Henry Rodney’s contributions to the theatre arts were humongous

From right: Henry Rodney, Margaret Lawrence and John Phillips
From right: Henry Rodney, Margaret Lawrence and John Phillips

Dear Editor,

It is with great sadness we mourn the passing of one of our premier theatre performers, Henry Rodney- stage and film actor, singer, writer and many other caps he wore during his lifetime. An educationist for a large part of his life.

He was professionally competent and led a very vibrant and active life in the theatre world both locally and overseas. He was the queh queh king in Guyana and was heavily sought after to lead such events either on stage or for a live event locally and internationally. His contributions to the theatre arts were humongous. 

From the time he joined The Link Show team in the late 80’s he remained in it until the last one when his health started failing. He also did every North America tour of these shows from 1997 until the final one in 2002.

He was popular for the characters he portrayed, Former Prime Minister Sam Hinds and the very colourful Inspector ‘Ley Ley’ in the market skit. He wrote and sang many of the Link Show songs. I have worked with him in quite a number of shows other than the Link Show.

I recalled in one Link Show, where he wrote and sang a satirical song using the rhythm of Shaggy’s song. When he came off stage I told him he sounded better than Shaggy and I got a big grin from him, which he had perfected in his portrayal of the former Prime Minister. RIP dear Henry.

Yours faithfully,

Gem Madhoo-Nascimento

GEMS Theatre Productions