Leonard Henry Ruming (15 March 1890 – 6 January 1973), known as Leonard Henry, was an English comedian, actor, and radio broadcaster.

Biography

Born in

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...

, London, he first performed as a comic entertainer in concert parties in 1912. He made his first radio broadcast in 1926, and thereafter appeared regularly on the BBC. He also played in

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp� ...

s, and

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

plays. He was known for

monologue In theatre, a monologue (also known as monolog in North American English) (in , from μόνος ''mónos'', "alone, solitary" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts ...

s containing comic '' non sequiturs'', funny voices and noises, and increasingly outlandish lists, for instance of those attending a function. He was the first person to

blow a raspberry Blowing a raspberry, also known as giving a Bronx cheer, is to make a noise similar to flatulence that may signify derision. It is made by placing the tongue between the lips and blowing. A raspberry when used with the tongue is not used in any ...

on British radio,

Denis Gifford Denis Gifford (26 December 1927 – 18 May 2000)Holland, Steve, Obituaries: Denis Gifford', ''The Guardian'', 26 May 2000. was a British writer, broadcaster, journalist, comic artist and historian of film, comics, television and radio. In h ...

, ''The Golden Age of Radio'', B.T. Batsford Ltd, London, 1985, , pp.113-114 and was also reputed to be able to make an impromptu joke on any subject suggested by his audience. He wrote and starred in his own

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre, theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketch comedy, sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural pre ...

s, including ''Humouresque'' and ''April Foolishness'', and was a regular performer in ''Charlot's Hour'', the first regular weekly

light entertainment Light entertainment encompasses a broad range of television and radio programming that includes comedies, variety shows, game shows, quiz shows and the like. In the UK In the early days of the BBC, virtually all broadcast entertainment would b ...

programme on British radio, starting in 1928. He hosted the radio version of the 1932

Royal Command Performance A Royal Command Performance is any performance by actors or musicians that occurs at the direction or request of a reigning monarch of the United Kingdom. Although English monarchs have long sponsored their own theatrical companies and commis ...

. He was one of the most popular British radio comedians of the early 1930s, "Leonard Henry", ''Windyridge CDs''
Retrieved 18 February 2021 and was twice voted top in a newspaper poll of favourite radio personalities. He appeared in

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

s, "Leonard Henry, 1929", ''British Pathe''
Retrieved 18 February 2021 and in the longer films ''The Musical Beauty Shop'' (1930) and ''

The Public Life of Henry the Ninth ''The Public Life of Henry the Ninth'' is a 1935 British comedy film directed by Bernard Mainwaring and starring Leonard Henry, Betty Frankiss, and George Mozart. This film was the first film made by Hammer Productions, and was Henry's film d ...

'' (1935). The latter film, now lost, in which Henry took the leading role, was the first one to be made by

Hammer Film Productions Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve classi ...

. He also composed songs, and continued to appear regularly on BBC radio as a comedian and later as a compere of programmes, including ''

Housewives' Choice ''Housewives' Choice'' was a BBC Radio record request programme, broadcast every weekday morning between 1946 and 1967 on the BBC Light Programme. It played a wide range of mostly popular music intended to appeal to housewives at home during t ...

''. His autobiography, ''My Laugh Story'', was published in 1937. In 1969, he was still well enough known to be the featured guest on ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight audio recordin ...

''. Leonard Henry, Search, ''BBC Radio Times''
Retrieved 18 February 2021 Leonard Henry died in London in 1973, aged 82. Ted Kavanagh, "The Birth of ITMA", in ''Tommy Handley'', 1949, excerpted at ''Transdiffusion.org''
Retrieved 18 February 2021

References

External links

1929 performance
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry, Leonard 1890 births 1973 deaths English male comedians Comedians from London