The father of Minnie Driver’s 3-year-old son Henry has been identified as Timothy J Lea, 52, co-producer of The Riches, as well as hit shows CSI New York and Law and Order.

Speaking to the Observer this week to promote her film Hunky Dory, a low-budget British movie, Minnie Driver left several clues to his identity, claiming he was a writer on The Riches, the American TV series in which she co-starred with comedian Eddie Izzard.

When asked whether he was a good father to Henry, Minnie Driver said: “Sort of. He’s figuring it out . . . I mean, he hasn’t been that involved; his choice. But he is now.”

Minnie Driver, 42, dated Timothy J Lea for a short time before they split up.

On Henry’s publicly-available birth certificate, the mother’s name is registered as Amelia Minnie Driver, her full name, and the father as Timothy Jonathan Lea, born in Dunbartonshire, Scotland.

Timothy J Lea was brought up in Australia and moved to America where he graduated from high school in Stamford, Connecticut.

Actress Minnie Driver dated TV producer Timothy J Lea, the father of her son Henry, for a short time in 2009 before they split up

Minnie Driver said of her decision to keep his identity a secret: “We weren’t together and he wasn’t directly in the business, so I chose to protect him and not have a rain of publicity. He’s not famous. There’s no big story.”

Despite splitting up with Henry’s father before he was born, Minnie Driver said she had coped well with being a single working mother: “I had good friends around me, so it was sort of hilarious.

“I was making a film at the time and the paparazzi would shout: <<Who’s the sperm donor?>> at me.”

Minnie Driver, who has dated Matt Damon and was engaged to Barbra Streisand’s stepson Josh Brolin, also spoke of her own unconventional upbringing as one of two children born out of an affair.

The actress’ mother Gaynor Churchward, a former couture model and designer, was mistress to her father Ron Driver, a self-made millionaire who had a wife and daughter who knew nothing of his other family.

Speaking about her childhood, Minnie Driver said: “My father lived his life and he didn’t look much beyond that evening. But I think that’s a good thing. I think I’m like him in a way.”