The beloved comedian, now 67, was born from a secret relationship between Albert Green and his Jamaican-born mother, Winnie — who at the time was already married with four children. For years, Lenny grew up believing his father was a man named Winston, the figure who raised him and shaped his early life.
But everything changed in a moment he would never forget.
Reflecting on that discovery, Lenny admitted it felt like everything around him had collapsed. He described it as a bombshell dropped into his life, saying he found himself “playing amongst the ruins” and hoping things would somehow make sense one day — and, as he added, eventually they did.
Despite the shocking truth, he remains clear about one thing: Winston was the man who raised him, and in many ways, the father he knew.
The story began to unravel when Lenny was just 10 years old. His mother told him to visit a man he knew only as “Uncle Albert” every Friday to help with chores. At the time, it seemed innocent enough.
He recalled walking into Albert’s home for the first time, greeting a man he had never met before. Albert would cook meals like chicken and rice, while Lenny would help around the house — vacuuming, cleaning windows — in exchange for small treats like a chocolate bar and a can of Coke. Their relationship, at that stage, felt simple and transactional.
But at the age of 12, everything changed.
One day, Albert’s son Lloyd turned to him and asked if he understood why he was really there. When Lenny said no, Lloyd delivered the truth in a single sentence: Albert was his real father.
The moment hit him instantly. Lenny recalled feeling physically shaken, as though his entire sense of identity had been flipped upside down.
Behind this revelation lay a complicated and emotional family history. His mother Winnie had moved to Dudley from the Caribbean in the late 1950s, leaving behind her husband and children with the hope of building a new life before bringing them over. It was during this time, amid loneliness and homesickness, that she began a relationship with Albert.
For a brief period, the three lived as a family. But when Winston eventually arrived in England with the children, he chose to forgive Winnie and raise Lenny as his own — a decision that would define Lenny’s upbringing.
Years later, Lenny reflected on his connection with Albert, admitting that while there was respect, there was never a deep emotional bond. Even at Albert’s funeral, he found himself unable to feel the same grief others expressed.
Yet when his mother passed away in 1998 after years of illness, it was a loss that truly devastated him — revealing where his deepest emotional ties had always been.
