has gone by his stage name for decades – so you’d be forgiven for assuming it’s the moniker he was given when he was born.
But that’s not the case. ex actually uses his middle name Dennis as his surname, and keeps his real surname out of the spotlight.
Les was actually born Leslie Dennis Heseltine in October 1953, to a factory worker mother and a Navy veteran father who later worked in a betting shop. Les grew up in Speke, , attending Morrison Rose Lane Secondary Modern school and Quarry Bank Comprehensive.
Les left school with one A-Level in Art, but failed his History and English Literature qualifications. Straight out of school, he got a job at clothing shop Burton and started doing stand-up comedy in working men’s clubs in his spare time.
Speaking about his real name, Les explained to the blog: “My mum was actually a supporter and to this day Ken has a soft spot for them as well as Scotland because of Denis Law – and therein lies a tale.
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Les Dennis is actually a stage name (Image: Getty)
“My birth name is Les Heseltine but when I’d be doing the working men’s clubs they’d always misspell it, so my mum came up with the idea of ‘Les Dennis’ because she said it was a bit like Denis Law backwards. It was even a question on the old TV gameshow Blockbusters: ‘Which D follows Les and comes before Law?’”
The star added: “I was honoured to be chosen for an episode of This Is Your Life [in 1997] and Denis Law came along, it was thrilling to have him there.
Les – who used to be married to Amanda Holden – is named after a famous footballer (Image: Getty)
“Sadly my mum and dad weren’t around anymore but my brother Ken could hardly speak, he was beside himself. Ken was a really good player himself in the local leagues.
“I used to listen to Radio Merseyside when they were giving out the football results on a Sunday evening and it was, ‘Kenny Heseltine, hat-trick.’”