Richard Henderson (20 March 1891 – 15 October 1958) was an English

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...

comedian, singer and

character actor A character actor is an actor known for playing unusual, eccentric, or interesting character (arts), characters in supporting roles, rather than leading ones.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrie ...

Life and career

Dick Henderson was born in

Sculcoates Sculcoates is a suburb of Kingston upon Hull, north of the city centre, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. History Because of increased mobility of an increasing population, the parishes of Drypool, Garrison Side, Hessle Within, Mar ...

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...

, the son of a

machinist A machinist is a tradesperson or trained professional who operates machine tools, and has the ability to set up tools such as milling machines, grinders, lathes, and drilling machines. A competent machinist will generally have a strong mechan ...

. He was an

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in ...

fitter at a shipyard, before leaving to join a pierrot troupe at

Withernsea Withernsea is a seaside resort town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Holderness, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Its white inland lighthouse, rising around above Hull Road, now houses a museum to 1950s actress Kay Kendall, wh ...

. He made his first London appearance in 1914. He was heavily built, smoked a cigar on stage, and wore tight suits to emphasise his girth, together with ill-matched shoes and a

bowler hat The bowler hat, also known as a Coke hat, billycock, bob hat, bombín (Spanish) or derby (United States), is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown, originally created by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849 and commissioned by ...

several sizes too small. He found success with his quick-fire patter, often joking in a marked Yorkshire accent about his fictional wife or mother-in-law. He was billed as "The Yorkshire Comedian" or sometimes "The Yorkshire Nightingale", and was known for his

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

singing as well as his comedy. He entered the stage singing and playing "

Tiptoe Through the Tulips "Tiptoe Through the Tulips", also known as "Tiptoe Thru' the Tulips with Me", is a popular song published in 1929. The song was written by Al Dubin (lyrics) and Joe Burke and made popular by guitarist Nick Lucas. On February 5, 1968, singer Ti ...

" – a song which he was the first in Britain to record – on the

ukulele The ukulele ( ; ); also called a uke (informally), is a member of the lute (ancient guitar) family of instruments. The ukulele is of Portuguese origin and was popularized in Hawaii. The tone and volume of the instrument vary with size and con ...

. He sang both comedy songs such as "Have You Ever Seen a Straight Banana", and sentimental songs, and was reputedly the first comedian to end his performances with a 'straight' song.Richard Anthony Baker, ''British Music Hall: an illustrated history'', Pen & Sword, 2014, , p.254 Oliver Double, ''Stand Up: On Being a Comedian'', A&C Black, 1997
/ref>"The Prince of Wales Theatre, Dickie Henderson and the Ross Sisters", ''Nickel in the Machine'', 19 September 2017
Retrieved 30 September 2020 According to

Roger Wilmut Roger Wilmut (born 1942) is a British writer and compiler of books on British comedy. Wilmut attended Warwick School, and began his 'day job' as studio technician for the BBC on leaving school in 1961. Wilmut claims to have drifted into a car ...

, Henderson "bridged the gap between character and gag comedians.... isgags were always personalized — linked into a loose structure, and told in the first person, rather than presented as a string of isolated gags. When he included a particularly obvious joke, he would follow it with his

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

: 'Ha! Ha! – joke over!'"Roger Wilmut, ''Kindly Leave the Stage: The Story of Variety 1919-1960'', Methuen, 1985, , pp.34-35 He appeared in the

Royal Variety Performance The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal ...

s in 1926, which consolidated his success. He also became popular in the United States, first visiting in 1924,"Dick Henderson, Pere et Fils", ''Travalanche'', 30 October 2012
Retrieved 30 September 2020 and again in 1930, and made several

Vitaphone short films Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone is the last major analog sound-on-disc system and the only one t ...

. He appeared in the now-lost 1930 film ''

The Man from Blankley's ''The Man from Blankley's'' is a lost 1930 American pre-Code comedy film, directed by Alfred E. Green. It starred John Barrymore and Loretta Young. The film was based on the 1903 play by Thomas Anstey Guthrie, writing under the pseudonym "F. ...

'', and in the 1935 musical comedy film '' Things Are Looking Up''. In the latter film he performed with his son,

Dickie Henderson Richard Matthew Michael Henderson, Order of the British Empire, OBE (30 October 1922 – 22 September 1985) was an English entertainer. Early years Henderson was born in London. His father, Dick Henderson (1891–1958), was a music hall ...

, who later also became a popular entertainer. Dick continued to perform through the 1930s, making few changes to his established routines, and appeared in his second Royal Variety Performance in 1946. He married Winifred Dunn in 1918; she outlived him. They had twin daughters, Winifred (Wyn) and Clare (known as Triss) in 1920; they became singers and dancers with the

Jack Hylton Jack Hylton (born John Greenhalgh Hilton; 2 July 1892 – 29 January 1965) was an English pianist, composer, band leader and impresario. Hylton rose to prominence during the British dance band era, being referred as the "British King of Jazz ...

orchestra. Their son Dickie was born in 1922, and his father actively supported his career. Dick Henderson died in

Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...

, London in 1958, aged 67 and was buried at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cemetery,

Kensal Green Kensal Green, also known as Kensal Rise, is an area in north-west London, and along with Kensal Town, it forms part of the northern section of North Kensington, London, North Kensington. It lies north of the canal in the London Borough of Brent ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Dick 1891 births 1958 deaths British music hall performers English comedy musicians Comedians from the East Riding of Yorkshire People from Sculcoates English male comedians