Interview: Paul Henry

2:01pm Friday 25th July 2008

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Paul Henry, best known for his role as Benny in Crossroads, is starring in Ray Cooney’s celebrated farce Run For Your Wife at Blackpool Grand Theatre. And he’s still playing for the laughs.

ACTOR Paul Henry has hundreds of theatre and TV roles under his belt, having been in the business for more than three decades — but he’s still best known for his role as bumbling handyman Benny in Crossroads.

Not that he minds.

“At the end of the day you’ve got to be known as something,” he reasoned.

“I finished Crossroads in 1987, so I think I’ve lasted a lot longer than these celebs that are on TV now. I even had an old fella last night saying ‘Oh, it’s Benny’ when I came onto the stage.

“Once I was parked outside a fish and chip shop in Llandudno and when I came back to my car there was a note on the windscreen saying ‘Benny, we miss you’,” laughed Paul.

“There’s still a lot of love out there for him.”

Born in 1947 in Birmingham, Paul grew up at a time when a career in acting wasn’t really considered an option for a working class lad.

“One of my teachers at school must have seen something in me because he said I must go to drama school,” said Paul. “He even stood over me as I filled in the forms.

“This was in the 60s when it wasn’t something that working class boys did. I was in the first era of working class actors. Birmingham City Council gave me a grant which I’ll always be grateful for.”

In Run For Your Wife, coming to Blackpool Grand from Monday, August 4 to Saturday, August 16, Paul plays camp neighbour Bobby Franklyn. But it’s not the first time he’s starred in the play.

He toured Canada with the show in 1984, playing the lead role of London cabby John Smith, who leads a double life with hilarious consequences.

“I think it’s the best farce ever,” said Paul. “Ray Cooney reached his ultimate with this play. I don’t think it can be improved upon. It’s a great show for people who don’t come to the theatre a lot. I think they’d have a really good laugh and it would encourage them to come back.

“That used to be the way it was with pantomimes but now they fill them with anyone who’s on the telly and they’re not as good.”

* See Paul Henry in Run For Your Wife at Blackpool Grand Theatre. Call box office on 01253 290190.