John Henshaw (born 1951) 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. He is sometimes associated with playing "hard men". He played John Prescott in ITV drama "Confessions Of A Diary Secretary".
Henshaw is one of 12 brothers and sisters. His first name, John, is common with several of his brothers and so he is known by a familiar version of his second name Joseph - Joey but still credited as John. He grew up in Ancoats in Manchester in a working class community called Little Italy, because there were so many Italian immigrants there. Despite poor conditions, Henshaw claims he never had it so good. It wasn't post-war prosperity he relished - it was community spirit. This may explain his natural talent when acting as a pub landlord.
He also had roles in the Steve Coogan movie The Parole Officer and in the BBC Three sitcom The Visit.
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..
John's other credits include Nice Guy Eddie, When Saturday Comes and appearances in The Royle Family and Life on Mars.In September 2007 at The Lowry in Salford he starred in the in the world premier of King Cotton. His latest role is the manager in the Post Office adverts.
Supports Manchester City Football Club.
