Tony Hendra (born 1941) is an English satirist and writer who has worked mostly in the United States. Educated at St Albans School (where he was a classmate of Stephen Hawking) and Cambridge University, he was a member of the Cambridge University Footlights revue in 1962, alongside John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Tim Brooke-Taylor.

Career [edit]

In 1964 Hendra moved to America, where he worked as a comedian, sometimes teamed with comic actor Nick Ullett as "Hendra and Ullett," appearing on the Merv Griffin Show multiple times and six times on The Ed Sullivan Show. He wrote for National Lampoon magazine from its beginning in 1970 and in 1971 became the first editor hired by founders Doug Kenney and Henry Beard. In 1972 Hendra co-created National Lampoon's first album Radio Dinner with Michael O'Donoghue on which he performed a parody of John Lennon entitled Magical Misery Tour. In 1973 he produced, directed and co-wrote (with Sean Kelly), the Lampoon's off-Broadway revue Lemmings in which Hendra cast John Belushi, Chevy Chase and Christopher Guest in their first starring roles. Hendra was an editor of the Lampoon until 1974, and was co-editor-in-chief with Sean Kelly from 1975-1978.

Freelance editor [edit]

After leaving the Lampoon in 1978 Hendra began working as a freelance editor, writer and actor. During the New York newspaper strike of 1978 he helped create the parody Not the New York Times featuring Christopher Cerf, George Plimpton, and Rusty Unger, and published by Larry Durocher and Josh Feigenbaum. In 1982 he was editor-in-chief of Off the Wall Street Journal and, in 1983, of Off the Wall Street Journal II. Other parodies Hendra created and edited included The Irrational Inquirer, Playboy: the Parody and Not the Bible (1983).

Hendra was featured on the cover of Newsweek (25 April 1983) with Sean Kelly and Alfred Gingold.

Hendra was editor-in-chief of Spy Magazine from 1993 to 1994.

Television and films [edit]

In 1984 Hendra co-created, co-produced and co-wrote the British television satirical show Spitting Image for which he, Jon Blair and John Lloyd were nominated for a British Academy Award in 1985. He was ousted from the production after the first six shows, to be replaced by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor.

His most notable acting role was starring in This Is Spinal Tap, as the band's manager, Ian Faith. He also had roles in several other films and television programs, including appearances on Miami Vice, The Cosby Mysteries, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

In 1997 Hendra co-wrote with director Ron Shelton The Great White Hype, a satire of racism in boxing, starring Samuel Jackson, Damon Wayans, Jamie Foxx, Jeff Goldblum and Peter Berg.

He co-conceived and wrote the English dubs of 3 of the films created by Belgian animator Picha, including The Missing Link (1980), The Big Bang (1987) and Snow White: The Sequel (2007).

Books [edit]

• Last Words (2009) co-author with George Carlin
• The Messiah of Morris Avenue (2006) Hendra's first novel depicts the second coming of Christ in a future United States ruled by the religious right.
• "Dragula: Queen of Darkness" [1] co-author with Neal Adams
• Father Joe: The Man Who Saved My Soul (2004) A memoir.
• Brotherhood (A photographic tribute to the NYFD heroes of 9/11), with foreword by Frank McCourt. (2001)
• The GIGAWIT Dictionary of the E-nglish Language (2000)
• The Book of Bad Virtues (1994)
• Brad '61: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man with Roy Lichtenstein (1993)
• Born to Run Things: An Utterly Unauthorized Biography of George Bush (1992)
• Tales from the Crib (with Bob Saget) (1991)
• The 90's: A Look Back co-edited with Peter Elbling, designed by Paula Scher (1989)
• Going Too Far The Rise and Demise of Boomer Humor 1955-1980 (1987)
• The Sayings of Ayatollah Khomeini Trans. The Little Green Book of Ayatollah Khomeini (Paris). (Editor) (1980)
• The 80's: A Look Back at the Tumultuous Decade 1980-1989 (1979) Editor with Christopher Cerf and Peter Elbling.

Family life and controversy [edit]

Hendra married Judith Christmas in 1964. The couple had two daughters, the younger of whom is Jessica Hendra. Tony and Judith Hendra underwent an acrimonious divorce in 1985. Hendra subsequently remarried; he and his second wife, Carla Hendra, live in New York and have three children together.

In 2004, at the time that Father Joe was achieving best-seller status, Jessica Hendra contacted the New York Times, requesting that the newspaper publish an op-ed piece she had written in which she alleged that her father had sexually abused her as a young child. The newspaper declined to publish the op-ed piece, but they did assign a reporter to investigate her charges. On 1 July 2004, the Times published an article on the front page of the Arts section about Jessica Hendra's allegations. The story, by reporter N.R. Kleinfield, included details about the alleged acts of molestation, along with Tony Hendra's denial: "I can only just categorically deny this. It's not a new allegation. It's simply not true, I'm afraid."^[1]

After the Times was criticised for publishing the story in the absence of proof,^[2] the paper's ombudsman, Daniel Okrent, wrote an article examining the newspaper's decision. Okrent quoted an email exchange with Kleinfield in which the latter wrote that, based on his reporting, he had concluded that Jessica Hendra had indeed been molested. At the same time, Okrent expressed concern about the possibility that Jessica Hendra's charges were false, citing in particular the damage that could be caused to Hendra's young children who were 11, 12 and 14 at the time. "As an editor," Okrent concluded, "the verities of the profession might have led me to publish this article. But as a reader, I wish The Times hadn't."^[3]

Jessica Hendra subsequently published a memoir, How to Cook Your Daughter, that repeated the abuse allegations. The book was published by Judith Regan of ReganBooks.

Notes [edit]

External links [edit]

• A link to "Magical Misery Tour" Hendra's 1972 parody of John Lennon
• Lemmings review
• A profile of Hendra by The Independent.
• New York Times Book Review by Andrew Sullivan of Tony Hendra's book Father Joe.
• [2] Articles in Harpers Magazine by Hendra on bullfighting and the Spanish Civil War and his memoirs of life in comedy.
• http://www.thecommentary.ca/ontheline/20060418a.html Tony Hendra audio interview re: The Messiah of Morris Avenue (18 April 2006).
• God Save This Book An essay by Davis Sweet defending Father Joe.
• Tony Hendra at the Internet Movie Database
• Tony Hendra at the Internet Broadway Database