Nicky Henson (né Nicholas Victor Leslie Henson; 12 May 1945 – 15 December 2019)^[1] was a British actor.

Early life

Nicholas Victor Leslie Henson was born in London, the son of Harriet Martha (née Collins) and comedian Leslie Henson,^[2] a few days after VE Day, hence the middle name Victor.^[3] Adam Henson, a farmer and regular presenter on BBC TV's Countryfile, is the son of Nicky's brother Joe Henson.^[4]

He attended St. Bede's Prep School in Eastbourne and Charterhouse in Godalming.^[5] He trained as a stage manager at RADA and first appeared on stage himself as a guitarist. As a member of the Young Vic Company, he played Pozzo in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot.

Career

Television

Henson appeared in various television roles, including guest roles in Fawlty Towers, Minder, Boon, Inspector Morse, A Touch of Frost, Heartbeat, After You've Gone, Lovejoy and Doctors. In 1990 he played the doctor in the BBC’s adaptation of Kingsley Amis’ Ghost story The Green Man. He played the eponymous hero in Shine on Harvey Moon when the series was revived in 1995.

In 2005, he played Hugo, an antique dealer, in Bad Girls. In February 2006, Henson joined the cast of EastEnders, playing Jack Edwards. Henson left the production towards the end of the year due to health problems.^[6]

Henson played three different characters in the police drama series The Bill, the first in 1991, the second in 1998, and the third in 2007. In 2010, he appeared as Charles Grigg, a former acquaintance of Carson the butler, in an episode of Downton Abbey and appeared in two episodes in 2013.^[7] He also played Randolph Mepstead, the older brother of David Jason's character in the pilot episode of the mid-1970s series Lucky Feller.

Henson played the role of Mr. Johnson in the Fawlty Towers episode "The Psychiatrist". He stated that despite his 50 years of professional acting, his tombstone will probably read "Here lies Nicky Henson – he was in one episode of Fawlty Towers". He was paid a modest appearance fee, and he was told he might earn the same again in repeats fees.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Films

Henson's film appearances include Witchfinder General (1968), There's a Girl in My Soup (1970), Mosquito Squadron (1970) and Psychomania (1973). He graduated to lead roles in The Bawdy Adventures of Tom Jones (1976) and No. 1 of the Secret Service (1977), before returning to supporting roles in Vera Drake (2004) and George Clooney's Syriana (2005).

Theatre

On stage, Henson played many Shakespearean characters (including a period with the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1977) and had leading roles in Look Back in Anger, Man and Superman, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, She Stoops to Conquer, Noises Off and others. He appeared as Mordred in the original 1964 London version of Camelot opposite Laurence Harvey as King Arthur. Henson made his Broadway debut in a production of Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband, opposite Stephanie Beacham. He was nominated for a 1998 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Supporting Performance in a Musical of 1997 for his role in Enter the Guardsman.

He started directing with a Restoration workshop at LAMDA with a production of The Provok'd Wife. In 2009, he directed the Jack Shepherd play Only When I Laugh at the Arcola Theatre in London and Alan Ayckbourn's Intimate Exchanges at Sheringham Little Theatre.

Radio

Henson played Lemuel "Chipper" Barnet in Space Force series 1 and 2 (1984–1985).

Personal life

Henson married actress Una Stubbs (who incidentally played his sister-in-law Caroline Bishop in EastEnders).^[12] The couple had two sons, Joe and Christian, both of whom are composers.^[12] The marriage ended after Henson began an affair in 1974 with actress Susan Hampshire, his co-star in several stage productions.^[13]

He then married ballerina Marguerite Porter, with whom he had a third son, Keaton, a musician and illustrator.^[14]

Health

Henson was diagnosed with cancer in 2003. Surgeons removed tumours from around his spleen, but a routine check-up in 2006 showed that other tumours had grown, and it would be dangerous to remove them. Henson was put on a regime of chemotherapy, and he worked regularly to raise funds for cancer charities, especially Marie Curie Cancer Care.^[15] He died on 15 December 2019, aged 74.^[16]

Partial filmography