Lenny Henry

Dawn French says racists tried to burn down her house

Dawn French says racists tried to burn down house while she was married to Lenny Henry.

Lenny Henry on Ofcom and diversity

The BBC is failing to meet its own targets on diversity. To change things we need to look beyond our TV screens at who commissions and makes the programmes.

Lenny Henry: onscreen TV diversity is 'fake'

Lenny Henry has said the BBC will continue to demonstrate "fake diversity" unless it is forced to improve off as well as onscreen representation. The actor and comedian argued that broadcast watchdog Ofcom must set minimum standards for black, Asian, and minority ethnic diversity behind the camera.

Lenny Henry interview

Henry thinks of himself as an actor now rather than a comedian.

The stage of the O2 in Greenwich is the new home for the Comic Relief charity fundraising extravaganza. Here the hosts include Lenny Henry, Jonathan Ross and Sally Phillips, while those doing a turn include Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer and Ed Sheeran. We can also look forward to James Corden's Car Pool Karaoke with Take That, Greg Davies over on BBC2 and the cast of Love Actually in Red Nose Day Actually. Dig deep.

With a showbiz career spanning some five decades, there is a lot of life to be celebrated in this retrospective of Dudley's most famous son. Despite some early misfires - notably accepting a Black and White Minstrel Show guest slot as a teen - his career would later take off, eventually leading to a knighthood for his acting and charity work. Although his shows are rarely repeated, this overview proves how timeless a lot of Len's output remains.

Preview - Lenny Henry: A Life on Screen

Sir Lenny Henry has been part of British TV since the 1970s when he won talent show New Faces in 1975 at the age of 16. Since then he's done sitcoms, sketch shows, stand-up, the stage, children's TV and charity work.

A quick word with... Sir Lenny Henry.

We recently caught up with the show business legend and asked him what's the golden rule of comedy, all about the process of writing his semi-autobiographical drama (Danny and the Human Zoo), thoughts about its sequel and which of his many on-screen characters he'd prefer to go out for a drink with. Plus, what would his ten-year-old self say if he'd been told about what lay ahead...