Biography
Born on 3 August 1891 in Notting Hill, London, England, and dying on 2 December 1957 in Harrow Weald, Middlesex, England, Henson pursued careers as an actor, director, manager and producer. His bulging eyes, facial contortions (“which resembled a mandarin about to sneeze”) and croaky voice established him as one of the leading comedians in British musical comedy during the first half of the twentieth century. While still in his teens he enrolled at drama school and began touring with concert parties around 1910. Four years later he crossed to New York, making his Broadway debut in the musical farce Tonight’s The Night, and brought the production back to the West End in 1915. His personal breakthrough arrived in 1916 with Theodore And Company, after which he enjoyed extended runs in Yes, Uncle!, Kissing Time, A Night Out, Sally, The Cabaret Girl, The Beauty Prize, Primrose, Tell Me More and Kid Boots (1926). Most of these productions were mounted at the Winter Garden under the aegis of one of London’s foremost producers, George Grossmith Jnr. Beginning in 1927 Henson also took on responsibilities as manager, director and sometimes co-producer for numerous shows, including several in which he performed. Late-1920s titles among those ventures included Lady Luck, Funny Face, Follow Thru, Nice Goings On and Lucky Break (1934).
In 1935 he joined Firth Shephard in assuming control of the Gaiety Theatre, where they mounted four of the comedian’s most successful vehicles: Seeing Stars, Swing Along, Going Greek and Running Riot (1938). After the outbreak of World War II, Henson returned from a South African tour and, alongside Basil Deans, established the British Forces entertainments organisation ENSA (the troops called it “Every Night Something Awful”), which installed its headquarters in the Drury Lane Theatre, lately vacated by Ivor Novello’s musical The Dancing Years. Throughout the conflict he performed for service personnel across Europe, the Middle East and the Far East before returning to headline London revues such as Up And Doing, Fine And Dandy and Leslie Henson’s Gaieties.
At the age of 57, after the war, he resumed musical comedy in the hit Bob’s Your Uncle (1948) and later portrayed Samuel Pepys, wearing a full-bottomed wig, in And So To Bed (1951). His extensive stage commitments left scant opportunity for cinema, yet he appeared in a handful of films, among them The Sport Of Kings (1930), A Warm Corner (1934), The Demi-Paradise (1943) and Home And Away (1956).
In 1935 he joined Firth Shephard in assuming control of the Gaiety Theatre, where they mounted four of the comedian’s most successful vehicles: Seeing Stars, Swing Along, Going Greek and Running Riot (1938). After the outbreak of World War II, Henson returned from a South African tour and, alongside Basil Deans, established the British Forces entertainments organisation ENSA (the troops called it “Every Night Something Awful”), which installed its headquarters in the Drury Lane Theatre, lately vacated by Ivor Novello’s musical The Dancing Years. Throughout the conflict he performed for service personnel across Europe, the Middle East and the Far East before returning to headline London revues such as Up And Doing, Fine And Dandy and Leslie Henson’s Gaieties.
At the age of 57, after the war, he resumed musical comedy in the hit Bob’s Your Uncle (1948) and later portrayed Samuel Pepys, wearing a full-bottomed wig, in And So To Bed (1951). His extensive stage commitments left scant opportunity for cinema, yet he appeared in a handful of films, among them The Sport Of Kings (1930), A Warm Corner (1934), The Demi-Paradise (1943) and Home And Away (1956).