[6] He was given the earliest opportunities in his home city of Liverpool; in his autobiography, he later credited husband-and-wife theatrical agents Stuart and Dorene Gillespie (who had themselves been a successful variety act) with discovering him.
It's a common myth that he almost became the first contestant ever to score the maximum 120 points on New Faces, but had to settle for 119 when Tony Hatch gave him 9 out of 10 in his final mark, drawing derision from the rest of a judges' panel that included fellow Liverpool comedian Arthur Askey.
[8] Following Gee's sudden and unexpected death in January 1986, Dennis carried on The Laughter Show as a solo performer and became the third host of Family Fortunes for a 15-year run between 1987 and 2002.
"[10] Dennis' stage work includes Amos Hart in Chicago and Bill Snibson in Me and My Girl in the West End.
[13] He co-starred with Christopher Cazenove and John Duttine in a national tour of 'Art' and as Norman Bartholomew in Anthony Shaffer's dark comedy Murderer at London's Menier Chocolate Factory.
[20] In 2021, Dennis made a return to the theatre when he played the role of Wilbur Turnblad in the 2021 revival of Hairspray at the London Coliseum.
[26] Dennis appeared in the second series of the UK Celebrity Big Brother during the period when his marriage to Amanda Holden was breaking down again – he described his time in the BB House as "not one of his wisest moves", although he went on to finish as runner-up to Mark Owen.
In this appearance, Dennis portrayed a fictional version of himself, alongside Gerard Kelly, who played a camp theatre director, the recurring character Bunny.
[30] He appeared as a guest in August 2006 in the ITV drama series The Bill, starring as a man suspected of murdering his father.
Dennis appeared alongside fellow former Russ Abbot performer Lisa Maxwell, who played DI Samantha Nixon in the series.
[31] At the 2006 Edinburgh International Television Festival, it was announced Dennis would make a return to the gameshow genre, presenting a new big-money quiz show titled In the Grid for Channel 5.
[36] He then toured in The Servant of Two Masters, directed by Michael Bogdanov and at Christmas he returned to pantomime after a ten-year break, co-starring in Cinderella with Hollywood veteran Mickey Rooney at the Empire Theatre, Sunderland, produced by First Family Entertainment.
[39] Also in 2008, he narrated Les Dennis's Home Video Heroes, a home video clip show broadcast on Challenge, and appeared in the ITV documentary Les Dennis' Liverpool, which was, coincidentally, broadcast a week after BBC Two ran Alexei Sayle's Liverpool, a three-part documentary on the city.
[citation needed] During the Christmas 2008 panto season, Dennis appeared as Buttons in Cinderella at the Empire Theatre, Liverpool.
[46] In 2011 he again worked with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, with recurring appearances as a fictionalised version of himself in the Warwick Davis comedy series, Life's Too Short.
[48] In 2013 Dennis was reunited with Warwick Davis when the pair joined the cast of the West End production of Monty Python's Spamalot at London's Playhouse Theatre.
[55] In 2022, Dennis played a mind-reader in a film called Sideshow, a black comedy in the style of Stanley a Man of Variety or Peter Chelsom's Funny Bones.
[56] The film, also starring Anthony Head, April Pearson and Nathan Clarke, received a one-star review from Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian.
They had a temporary split in 2000 when Holden's affair with actor Neil Morrissey was exposed in the press, before eventually separating in December 2002 and divorcing in 2003.