John Henshaw | |
|---|---|
 Henshaw in 2011 | |
| Born | John Joseph Henshaw |
| Occupation | Actor |
John Joseph Henshaw is an English actor, best known for his roles as Ken Dixon the landlord in Early Doors , Wilf Bradshaw in Born and Bred and PC Roy Bramwell in The Cops. Often associated with characters who are "hard men", he played John Prescott in the 2007 ITV drama Confessions of a Diary Secretary.
One of 12 siblings, he grew up in Ancoats, Manchester's "Little Italy" community. He was a binman for ten years before deciding, at the age of 40, to become an actor.[ citation needed ]
His first big break in acting was as a minder to Robert Lindsay's character Michael Murray in the acclaimed Channel 4 series G.B.H. . He had roles in the Steve Coogan film The Parole Officer and in the BBC Three sitcom The Visit , first shown in July 2007. In 2002 he appeared in the Scottish Gaelic drama, Anna Bheag (Wee Anna), although not as a Gaelic-speaking character. [1]
Other credits include Nice Guy Eddie, When Saturday Comes plus appearances in The Royle Family , Last of the Summer Wine , Life on Mars and the comedy series Early Doors. In September 2007, at the Lowry in Salford, he starred in the world premier of the play King Cotton .
He played the role of Ken, the deputy manager in the Post Office adverts, in 2007 to 2008. March 2008 saw Henshaw return to the Manchester area playing the lead in Jim Cartwright's play Road at the Octagon Theatre in Bolton. Summer 2009 saw Henshaw play Meatballs in the film Looking for Eric , directed by Ken Loach and starring Eric Cantona. The character was a workmate and friend of the lead character Eric Bishop played by Steve Evets. In 2008 he played Albert Ross in The Heart Of A Man, the 12th episode of the 17th series of Heartbeat.
In 2010 he played Mr Pony in Terry Pratchett's Going Postal and in 2011 he portrayed the character of John Holt, one of the original founding fathers of the Co-operative movement, in a feature film The Rochdale Pioneers .In 2012, he appeared in Downton Abbey as shopkeeper Jos Tufton. [2] In 2013 he played Arthur Potts in Series 15 Episode 5 ("The Sicilian Defence") of Midsomer Murders . He also played the role of Harry, a mentor and friend to the main character, in Ken Loach's 2012 Scottish comedy-drama The Angels' Share and Danny in Chris Shepherd's 2013 film The Ringer .
In 2013 he played Stan Bond in By Any Means and in 2014 played the judge in Closer to the Moon . In 2015 he played Murphy in "Charlie's Plan" directed by John McCormack. [3]
In 2017, he appeared in the BBC series Father Brown as Barney Butterfield episode 5.12 "The Theatre of the Invisible" and returned to playing Ken the landlord in the Early Doors live stage show.
He had a small role in the 2018 film Stan and Ollie as Nobby Cook, a British comedian who briefly stands in for Oliver Hardy when Hardy is taken ill. [4]
He also appeared as Disco Des in the 10000th episode of Coronation Street.
Henshaw was Director of the 24:7 Theatre Festival, an annual festival of new writing for theatre based in Manchester, which started in 2004. [5]
Henshaw is also a patron of the Ancoats Dispensary Trust which campaigns to save and restore for community use the Grade II listed Ancoats Dispensary close to his birthplace. [6]
Oliver Norvell Hardy was an American comic actor and one half of Laurel and Hardy, the double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted from 1926 to 1957. He appeared with his comedy partner Stan Laurel in 107 short films, feature films, and cameo roles. He was credited with his first film, Outwitting Dad, in 1914. In most of his silent films before joining producer Hal Roach, he was billed on screen as Babe Hardy.
The Wednesday Play is an anthology series of British television plays which ran on BBC1 for six seasons from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually original works written for television, although dramatic adaptations of fiction also featured. The series gained a reputation for presenting contemporary social dramas, and for bringing issues to the attention of a mass audience that would not otherwise have been discussed on screen.
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Early Doors is a BBC sitcom written by Craig Cash and Phil Mealey. Both writers appear in the series, playing the characters Joe and Duffy, who are best friends. Early Doors is set at The Grapes, a small public house in Heaton Norris, Stockport, where daily life revolves around comical issues of love, loneliness and blocked urinals.
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Looking for Eric is a 2009 sports comedy-drama film directed by Ken Loach and written by Paul Laverty. It is an international co-production between the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Belgium, and Spain. It stars Steve Evets, Eric Cantona, John Henshaw, and Stephanie Bishop. It follows a middle-aged postman who, working for the Manchester sorting office, is going through a dreadful crisis.
Steve Evets is an English actor and musician, who found fame for his leading role in the 2009 film Looking for Eric.
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Stan & Ollie is a 2018 biographical comedy-drama film directed by Jon S. Baird. The script, written by Jeff Pope, was inspired by Laurel and Hardy: The British Tours by A.J. Marriot which chronicled the later years of the comedy double act Laurel and Hardy; the film stars Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly as Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. The film focuses on details of the comedy duo's personal relationship while relating how they embarked on a gruelling music hall tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland during 1953 and struggled to get another film made.
Joseph Balderrama is a Mexican-British actor. His films include Stan & Ollie (2018). On television, he is known for his roles in the Netflix series Heartstopper (2022–present) and the BritBox series Hotel Portofino (2023). His voice work includes the video games It Takes Two (2021) and Diablo IV (2024).
