[1] Heneker was born in Southsea, England, in March 1906, the eldest son of the Canadian-born Lieutenant Colonel William Heneker, a notable military strategist and tactician, who would later serve with distinction in World War I, rising to the rank of General.
He became drawn to a second career in music after becoming familiar with the score of Noël Coward's Bitter Sweet while recuperating from a riding accident in 1934.
The same year, he contributed the English lyrics to the 1956 Marguerite Monnot French musical Irma La Douce.
Half a Sixpence gave him his second Broadway success, this time earning two Tony Award nominations, for Best Musical and Best Original Score, while Charlie Girl enjoyed a five-year West End run.
Jorrocks (1966) and Popkiss (1972) were less successful, but he returned to form in his mid-seventies with The Biograph Girl in 1980, collaborating on this occasion with Warner Brown.