Les Dennis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Born: | October 12, 1954 Liverpool, Merseyside, England |
|---|---|
| Occupation: | Television presenter, Actor |
Les Dennis (born Leslie Dennis Heseltine on October 12, 1954 in Liverpool, Merseyside) is an English television presenter and actor. Dennis married actress Amanda Holden in 1995, but the pair have since divorced (November 18, 2003).
As a comedian in the 1980s Dennis has appeared on numerous light-entertainment shows and worked originally as a stooge to Russ Abbot on Russ Abbot's Madhouse before forming a successful comedy partnership with fellow impressionist, the late Dustin Gee. Following Gee's death in 1986, he is probably best known as the host of Family Fortunes, a fifteen year run from 1987 to 2002.
His theatre work includes Amos Hart in Chicago, Bill Snibson in Me And My Girl in the West End. He has starred in Skylight at the Water Mill Theatre, Newbury; Mr Wonderful at the Chester Gateway Theatre, Misery at Oldham Coliseum Theatre; toured in the play Just Between Ourselves and appeared with Janet Suzman in Cherished Disappointments In Love at London's Soho Theatre. He starred with Christopher Cazenove and John Duttine in a national tour of Art and as Norman Bartholomew in Anthony Shaffer's dark comedy Murderer at London's Menier Chocolate Factory. He recently starred in a hit season in Neville's Island at Birmingham Repertory Theatre.
His big screen debut was in the film Intimate Relations with Julie Walters and Rupert Graves and he appeared in the comedy feature film Large and in Wildlife, a short directed by Nick Allsop.
He has also acted in soap operas Brookside, Merseybeat, Casualty and the short-lived revival of Crossroads. Dennis appeared in the second series of the UK Celebrity Big Brother during the period that his marriage to Amanda Holden was collapsing.
On August 11, 2005 Dennis appeared as a guest star in the BBC-series Extras starring Ricky Gervais. In this appearance, Dennis played himself and made several jokes about his career, or the lack thereof. He received praise from reviewers for being so honest and open about his career (and being willing to be the punchline of jokes about his apparent lack of success), and is even rumoured to have rejected the original script, claiming that it was too tame. This performance was also critically-acclaimed from all quarters. In September and October 2005 he appeared in Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon, in which he appeared at the winners' homes to present the prizes they had won.
In early 2006, Dennis presented and performed in BBC One's The Sound of Musicals and guested in New Street Law on BBC One.
In Summer 2006 he received critical acclaim as scriptwriter Nick Chase in a new comedy play called "Marlon Brando's Corset", which toured the UK from July 2006, including a month-long run at the Edinburgh Fringe - which incredibly marks Les's first appearance at the Fringe, despite an impressive career on the stage.
He appeared as a guest in August 2006 on the ITV drama series, The Bill starring as a man suspected of murdering his father. Dennis appeared alongside fellow former Russ Abbot performer Lisa Maxwell, who plays D.S. Samantha Nixon in the series.
At the 2006 Edinburgh International Television Festival, it was announced Les would make a return to the gameshow genre, presenting a new big-money quiz show titled In the Grid for Five (TV. The show debuted on October 30, 2006.
From April 2007 he also hosts UKTV's TV Now And Then quiz show. The same month he guests on BBC One's Holby City.
| Preceded by Max Bygraves |
Host of Family Fortunes 1987- 2002 |
Succeeded by Andy Collins |
