Tony Hendra, best known as bumbling band-manager Ian Faith in mockumentary classic This is Spinal Tap, died yesterday at the age of 79 after battling Lou Gehrig’s disease. Tony Hendra started writing and performing comedy while attending Cambridge University and soon formed a comedy act with Nick Ullett. After traveling to the United States, the pair performed stand-up on the comedy…...
- 3/5/2021
- by Kevin Fraser
- JoBlo.com
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
Phyllis Schuringa, artistic associate and casting director at the Geffen Playhouse, took a step back in time to cast the season opener “These Paper Bullets,” a fun throwback to the ‘60s take-off of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing.” The show originally opened at the Yale Repertory and will continue on to the Atlantic Theater Company after its Geffen run. The show was initially intended to as a complete package, but some actors became unavailable, giving Schuringa the chance to be involved in casting a couple roles in addition to all the understudies. “It was kind of an all hands on deck process,” she says. Working with Telsey + Company in New York, Schuringa and team cast Nicole Parker to play the lead character Beatrice (echoing Beatrice in “Much Ado About Nothing”). The role of Leo Messina had been cast, but there was a last minute drop-out, so Schuringa suggested Nick Ullet.
- 9/17/2015
- backstage.com
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