| Henry | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Henry | |
| Aliases: | Henry |
| Series: | American Horror Story |
| Gender: | Male |
| Notability: | Supporting character |
| Type: | Assassin |
| Location: | Wyoming New York City, New York |
| Status: | Deceased by virtue of time era |
| First: | "Something's Coming" |
| Final: | "Requiem 1981/1987 (Part 1)" |
| Actor: | Denis O'Hare |
Henry is a fictional assassin and a supporting character featured in the FX and Hulu program American Horror Story. He is associated with the season eleven storyline, "NYC", and was played by actor Denis O'Hare. He appeared in six episodes from the series in total.
Biography
Henry was a gay middle-aged man living in New York City in the early 1980s. He was a hitman for the mob who assisted a man named Sam with covering up an accidental death that took place on Fire Island in 1979. [1]
In 1981, Henry frequented the Brownstone Bar, where he met Gino Barelli - a reporter for a gay advocacy newspaper called The Downtown Native. Henry's interactions with Gino got him involved in the affairs of a serial killer dubbed The Mai Tai Killer, who had been targeting gay men in the New York City area. [2] This upset Henry's mob employer, Angelo DeMarco, who saw Gino's published stories about the Mai Tai Killer to be disruptive to their business interests, and wanted Henry to take him out.
Henry secretly loved Gino and had no desire to kill him, so instead, he aided him in trying to track and capture the Mai Tai Killer. This plan backfired however, as the killer, revealed to be Mister Whitely - a man Henry encountered during the Fire Island debacle, succeeded in capturing both men and bringing them back to his lair.
Whitely was killing gay men and using their severed parts to create his own Frankenstein-inspired entity that he called the Sentinel. Gino and Henry were strapped down to operating tables. Whitely cut off Henry's left ear to add to his monstrous creation. After Whitely left the room, Henry managed to free one arm, but had to cut his other hand off with a hacksaw in order to escape. Gino's lover, Patrick Read, appeared and shot Whitely in the head, killing him. [3]
Notes & Trivia
- The character of Henry was created by director John J. Gray and series showrunners Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk.
- Although Denis O'Hare is listed as a main character in the title credits, his minimal involvement in the season actually places him into more of a supporting cast role.
- Playing the part of Henry is actor Denis O'Hare's seventh role on American Horror Story. He played Larry Harvey in season one "Murder House". He played Spaulding in season three's "Coven". He played Stanley in season four's "Freak Show". He played Liz Taylor in season five's "Hotel". He played William van Henderson as Elias Cunningham in the season six mockumentary "Roanoke". He played Holden Vaughn from the "Red Tide" storyline from season ten's "Double Feature". Additionally, he also played Mister Van Writ in the "Dollhouse" episode of American Horror Stories, bringing his total cast count to actually eight characters in the combined franchise.
- While it is possible that Henry is still alive in the modern era, it is highly unlikely given his apparent age in 1981. He would be more than 100-years-old in the modern era.
- Henry is one of four main characters who is still alive after the events of the season finale. The others are Adam Carpenter, Fran, and Kathy Pizazz.
Appearances
- American Horror Story: Something's Coming
- American Horror Story: Smoke Signals
- American Horror Story: The Body
- American Horror Story: The Sentinel
- American Horror Story: Fire Island
- American Horror Story: Requiem 1981/1987 (Part 1)