Lenny Henry the 54 year old British actor, writer, and comedian has been profiled by Megan Connor for The Guardian in an article titled ‘This Much I Know’. Henry states “If you’re a famous comedian you’ve got about a minute to impress on stage. You get a clap at the beginning and “My mum used to like you!” and then there’s nothing to do but roll your sleeves up. A TV talent show changed my life [Henry won New Faces in 1975 with his impression of Stevie Wonder]. It took me from being a nobody in Dudley, where I was a welder, to being recognised on the street. Nowadays people have to go to Edinburgh for years to get noticed, and that is a shame. Of course there’s Britain’s Got Talent, but I think we need a more regular platform where people can perform in a non-competitive way. …Shakespeare has changed me. I was sad that I never got to grips with him at school, so when I was asked to play Othello it was like someone opening a door to something I’d never been involved with. I can feel him in my veins now. I tend to put things in boxes. I have to do one project at a time now, because I have been a workaholic, and that can lead to a nervous breakdown. …I will always remember a time in the 50s when we lived in a bedsit. There was me in a cot, my sister in a campbed, and my parents in a bed next to me, and I will never forget feeling the heat from a parafin lamp on my face.”
Inspired by Megan Conner ow.ly/f5riy image source Facebook ow.ly/f5ran