Finis Henderson was born in Chicago to a family of entertainers. His father was a song and dance man and Vice-President of Sammy Davis Jr. Enterprises and Sammy Davis was Finis’ Godfather. Finis’ uncle Bill Henderson is a Grammy nominated jazz singer and character actor in dozens of movies and television shows.
In the 1980’s Finis moved to Los Angeles to embark on a solo career and was guided by his cousin Al McKay the rhythm guitarist from one of the hottest bands at the time, Earth, Wind and Fire. Finis was signed to Motown by Suzanne de Passé who signed The Jackson 5 and The Commodores. Al McKay produced Finis’ self-titled album and Stevie Wonder wrote one of the songs on that album.
“Skip to My Lou” one of the songs on that album became a R&B/funk hit, is still played on radio stations today worldwide particularly in Japan where it has a cult following. In 2013 Universal Music which bought Motown released a digitally remastered CD version of “Finis”.
While working to develop a music career, Finis earned a living performing his impressions in comedy clubs across the country including The Laugh Factory, Improvs and Stardome. The legendary Mitzi Shore who founded the famous Comedy Store gave Finis a platform to perform on and where he made lasting relationships in the comedy world. Richard Pryor and Robin Williams performed improvisations with Finis there. Pryor was so enamored with Finis that Richard invited him to be the opening act for his movie “Live on the Sunset Strip”. Subsequently Finis opened for many of the top names in comedy including Rodney Dangerfield, Alan King and Robert Klein. Finis currently opens for Jay Leno at the Mirage in Las Vegas when their schedules permit.
