Les Dennis

**Leslie Dennis Heseltine** is an English television presenter, actor, and comedian. He appears in *Extras* as a fictionalised version of himself in the episode 'Les Dennis'.

Dennis is best known for having presented the British game show *Family Fortunes* from 1987 until 2002. Prior to this, he co-created and co-starred in *The* *Laughter Show* with fellow impressionist Dustin Gee until Gee's death in 1986. Whilst host of *Family Fortunes*, Dennis became a popular and iconic figure of British popular culture, helped by his Liverpudlian accent and the catchphrase "If it's [the answer] up there, I'll give you the money myself!"

Dennis' other credits include the films *Intimate Relations* (1996) and *Large* (2001), and appearances in the shows *Bang Bang, It's Reeves and Mortimer*, *Shooting Stars*, *The Bill*, *Brookside*, *Merseybeat*, *Family Affairs*, *Casualty*, *Crossroads*, *Hotel Babylon*, and *Coronation Street*. He appeared in the second series of *Celebrity Big Brother* in 2002.

Outside of television and film, Dennis has worked in theatre as an actor. He has performed in the West End plays *Chicago* and *Me and My Girl*, and smaller productions including *Skylight*, *Mr Wonderful*, *'Art'*, and *Murderer*. He has also appeared in the musicals *High School Musical 2* on UK tour, *Hairspray*, *Legally Blonde: The Musical*, and *The Addams Family*. In more recent years he has performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company in the restoration plays *The Provoked Wife* and *Venice Preserved*. In 2021 he performed in the opera *HMS Pinafore*.

## Personality

Les Dennis is first introduced as a happy-go-lucky individual who has an optimistic outlook on the future prospects of his career, seeing the *Aladdin* pantomime as a way of launching his comeback. However, he is prone to easily fall into a state of depression, reminiscing about the prime of his career when he was the host of *Family Fortunes*. His constant repetition of old catchphrases and impressions show his longing for better days and how he has grown to be sad with age.

He experiences great joy when he is around his fiancée Simone, who is 25 years his junior. However, he is easily manipulated by Nicole who lies and cheats on him with another man and immediately asks him for spending money. Andy sees that Dennis is being taken advantage of so becomes very protective of him, before and after his and Nicole's relationship falls through.

There are several parallels with the fictionalised version of Dennis in *Extras* and his real life personality. Dennis' career experienced a decline after his departure from *Family Fortunes* in 2002; he received less jobs and time in the limelight. A mixture of this and his tumultuous marriages and divorces in the 1990s and early 2000s – particularly to Amanda Holden – led to a public perception of Dennis as a depressed fallen star. His fictional relationship with a younger woman, Nicole, is likely a reference to his marriage to Holden, who was 18 years his junior. Also, the unfaithful Nicole is similar to Holden, who had an affair with actor Neil Morrissey whilst she was married to Dennis. The complications surrounding their highly-publicised divorce in 2003 led to Dennis dreading his time on *Celebrity Big Brother* in 2002.

Dennis did experience somewhat of a career revival through theatre in real life. He performed in several theatrical productions and musicals throughout the 2000s and 2010s, and continues to stay active in the industry to this day. He also earned a steadier flow of television roles.

## Gallery

Les Dennis introduces his fiancée Simone to AndyAndy watches as Les Dennis gives Simone an excessive amount of spending money
## Trivia

* After *Extras*, Les Dennis collaborated with series creators Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant again in the 2011 series *Life's Too Short*, again playing a fictionalised version of himself.