NICKY HENSON

(12 May 1945 - 15 December 2019)

Although British actor Nicky Henson, who has died aged 74 following a long fight with cancer since 2003, was never a big star in the conventional sense, he was, however, a prominent leading man in the theatre, on film and on television. He was the son of the comedian and director Leslie Henson and his third wife Harriet ‘Billie’ Dell. Henson Sr was previously married to the actresses Madge Saunders and Gladys Henson, so perhaps it was inevitable that Nicky should study stage management at Rada. His theatre debut was in revue in 1963 and he was chosen by Frank Dunlop when he formed The Young Vic company in 1970 where he appeared in all kinds of plays, from Moliere to Osborne, from Shakespeare to Beckett and from Genet to Stoppard. He played at many other theatres and in his time was a member of both the National and Royal Shakespeare companies. He was Mordred in the Drury Lane production of Camelot, appeared in summer shows at the London Palladium and was in the musical version of The Canterbury Tales. Early on Henson had been part of the Wombats pop group, so in essence he was the perfect theatrical all-rounder. From 1961 he was in TV and may well be best remembered for his part in an episode of Fawlty Towers as a visiting lothario who falls foul of Basil, but worse things could have happened. His first film was Father Came Too! with Leslie Phillips and he went on to make Doctor in Clover, Michael Winner’s The Jokers, Clive Donner’s Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush, 30 Is a Dangerous Age, Cynthia with Dudley Moore and the cult horror film Witchfinder General with Vincent Price. Other of his films included Crooks and Coronets, Mosquito Squadron, There’s a Girl In My Soup, Jack Cardiff’s Penny Gold and The Bawdy Adventures of Tom Jones – in the title role. His later films included Flyfishing, Vera Drake, Syriana, Blitz, We Still Kill the Old Way, We Still Steal the Old Way and Tango One, his last film in 2018. Before that he had appeared in both EastEnders and Downton Abbey. Nicky Henson was first married to the actress Una Stubbs with whom he had two sons, Christian and Joe. Following a relationship with Susan Hampshire, he married the ballet dancer Marguerite Porter with whom he had one son, Keaton.

MICHAEL DARVELL