In the British comedy scene he is the only really well-known black comedian; only Reginald D. Hunter comes close to his level of prominence.

* TakeThat: A 1985 sketch on ''The Lenny Henry Show'' parodying ''Series/DoctorWho'' had Lenny as the Doctor [[note]](the opening sequence and first few lines of dialogue indicate this was an alternate Seventh incarnation)[[/note]] confronting the big-haired alien dictator [[UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher Thatchos]] (and her ineffectual underling Denos).
** Interestingly, this makes him one of two actors to play the Doctor, official or otherwise, with a knighthood - Creator/JohnHurt is the other.

-->'''The Doctor:''' Now, it looks like the proto-anodysing discorporators have short circuited the molecular quark overload.\\

* TokenBlack: In the British comedy scene he is the only really well known black comedian; only Reginald D Hunter comes close to his level of prominence.

* UncleTomfoolery: Lenny has been accused of this, but has also pointed out that as a kid he grew up seeing people like Charlie Williams on TV and feeling uneasy at seeing a black comic playing on all the stereotypes and expectations to please a white audience.
* WhiteLikeMe: Played a character like this in ''Film/TrueIdentity''. Whenever he played Music/MichaelJackson from 1987 on he also had to perform in white face.