“My mum was a fixed point in my universe who was never going to grow old or die; she was always going to be there. And when she got sick, I was on the road all the time, I wasn't at home much, there was a lot of pressure. It was an awful time, and when she died, it was like your world falls apart.”

British comedian, actor, presenter and writer

Sir Lenworth George Henry is a British comedian, actor, presenter and writer. Born in 1958, he rose to prominence in the late 1970s and early 1980s as a stand-up comedian and impressionist, and became a familiar face on Tiswas and Three of a Kind. In 1984, he launched The Lenny Henry Show, which continued until 2005 and moved between sketch comedy and sitcom. He was a leading Black British comedian of his era, and much of his work drew on, celebrated and gently parodied his African-Caribbean background.