Hank Henry (July 9, 1906 – March 31, 1981) was an American comedian, known for his stage work on the
Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard, Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of ...
for decades. He was also a
film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
and
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
actor
An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...
. Henry got his start in
American burlesque
American burlesque is a genre of variety show derived from elements of Victorian burlesque, music hall and minstrel shows. Burlesque became popular in America in the late 1860s and slowly evolved to feature ribald comedy and female nudity. By th ...
and was the comic to straightman
Robert Alda
Robert Alda (born Alfonso Giuseppe Giovanni Roberto D'Abruzzo; February 26, 1914 – May 3, 1986) was an Italian-American theatrical and film actor, a singer, and a dancer. He was the father of actors Alan and Antony Alda. Alda was featured in a ...
,
Alan Alda
Alan Alda (; born Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo; January 28, 1936) is an American actor, screenwriter, and director. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he is best known for playing Captain Benjamin "Hawkeye" Pierce in the war co ...
's father.
Biography
Henry was born Henry Rosenthal in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
; the son of Anna (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Richards), and Franklin Rosenthal. Henry's mother came from
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, and his father was
German-American
German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by the Unite ...
descended from the
Pennsylvania Dutch
The Pennsylvania Dutch ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ), also known as Pennsylvania Germans, are a cultural group formed by German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. They emigrated primarily from German-spe ...
.
Hank Henry made his screen debut in 1937, in a comedy short, ''Dime a Dance'', produced in New York by
Educational Pictures
Educational Pictures, also known as Educational Film Exchanges, Inc. or Educational Films Corporation of America, was an American film production and film distribution company founded in 1916 by Earle (E. W.) Hammons (1882–1962). Educational pr ...
. The film also featured up-and-coming performers
Imogene Coca
Imogene Coca (born Emogeane Coca; November 18, 1908 – June 2, 2001) was an American comic actress best known for her role opposite Sid Caesar on ''Your Show of Shows''. Starting out in vaudeville as a child acrobat, she studied ballet and wishe ...
,
Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye (born David Daniel Kaminsky; yi, דוד־דניאל קאַמינסקי; January 18, 1911 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, singer and dancer. His performances featured physical comedy, idiosyncratic pantomimes, and ...
,
June Allyson
June Allyson (born Eleanor Geisman; October 7, 1917 – July 8, 2006) was an American stage, film, and television actress, dancer, and singer.
Allyson began her career in 1937 as a dancer in short subject films and on Broadway in 1938. She sign ...
, and
Barry Sullivan Barry Sullivan may refer to:
*Barry Sullivan (American actor) (1912–1994), US film and Broadway actor
*Barry Sullivan (stage actor) (1821–1891), Irish born stage actor active in Britain and Australia
*Barry Sullivan (lawyer), Chicago lawyer and ...
. It was a one-shot assignment, which Henry filmed during a burlesque engagement. Henry relocated to California and resumed his movie career in 1943. He acted in films such as ''
This Is the Army
''This Is the Army'' is a 1943 American wartime musical comedy film produced by Hal B. Wallis and Jack L. Warner, and directed by Michael Curtiz, adapted from a wartime stage musical with the same name, designed to boost morale in the U.S. duri ...
'', ''
Junior Prom
''Junior Prom'' is a 1946 American musical comedy, directed by Arthur Dreifuss and produced by Sam Katzman and Maurice Duke. It was released by Monogram Pictures.
It is the first of The Teen Agers series of movies.
In 2018, the film was release ...
'', ''
The Joker Is Wild
''The Joker Is Wild'' is a 1957 American Musical film, musical drama film directed by Charles Vidor, starring Frank Sinatra, Mitzi Gaynor, Jeanne Crain, and Eddie Albert, and released by Paramount Pictures. The film is about Joe E. Lewis, the po ...
'', ''
Pal Joey'', ''
Ocean's 11
''Ocean's 11'' is a 1960 American heist film directed and produced by Lewis Milestone from a screenplay by Harry Brown (writer), Harry Brown and Charles Lederer, based on a story by George Clayton Johnson and Jack Golden Russell. The film stars f ...
'', ''
Pepe
Pepe is a pet form of the Spanish name José (Josep). It is also a surname.
*
People
Mononyms
* Pepe (footballer, born 1935), real name José Macia, Brazilian footballer
*Pepe (footballer, born 1983), real name Képler Laveran Lima Ferreira ...
'', the burlesque comedy ''Not Tonight Henry'' (in which Henry played all the leading male roles), ''
Sergeants 3
''Sergeants 3'' is a 1962 American comedy film, comedy/Western (genre), Western film directed by John Sturges and starring Rat Pack icons Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop. It was the last film to featu ...
'', ''Johnny Cool'', ''
Robin and the 7 Hoods'', and ''
The Only Game in Town''. Henry made his television debut in ''
The Thin Man
''The Thin Man'' (1934) is a detective novel by Dashiell Hammett, originally published in a condensed version in the December 1933 issue of ''Redbook''. It appeared in book form the following month. A film series followed, featuring the main cha ...
'' in the episode "The Case of the Baggy Pants" portrayed Noonan. Henry last appeared on television 1970.
Henry died on March 31, 1981, in
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
, at the age of 74. He had suffered from
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
.
[Willard, Bill (April 8, 1981). "Comedian Hank Henry Dies At 74", ''Variety'' 302 (10): 72.]
Filmography
References
External links
*
Hank Henryat
Allmovie
AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne.
History
AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry, Hank
1906 births
1981 deaths
American male film actors
American male television actors
Male actors from New York City
Deaths from cancer in Nevada
20th-century American male actors