Imagine: Lenny Henry: Young, Gifted and Black


11:00 pm - 12:15 am, Tuesday, December 16 on BBC Four HD (106)

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About this Broadcast

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Lenny Henry: Young, Gifted and Black

Alan Yentob follows the comedian and actor as he publishes his autobiography in early 2020. Lenny meets up with his closest friends, family and colleagues to remember his sudden rise to fame at the age of 16 on TV talent show New Faces, which catapulted him from working-class West Midlands kid to one of Britain's most celebrated black performers. Alan explores his other TV roles on Tiswas and Three of a Kind, as well as his controversial time as the only black performer on The Black and White Minstrel Show. Lenny also discusses his recent career reinvention as a serious actor and his work as a political activist campaigning for greater diversity in entertainment and broadcasting


HD subtitles 16x9
Arts/Culture (without Music) Documentary General News/Current Affairs

Cast & Crew

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Alan Yentob (Presenter)
Lenny Henry (Contributor)
Alex Harding (Producer)
Tanya Hudson (Executive producer)

More Information

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Did You Know..

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Alan Yentob (Presenter)
Born: March 11, 1947 in London
Best Known For: His stint as a BBC TV executive.
Early-life: Born in London on 11 March, 1947. He and his non-identical twin brother, Robert, who went on to run the family textile business, boarded at the King's School, Ely. Alan passed his A-levels at 16, and left school for spells in France at the Sorbonne in Paris and the Grenoble University before studying law at Leeds University. He made his first foray into TV as a general trainee in 1968, taking his first job in the BBC World Service. In 1978, he created the mould-breaking arts series Arena, and was the programme's editor until 1985. During this time, Arena produced a number of influential documentaries including The Private Life of The Ford Cortina and My Way.
Career: In 1985, Yentob became the BBC's Head of Music and Arts and stayed in the post until 1988, when he was appointed Controller of BBC Two. Under Yentob's five-year stewardship, he introduced many innovations in programming including The Late Show, Have I Got News For You, Absolutely Fabulous and Wallace and Gromit's The Wrong Trousers. He was appointed Controller of BBC One in 1993 and worked at the BBC under the title of Creative Director until he resigned in 2015. He has fronted the Imagine strand, the BBC's answer to the South Bank Show, since 2003.
Quote: "The relationship between TV and film is a very potent one. It's extraordinary how much British talent there is."
Trivia: He is a patron of the Shakespeare Schools Festival, a charity that enables children to perform Shakespeare in professional theatres.
Lenny Henry (Contributor)
Born: August 29, 1958 in Dudley
Best Known For: His array of loud characters in the Lenny Henry Show.
Early-life: Lenworth George Henry was born August 29, 1958, in Dudley, West Midlands, one of seven children. He's immensely proud of his late parents, mother Winnie and factory worker father Winston, both from Jamaica. He went to Bluecoats School where he gained seven CSEs. Inspired by science teacher James Brooks, who recognised his natural comic ability, he made a bid for showbusiness, winning New Faces at 16 thanks to his impressions.
Career: Henry's sitcom debut was The Fosters in 1976. A smooth progression to stardom followed in the anarchic children's Saturday morning programme Tiswas, then Three of a Kind, Lenny Henry Tonite, and Chef! He impressed movie bosses in the States with 1989 stand-up film Lenny Live and Unleashed, but when True Identity flopped in 1991, he returned to the UK. He subsequently reinvented himself as a serious actor with Alive and Kicking, White Goods, and Hope and Glory, but has since returned to comedy with sketch series Lenny Henry in Pieces and The Lenny Henry Show. His stage debut in Othello was a major success. In November 2011, Henry made his debut at the Royal National Theatre in The Comedy of Errors, and last year starred in a stage version of his radio show Rudy's Rare Records.
Quote: "It sounds pompous, but I try to ensure there's a level of quality in my work."
Trivia: Henry has been an outspoken critic of British TV's lack of ethnic diversity in its programming.
Alex Harding (Producer)
Tanya Hudson (Executive producer)

Before / After

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