Lenny Henry

Languages

English

Styles

Actor, Animated, Broadcaster, Comedian, Commercial, Narrative, Recognisable, Unique, Versatile, Warm

Accent

Birmingham, Midlands

Lenny Henry has risen from being a cult star on children’s television to becoming one of Britain’s best known television performers, as well as a writer, philanthropist and award-winning stage actor. Lenny’s recent screen credits include The Witcher: Blood Origin, Rings of Power, Broadchurch, The Syndicate and the biographic film Danny and The Human Zoo. In theatre, Lenny has starred in The Comedy of Errors at The National, Fences at the Duchess Theatre and The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui at the Donmar Warehouse.

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 "Black British Lives Matter". 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.

Lenny has written two memoirs’ with Faber alongside a series of children’s books published through Pan Macmillan. In 2023, his "innovative" ITV1 drama series Three Little Birds received critical acclaim as did his five star, one man play August in England which Lenny wrote and performed in at The Bush Theatre.

Podcasts

Lenny Henry

Black British Lives Matter with Lenny Henry and Marcus Ryder