THE RETURN of Lenny Henry to Swindon is a source of great pride to Ken Coulthard, who helped the great comic on the road to fame.

For one week in the late 1970s, Lenny called Ken's Broad Street house home, as he lodged there while performing in the town.

Ken, 66, booked Lenny to appear for his company Galaxy Entertainment at venues in Covingham and Ferndale.

He said: "I would love to say hello when he comes back, I always look out for him and the other stars that came here.

"He came here just after winning the New Faces comedy competition, and you could instantly see how funny he was."

The Dudley-born entertainer was recommended to Ken by a friend working in Wolverhampton.

He said: "When they offered me Lenny Henry I jumped at the chance. He was already well-known and proved to be a popular act.

"He had arrived one wet weekend and been lodging in the Regent Hotel on Victoria Hill. I walked in and saw him there all alone and thought that it would be much nicer if he was at home with us."

So between gigs at what was the Piccadilly in Covingham and Ferndale Working Men's Club, Lenny sat down to lunch with the Coulthard family.

Ken said: "He was an incredible mimic and he could pick up different accents in just a few minutes.

"I took him to the town centre one morning and he had the people in the shops in stitches. He was making comments and talking to everybody."

After his Swindon dates Ken dropped Lenny at the railway station and to this day he has not seen him.

But he had his part in helping the development of one of Britain's comedy icons.

Ken said: "The nights when he wasn't playing here were taken up with preparing material for his time on The Black and White Minstrel Show.

"One night he asked me if I could help him put it all down on paper, so I agreed to type for him. I must have been up half the night getting those jokes down."

In 1990 Ken changed careers and closed Galaxy Entertainment, but he has helped several other stars along the way.

"I remember hosting a young Jim Davidson and Noel Edmonds just after he did Swap Shop.

"Noel Edmonds played to a kids' audience in the Brunel Rooms, but he looked incredibly nervous.

"I'm happy that these people went on to bigger and better things and glad to have met so many different personalities."

Lenny Henry is appearing in a sell-out show at the Arts Centre tomorrow.