Acting

John Henshaw

Born 1950-08-01 · Manchester, England, UK

John Henshaw is a British actor famed for his roles as Ken the landlord in Early Doors, Wilf Bradshaw in Born and Bred and PC Roy Bramwell in The Cops. Henshaw was born one of 12 children. He grew up in Ancoats, Manchester's "Little Italy" community. He was a refuse collector for ten years before deciding to become an actor at the age of 40. His first big break in acting was as a minder to Robert Lindsay's character Michael Murray in the acclaimed Channel 4 series, G.B.H. Other TV credits include The Royle Family, The Visit, Life on Mars, whilst film credits include the Steve Coogan comedy The Parole Officer, the Bert Trautmann biopic The Keeper, and the Ken Loach films Looking For Eric and The Angels' Share. Henshaw is chairman of the 24:7 Theatre Festival, an annual festival of new writing for theatre based in Manchester.

Credits

Newest first

Fishbrain
as Jeb
2026
Talamasca: The Secret Order
as Detective Hough
2025
Boat Story
as Nigel
2023
The Long Shadow
as Mike Dugdale
2023
The Full Monty
as Bus Driver
2023
Wolf Manor
as Thaddeus Saxon (the landlord)
2022
Ridley
as Frank Stanford
2022
Remembers…
as Self
2022
Early Doors - Live
as Ken
2021
Silky Hotel
as Jim Knightshade
2021
I'm Not in Love
as Tony
2021
Sunny
as Pavlo
2019
Stan & Ollie
as Nobby Cook
2018
The Keeper
as Jack Friar
2018
Pin Cushion
as Percy
2018
The Man Who Invented Christmas
as Butcher / Mr. Fezziwig
2017
6 Days
as Metropolitan Police Spokesman
2017
A Street Cat Named Bob
as Tube Station Guard
2016
Swallows and Amazons
as Harbour Master
2016
Cradle to Grave
as Mr Glover
2015
Documentary Now!
2015
Cilla
as John White
2014
Closer to the Moon
as Judge
2014
The Night Runner
as Dennis
2014
By Any Means
as Stan Bond
2013
The Ringer
as Danny
2013
The Last British Execution
as Marcus Peabody
2013
Father Brown
as Barny Butterfield
2013
The Rochdale Pioneers
as John Holt
2012
The Angels' Share
as Harry
2012
Going Postal 2in1
as Mr. Pony
2011
Candy Cabs
as Mervyn Monkford
2011
South Riding
as Alfred Huggins
2011
The Royle Family: Behind the Sofa
as Self
2010
In Our Name
as Frank
2010
Going Postal
as Mr Pony
2010
Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1974
as Bill Hadley
2009
Coronation Street: Romanian Holiday
as Glen
2009
Looking for Eric
as Meatballs
2009
Red Riding
as Bill Hadley
2009
A Bit of Tom Jones?
as Bar Owner
2009
The Visit
as Dad
2007
Grow Your Own
as Charlie
2007
Confessions of a Diary Secretary
as John Prescott
2007
Starter for 10
as Des
2006
Someone Else
as Paul
2006
See No Evil: The Moors Murders
as DCS Arthur Benfield
2006
New Street Law
as Tony Lyons
2006
Johnny and the Bomb
as Councillor Seeley
2006
Life on Mars
as Ted Bannister
2006
Open Wide
as Brian Tonkin
2005
Cheeky
as Kenny
2003
Early Doors
as Ken Dixon
2003
The Second Coming
as Clive Saxon
2003
The Afternoon Play
as Sir Terry Bucklethwaite
2003
The Fishmonger
as Davis
2002
Put Your Coat On
as Dad
2002
Born and Bred
as Wilf Bradshaw
2002
Cutting It
as Bruce Gutteridge
2002
This Is Not a Love Song
as Arthur
2002
Happy Now
as Pete Copsey
2001
The Parole Officer
as Cochran
2001
There's Only One Jimmy Grimble
as Ken Burley
2000
The Cops
as Roy
1998
The Royle Family
as Roger Kavanagh
1998
The Grand
as Taxi Driver
1997
The Grand
as Bob Jessop
1997
Midsomer Murders
as Arthur Potts
1997
When Saturday Comes
as M.C
1996
Cracker
as Quarry Foreman
1993
Olly's Prison
as Prisoner (uncredited)
1993
Heartbeat
as Guard
1992
Heartbeat
as Albert Ross
1992
G.B.H.
as Murray's Minder
1991
Dancin' Thru the Dark
as Doorman
1990
Casualty
as Lenny Adams
1986
The Bill
1984