TV Pop Diaries
Pop Music on British Television 1955 - 1999

Henderson with his genuinely mid-Atlantic voice and louche mannerism was a top shelf turn on TV in the UK from the fifties to the early seventies, but is all but forgotten now, unlike Morecambe and Wise or Tommy Cooper, which is a shame as the evidence we have of his TV appearances shows a confident, clever and funny entertainer.

Brought up in Hollywood where his British father was a successful performer he would return to the UK, and after his World War 2 demob he appeared on radio and became an early TV star. He was not a singer, but sang, was not a stand up comedian as such, but was funny, was not an actor, but appeared in stage plays. Henderson was the complete package. Why he was not given the chance to host Sunday Night At The London Palladium beyond the late fifties is a mystery, however he was contracted to Associated-Rediffusion, so it could have been a contractual hassle.

Having starred in his own sitcom throughout most of the 1960s, with occasional musical guests, he was given his own variety series for London Weekend in 1971, with musical guests including Astrud Gilberto, Ronnie Carroll, Johnny Mathis, Sandie Shaw, Noel Harrison and Shirley Bassey among others.

His centenary in 2022 was due to be celebrated with a biography alongside a DVD of his surviving 1950s Associated-Rediffusion shows.

THE DICKIE HENDERSON SHOW

London Weekend

13th March 1971 - 23rd April 1971