Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Lenny Henry Recounts Shock of Learning Family Friend Was His Biological Father

His public reflection links a Windrush-era family story to questions of identity.

Overview

  • Henry shared the revelation during a Riverside Studios 50th anniversary talk in London, calling it a “bombshell” that left him shaking.
  • He said he learned the truth at about 12 when Lloyd, the son of Albert Green, told him the man he visited as “Uncle Albert” was his dad.
  • Henry stressed that Winston, who raised him, was his father in day-to-day life and that his respect for him grew after he learned his parentage.
  • He traced the story to his mother Winifred’s move from Jamaica in the 1950s and her relationship with Albert, which he said inspired his 2023 ITV drama 3 Little Birds.
  • He described a tough childhood in Dudley marked by poverty, a house built over a cesspit, strict rules at home, and open racism that shaped his early years.