Nicky Henson was born in London, the son of Harriet Martha Collins and comedian Leslie Henson. He embarked on a journey in the performing arts, training as a stage manager at the renowned Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and making his theatrical debut in 1963. Subsequently, he oscillated between stage and screen, showcasing his versatility as a performer.
Henson's impressive theatrical career spanned multiple companies, including the Young Vic Company, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and the National Theatre Company. He had a natural aptitude for impersonating a diverse array of classic literary characters, including Pozzo in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew, Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and title roles in Later Leonardo and Oedipus at the Crossroads.
In addition to his theatrical accomplishments, Henson appeared in a few leading roles in motion pictures, primarily in low-budget exploitation films. He is notable for his cult horror film The Death Wheelers (1973),where he played the leader of a pack of zombie bikers. As a keen motorcyclist himself, Henson performed the majority of the stunts, with only three exceptions.
Henson also starred in a lesser remake of Henry Fielding's novel, The Bawdy Adventures of Tom Jones (1976),and provided a humorous parody of Roger Moore in the James Bond pastiche No. 1 of the Secret Service (1977).
As a familiar face on television, Henson excelled at portraying cultivated gents, snobs, playboys, or cads. His numerous guest roles included five appearances in The Bill, an acerbic Chief Superintendant in A Touch of Frost, a celebrity chef judge in Pie in the Sky, and a nefarious former associate of the butler in Downton Abbey. He is also fondly remembered as a swaggering gigolo in The Psychiatrist.
Rather self-deprecating, Henson once commented that he had "done pretty well for someone with no ambition." Despite battling cancer for the last twenty years of his life, Henson continued acting on screen until 2018.
