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Sir Lenny Henry has opened up about the “bombshell” revelation that turned his world “upside down” – a man he believed to be his family friend was, in fact, his dad.
The actor and comedian, 67, spent his life until the age of 12 believing that his biological father was a man called Winston, who raised him in Dudley alongside his mother, Winnie.
Before discovering the news, Sir Lenny was sent to the house of a man his parents referred to as “Uncle Albert” to help with some chores. This turned out to be a way for his real father, Albert, to see his son without him knowing who he was.
Lenny Henry found out a family friend was his biological father when he was 12 (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
It was Albert’s other son, Lloyd, who broke the news to Sir Lenny, the comedian revealed during a talk at Riverside Studios in London earlier this week. He said he started to shake, and it felt like somebody had flipped him upside down.
“I had this bombshell dropped in my life, and I… played amongst the ruins, hoping it would all work out in the end – and you know what? It did,” Sir Lenny told The Mirror.
Recalling his first meeting with Albert, unaware of his identity, Sir Lenny said: “I’d never met this guy before. I said, ‘Good evening,’ and went in. He had the hat on, he made chicken and rice, and it was great. So I started to see him every Friday.
“I’d take chores like Cinderella. I’d hoover, clean the windows. He’d give me two and six, which was a Cadbury’s chocolate bar and a can of Coke, and that was the level of our relationship.”
When Sir Lenny was 12, Lloyd turned to him and said: “You’ve got no idea why you’re here, do you? I said: ‘No.’ He said: ‘That’s your dad’.”
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Sir Lenny’s mother travelled from Jamaica to England in the 1950s to find a job paying “good money”, following which she intended to also bring her husband, Winston, and four children, Seymour, Hilton, Beverly and Kay. While in London, she caught pneumonia – and it was Albert, who lived above her, who cared for her. Winnie’s story was told in ITV’s 2023 drama Three Little Birds.
“Albert knew she was sick, and he was very good,” Sir Lenny said. “He’d make her soup. When she got better, he said, ‘Let me show you around Dudley. You don’t know the place.’
“He showed her where to work – the factory she might get a job. He showed her all the pubs. He took her to dance halls in Birmingham. Eventually, they fell for each other – and I was the result.”
Lenny Henry ‘started to shake’ when he found out who his real father was (Getty Images)
They lived as a family until Winston and their sons arrived from Jamaica, and Winnie moved herself and baby Lenny into a flat. Winston forgave Winnie and helped raise Sir Lenny as his own.
Sir Lenny previously said that on Albert’s deathbed, “he wanted to cram a lot in.
“I would just sit there and nod and then he was gone. I didn’t cry. There was respect for him, but the emotional connection wasn’t there.”