Hank Henry

Hank Henry, born Henry Rosenthal on July 9, 1906, in New York City, was an American comedian, stage performer, and film and television actor. His mother, Anna, was of English origin, and his father, Franklin Rosenthal, was a German-American of Pennsylvania Dutch descent. Henry built a career spanning burlesque, Broadway, film, and an extended presence on the Las Vegas Strip.

Henry's professional beginnings were rooted in American burlesque, where he worked as a comic opposite straightman Robert Alda, the father of Alan Alda. His screen debut came in 1937 with the Educational Pictures comedy short Dime a Dance, filmed in New York during a burlesque engagement. That production also featured Imogene Coca, Danny Kaye, June Allyson, and Barry Sullivan. The assignment was a one-time appearance, and Henry did not resume film work until relocating to California in 1943.

His Broadway career ran from 1942 to 1952 and included appearances in the musicals This Is the Army and Kiss Me!. Henry was a native New Yorker, and his stage work in that period coincided with his return to screen acting on the West Coast.

Among his film credits were This Is the Army, Junior Prom, The Joker Is Wild, Pal Joey, Ocean's 11, Pepe, Not Tonight Henry, Sergeants 3, Johnny Cool, Robin and the 7 Hoods, and The Only Game in Town. He was frequently cast in productions alongside Frank Sinatra. In Not Tonight Henry, he played all of the leading male roles. Henry made his television debut in an episode of The Thin Man titled "The Case of the Baggy Pants," in which he portrayed a character named Noonan, and his final television appearance came in 1970.

Henry died on March 31, 1981, in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the age of 74, following a battle with cancer.