Nicky Henson

Nicholas Victor Leslie Henson was born on 12 May 1945 in London, the son of comedian Leslie Henson and Harriet Martha (née Collins). His middle name, Victor, was given in recognition of VE Day, which fell just days before his birth. He was educated at St. Bede's Prep School in Eastbourne and Charterhouse in Godalming, and trained as a stage manager at RADA before making his first stage appearances as a guitarist. He died on 15 December 2019 at the age of 74.

Henson built an extensive stage career in Britain before making his Broadway appearances between 1996 and 2004. His London theatre work included the role of Mordred in the original 1964 West End production of Camelot, with Laurence Harvey playing King Arthur. He performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1977 and took on leading roles in productions including Look Back in Anger, Man and Superman, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, She Stoops to Conquer, and Noises Off. In 1990, he played Colonel Vershinin in a production of Chekhov's Three Sisters at London's Royal Court Theatre, alongside Sorcha, Niamh, and Sinead Cusack and their father Cyril Cusack. He received a 1998 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award nomination for Best Supporting Performance in a Musical for his 1997 role in Enter the Guardsman. As a member of the Young Vic Company, he played Pozzo in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot.

On Broadway, Henson made his debut in a production of Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband, opposite Stephanie Beacham. He also starred in Jumpers during his Broadway career, which spanned from 1996 to 2004. Henson later moved into directing, beginning with a Restoration workshop at LAMDA. In 2009, he directed Jack Shepherd's Only When I Laugh at the Arcola Theatre in London and Alan Ayckbourn's Intimate Exchanges at Sheringham Little Theatre.

His film work began in the late 1960s with appearances in Witchfinder General (1968), There's a Girl in My Soup (1970), and Mosquito Squadron (1970). He took on lead roles in The Bawdy Adventures of Tom Jones (1976) and No. 1 of the Secret Service (1977), and later appeared in supporting roles in Vera Drake (2004) and George Clooney's Syriana (2005). His television credits were equally broad, encompassing guest appearances in Fawlty Towers, Inspector Morse, Lovejoy, A Touch of Frost, Heartbeat, and Minder, among others. He played the eponymous lead in the 1995 revival of Shine on Harvey Moon and portrayed three separate characters across different years in the police drama The Bill. In 2006, he joined the cast of EastEnders as Jack Edwards, departing later that year due to health problems. He appeared in Downton Abbey in 2010 and again in 2013, playing Charles Grigg, a former acquaintance of the butler Carson. On radio, he played Lemuel "Chipper" Barnet in both series of Space Force (1984–1985).

Henson was first married to actress Una Stubbs, with whom he had two sons, including one named Christian. That marriage ended following an affair in 1974 with actress Susan Hampshire. He subsequently married ballerina Marguerite Porter, and the couple had a son named Keaton. In 2003, Henson was diagnosed with cancer, and surgeons removed tumours from around his spleen. A 2006 check-up revealed further tumours that were deemed too dangerous to remove, leading to a course of chemotherapy. He worked regularly to raise funds for cancer charities, particularly Marie Curie Cancer Care. His nephew Adam Henson, the son of his brother Joe, became a farmer and regular presenter on the BBC television programme Countryfile.