'I'd like to be stuck in a lift with my wife'.

Byline: LENNY HENRY 

LENNY HENRY was born in Dudley in the West Midlands in 1958 and shot to fame when he was still in his teens, thanks to his appearance on the talent contest New Faces.

Since then he's been involved in numerous successful TV series, including Tiswas, Three of a Kind, Chef! and his own stand-up and sketch shows.

He recently announced his Shakespearean debut in Othello with Halifax-based Northern Broadsides.

He lives in Cornwall with wife Dawn French and their daughter.

If you had to be stuck in a lift with someone who would it be? I'd like to be stuck in the lift with my wife because we both work very hard, so any time we have together is precious. If it was a long lift ride, we'd have a few minutes to catch up and if we got stuck we could snog between floors.

Your biggest fear?

Something horrible happening to my family. I think if you're a dad and a husband, you just want your family to be safe and well.

Any superstitions?

Before a show I listen to the second side of Kate Bush's album Hounds of Love, which is quite ambient and calming, I do a singing exercise and then just before the show I listen to very loud, what my wife calls 'thumpy' music.

Then I have five minutes when it's very quiet just so I can clear my head.

If you could have only one song on your iPod what would it be? I listen to a song called Vide Cor Meum on the Hannibal soundtrack over and over again. It's opera and it's one of the most beautiful pieces of music I've ever heard.

What's the most expensive thing you've bought, not including property? I bought a copy of the first-ever edition of Spider-Man which cost quite a lot of money. I collect comics, so I also re-bought Daredevil 1-5 and Fantastic Four 1-5, because when I was little and had them all in their original form, my mum said: "Either those comics are cleared up by you, or I will clear them up for you." I didn't clear them up and she threw them all on the fire. Before she passed away I used to say to her: "You know you threw all my Spider-Man comics on the fire? They're worth thousand now!"

What's the best piece of advice you've been given? Max Bygraves said to me: "When you walk on stage don't start straight away, walk around a bit and let 'em look at the suit." He was right; give the audience time to get used to you.

When was the last time you cried and why? I cry a lot at films. There's a film called Rocco and His Brothers, where you might as well have a van of tissues backed up to your house, it's so sad.

What's your indulgence? Comics and movies. I love going to the pictures, watching DVDs and reading comics.

How environmentally friendly are you? I'm not a pedant about it, but we do try. We have a gas-guzzler and if you drive around Cornwall in a big Range Rover people say to you: "We call those things Chelsea tractors," so I think my next car will be a hybrid.

How many texts do you send in a day? Quite a few, it's quite handy if you don't want to have a conversation. Or if you just want to say "Where are you?

I've been here two minutes."

Who's the most famous person in your mobile? I can't tell you that, but it's somebody really famous.

What item could you not live without? My iPod I think. It's got films on there, as well as pop videos, audio books and every piece of music that I love.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? I don't think I'd change anything, not even my propensity to eat more cake in one sitting than anybody else.