- Born
- Paul Henry Smith was born in the Shard End district of Birmingham to Harry and Freda, and married Sheila on the 4th December 1969. They had a daughter, Justine, in 1970 a and son, Anthony, born in 1973. He has a sister, Tracy, and a brother, Tony. While at school, Paul ran in the All English Championships. His first job was as an apprentice at British Leyland which lasted a year until he joined Birmingham Drama School at 18 for three years appearing in their production of West Side Story. He then became part of Birmingham Repertory Company and joined ATV's serial of Crossroads in 1974 playing the part of Benny Hawkins.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Tonyman 5
- SpouseSheila Sedgwick(1968 - present) (2 children)
- He attended Alderlea Boys School, Shard End, Birmingham with Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra fame.
- He was personally recommended for the role of 'Lennie Godber' in "Porridge" by Ronnie Barker but the BBC went with Richard Beckinsale instead.
- When the Falklands War occurred and just after, British troops in the Falklands referred to the Islanders as "Bennies", after Paul Henry's character in Crossroads, who was often to be seen wearing a bobble cap like the islanders. Benny was a bit of a stupid character, so this was not taken too kindly by the islanders themselves.
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