Tony Hendra, a British satirist who worked as a top editor with National Lampoon and Spy magazines and is best known from “This Is Spinal Tap” as the band’s manager Ian Faith, has died. He was 79.
Hendra died on Thursday in Yonkers, N.Y., of Lou Gehrig’s disease, his wife Carla told the New York Times. He was diagnosed with the disease in 2019.
Hendra got his start at Cambridge University in the ’60s and worked alongside John Cleese and Graham Chapman just before Monty Python hit it big. He eventually took his comedy act to the U.S. and partnered with comedian Nick Ullett to perform stand-up and work as a writer and editor for various publications. In that time, he and Ullett opened for Lenny Bruce at the Cafe Au Go Go, and Hendra became a frequent guest on “The Merv Griffin Show” and “The Ed Sullivan Show.
Hendra died on Thursday in Yonkers, N.Y., of Lou Gehrig’s disease, his wife Carla told the New York Times. He was diagnosed with the disease in 2019.
Hendra got his start at Cambridge University in the ’60s and worked alongside John Cleese and Graham Chapman just before Monty Python hit it big. He eventually took his comedy act to the U.S. and partnered with comedian Nick Ullett to perform stand-up and work as a writer and editor for various publications. In that time, he and Ullett opened for Lenny Bruce at the Cafe Au Go Go, and Hendra became a frequent guest on “The Merv Griffin Show” and “The Ed Sullivan Show.
- 3/5/2021
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Tony Hendra, the British humorist and National Lampoon alumnus who played the blundering This Is Spinal Tap band manager responsible for delivering both the tiny Stonehenge and one of the film’s greatest sight gags, died Thursday of Lou Gehrig’s disease in Yonkers, NY. He was 79.
Hendra’s wife Carla confirmed his death to The New York Times. The actor first was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Als), in 2019.
A member of the Cambridge University Footlights revue in 1961 and 1962, Hendra appeared onstage with both John Cleese and Graham Chapman, establishing himself in the new British humor scene along with those future Monty Python stars. He moved to the United States in 1964 with comedy partner Nick Ullett. The duo opened for Lenny Bruce at the Café Au Go Go in New York’s Greenwich Village and appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show.
Hendra, who had...
Hendra’s wife Carla confirmed his death to The New York Times. The actor first was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Als), in 2019.
A member of the Cambridge University Footlights revue in 1961 and 1962, Hendra appeared onstage with both John Cleese and Graham Chapman, establishing himself in the new British humor scene along with those future Monty Python stars. He moved to the United States in 1964 with comedy partner Nick Ullett. The duo opened for Lenny Bruce at the Café Au Go Go in New York’s Greenwich Village and appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show.
Hendra, who had...
- 3/5/2021
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Tony Hendra, the British satirist and comic whose roles included top editing positions at magazines such as National Lampoon and Spy and a part in musical mockumentary “This Is Spinal Tap,” died on Thursday in Yonkers, N.Y. He was 79.
His wife, Carla Meisner, told the New York Times the cause of death was Lou Gehrig’s disease, which the writer was first diagnosed with in 2019.
In Rob Reiner’s 1984 mockumentary “This Is Spinal Tap,” he played Ian Faith, the bumbling band manager who tells Michael McKean’s character that having a gig in Boston canceled isn’t a big deal because “It’s not a big college town.”
Hendra began writing and performing comedy while a student at Cambridge University, working alongside future members of the Monty Python troupe. In 1964, he and his performing partner, Nick Ullett took their stage act to the United States, where he regularly began performing stand-up comedy,...
His wife, Carla Meisner, told the New York Times the cause of death was Lou Gehrig’s disease, which the writer was first diagnosed with in 2019.
In Rob Reiner’s 1984 mockumentary “This Is Spinal Tap,” he played Ian Faith, the bumbling band manager who tells Michael McKean’s character that having a gig in Boston canceled isn’t a big deal because “It’s not a big college town.”
Hendra began writing and performing comedy while a student at Cambridge University, working alongside future members of the Monty Python troupe. In 1964, he and his performing partner, Nick Ullett took their stage act to the United States, where he regularly began performing stand-up comedy,...
- 3/5/2021
- by Natalie Oganesyan
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Jaime King has been cast as the female lead in Cutman, the indie drama starring Ray Liotta that comes from producer-director Michael Mailer.
The script, written by Tiffany Heath, follows a retired boxer who is dying of cancer and working as an enforcer for low-level mobsters. He is haunted by the death of his “cutman” and just wants to die in peace before he meets a junkie and her daughter as they all search for meaning and revenge.
King will play the junkie Josie Ray Broussard, a haunted shell of a soul, with a fragile body, left horrifically traumatized by the abuse she endured as a child. Tarnished by heroin addiction and hard living, Josie is a drifter who travels with her 10-year-old daughter, Stryk, wherever the wind blows them. She raises Stryk in the best way she knows how — to learn the pain and harshness of sheer survival...
The script, written by Tiffany Heath, follows a retired boxer who is dying of cancer and working as an enforcer for low-level mobsters. He is haunted by the death of his “cutman” and just wants to die in peace before he meets a junkie and her daughter as they all search for meaning and revenge.
King will play the junkie Josie Ray Broussard, a haunted shell of a soul, with a fragile body, left horrifically traumatized by the abuse she endured as a child. Tarnished by heroin addiction and hard living, Josie is a drifter who travels with her 10-year-old daughter, Stryk, wherever the wind blows them. She raises Stryk in the best way she knows how — to learn the pain and harshness of sheer survival...
- 4/11/2018
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Hart of Dixie alum Jaime King is set to topline How to Cook Your Daughter, a film adaptation based on a memoir by Jessica Hendra and Blake Morrison. Jennifer Clary is attached to direct, with production scheduled to begin in November. The novel follows Hendra's experience growing up as the daughter of a National Lampoon editor. While a disillusioned generation of Americans reveled in the smart, sometimes brilliant and always raucous humor of the Lampoon…...
- 2/28/2017
- Deadline
Everyone knows that TV shows, movies and celebrity gossip rot your brain. We here at TVOvermind care about your brains, which is why we’re going to class things up and bring you book reviews. Book reviews for books about the TV/movie industry and celebrities. Because it doesn’t destroy your brain if it’s in print (note: not yet scientifically proven).
Our first book is Beverly Hills Adjacent (St. Martin’s Press, 2009). Written by Jennifer Steinhauer and Jessica Hendra, the book focuses on a married couple, Mitch Gold and June Dietz, and takes place during pilot season in Hollywood. Mitch is a moderately successful character actor who is always playing the part of the boss, the friend, the cop or the dad, but never really the star. Mitch’s latest show has been cancelled by the network and he sets out to navigate the treacherous waters of yet another pilot season.
Our first book is Beverly Hills Adjacent (St. Martin’s Press, 2009). Written by Jennifer Steinhauer and Jessica Hendra, the book focuses on a married couple, Mitch Gold and June Dietz, and takes place during pilot season in Hollywood. Mitch is a moderately successful character actor who is always playing the part of the boss, the friend, the cop or the dad, but never really the star. Mitch’s latest show has been cancelled by the network and he sets out to navigate the treacherous waters of yet another pilot season.
- 10/10/2009
- by clarissa
- TVovermind.com
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