Leslie Henson
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Leslie Lincoln Henson (3 August 1891 - 2 December 1957) was an English comedian, actor, film producer, theatre producer and director. Henson worked in silent films and Edwardian musical comedy and then became a popular music hall comedian who enjoyed a long stage career. He was famous for his bulging eyes, malleable face and raspy voice.
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[edit] Life and career
Leslie Henson was born in London, England, where he was educated at Emanuel School.
Henson starred in the comic roles in hit West End musicals such as To-Night's the Night (1914), Theodore & Co (1916), and Yes, Uncle! (1917). He also appeared in a number of films, beginning in 1916, and eventually on television. Henson signed up with the Royal Flying Corps but was removed from active service to run a concert party group called "The Gaieties" in the fifth Army, to give shows for the troops in 1918.[1] He then returned to the West End in musicals and comedies, including Kissing Time (1919), Sally (1921), Tons of Money (1922), some of the long-running Aldwych Farces, and a string of comedies at the Winter Garden Theatre.[2]
In 1930, Henson and his business partner Firth Shephard co-leased the Novello Theatre and presented a series of farces, It's A Boy! (1930), It's A Girl!, Nice Goings On! and Aren't Men Beasts! (1936), which starred a young John Mills. Henson also returned to film work in the early 1930s. In 1935, he and Shephard took over the Gaiety Theatre, London and produced four hit shows, Seeing Stars, Swing Along, Going Greek, and Running Riot. At the outbreak of World War II, he returned to the UK from a tour of South Africa and, together with Basil Dean, formed the Entertainments National Service Association, also known as the "ENSA".
Henson was married three times, including the actresses Madge Saunders and Gladys Henson. His son from his third marriage Nicky Henson also became an actor. He died in Harrow Weald, Middlesex, aged 66.
[edit] John Bodkin Adams
On 23 July 1956, while in Dublin performing, Henson heard that his close friend Bobbie Hullett had died in Eastbourne. He was suspicious because her husband had died just four months earlier and their doctor was John Bodkin Adams, about whom there had been many rumours. He phoned the Eastbourne police anonymously to warn them of his fears, instigating an investigation that would lead to the trial of Adams on two counts of murder. Adams was controversially acquitted on 11 April 1957, but the Home Office pathologist at the time, Dr Francis Camps, noted 163 suspicious deaths among Adams' patients between 1946 and 1956.[3]
[edit] Filmography
- Wanted: A Widow (1916)
- The Lifeguardsman (1916) ... as Lt Spiff
- The Real Thing at Last (1916) ... as Charlie Chaplin
- Broken Bottles (1920) ... as Battling Barrows (also writer and director)
- Alf's Button (1920) ... as Alf Higgins
- Tons of Money (1924) ... as Aubrey Allington (also producer)
- On with the Dance (1927)
- A Warm Corner (1930) ... as Mr Corner
- The Sport of Kings (1931) ... as Amos Purdie
- It's a Boy (1933) ... as James Skippett
- The Girl from Maxim's (1933) ... as Dr Petypon
- Oh, Daddy! (1935) ... as Lord Pye
- The Demi-Paradise (1943) ... as Himself
- Home and Away (1956) ... as Uncle Tom
[edit] Television
- The Vise: Six Months to Talk (#5.19) (1958) (TV Episode) - Police Sergeant
[edit] References
- ^ Information about Henson's activities during World War I
- ^ Listing of shows in the 1920s noting the shows in which Leslie appeared
- ^ Cullen, Pamela V., "A Stranger in Blood: The Case Files on Dr John Bodkin Adams", London, Elliott & Thompson, 2006, ISBN 1-904027-19-9
[edit] External links
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