{"id":195514,"date":"2021-03-06T04:13:47","date_gmt":"2021-03-06T01:13:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/tony-hendra-who-shrunk-spinal-taps-stonehenge-dead-at-79\/"},"modified":"2021-03-06T04:13:47","modified_gmt":"2021-03-06T01:13:47","slug":"tony-hendra-who-shrunk-spinal-taps-stonehenge-dead-at-79","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/tony-hendra-who-shrunk-spinal-taps-stonehenge-dead-at-79\/","title":{"rendered":"#Tony Hendra, who shrunk ‘Spinal Tap’s’ Stonehenge, dead at 79"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Tony Hendra, who shrunk ‘Spinal Tap’s’ Stonehenge, dead at 79<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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Tony Hendra \u2014 the British humorist best known as the \u201cThis is Spinal Tap\u201d manager who blunderingly shrunk Stonehenge \u2014 died Thursday of Lou Gehrig\u2019s disease in Yonkers, NY. <\/p>\n

He was 79, and had battled the illness, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, since 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cA brilliant satirist,\u201d the iconic 1984 mockumentary\u2019s director, Rob Reiner, tweeted in memorializing Hendra\u2019s death<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hendra got his start in the early 1960s as a member of the Cambridge University Footlights review, app<\/a>earing on stage with future Monty Python stars John Cleese and Graham Chapman.<\/p>\n

He moved to the U.S. in 1964 and \u2014 with his comedy partner Nick Ullett \u2014 opened for the legendary Lenny Bruce in Greenwich Village.<\/p>\n

\"Carla
Carla and Tony Hendra in 2017. <\/figcaption>
Patrick McMullan\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hendra was most prolific as a comedy writer. He penned skits for the popular U.K. comedy series<\/a> \u201cThat Was The Week That Was,\u201d and for Hugh Hefner\u2019s \u201cPlayboy After Dark,\u201d then started working at National Lampoon magazine.<\/p>\n

There he became a member of an underground satire scene that included John Belushi and Christopher Guest \u2014 who cast him as Ian Faith in \u201cThis is Spinal Tap.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\"Tony
Tony Hendra attends the \u201cDrunk Stone Brilliant Dead\u201d premiere in NYC in 2015. <\/figcaption>
Laura Cavanaugh\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Hendra\u2019s ridiculously small Stonehenge stage set earned some of the movie\u2019s best laughs \u2014 as did this entendre-laden line, delivered while holding a cricket bat: <\/p>\n

\u201cCertainly, in the topsy-turvy world of heavy rock, having a good solid piece of wood in your hand is often useful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another big laugh came when the cricket bat-wielding Hendra brushed off a cancelled Boston gig, Reiner noted. <\/p>\n

\u201cA brilliant satirist who when learning that the band\u2019s Boston gig had been canceled, told them not to worry [because] Boston wasn\u2019t a big college town,\u201d Reiner\u2019s tweet read.<\/p>\n

Hendra published a religious memoir in 2004, titled \u201cFather Joe: The Man Who Saved My Soul<\/a>,\u201d which prompted his estranged daughter, Jessica, to accuse him of molesting her. He denied the accusations.<\/p>\n

\"Tony
Tony Hendra and Nick Ullett perform on the NBC TV music show \u2018Hullabaloo\u2019 in February 1965.<\/figcaption>
Michael Ochs Archives\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With Post wires<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n