David Edward Walliams (born Williams; 20 August 1971) is a comedian, writer, children's author and actor, known for his partnership with Matt Lucas on the TV sketch show Little Britain and its predecessor Rock Profile. More recently he and Lucas wrote and starred in Come Fly with Me.
Walliams joined the judging panel for series 6 of Britain's Got Talent for 2012.
Born in Merton, southwest London, on 20 August 1971 to Peter, a London Transport engineer, and Kathleen Williams, a lab technician, Williams was brought up in Banstead, Surrey.[citation needed] His parents appeared on The Friday Night Project when he was the guest star on the show. He was educated at Collingwood Boys' School in Wallington, Surrey, (now Collingwood School) and the independent Reigate Grammar School (where he was a contemporary of Robert Shearman).[citation needed] He was a member of the National Youth Theatre, where he met Matt Lucas.[citation needed] Walliams studied drama at the University of Bristol from 1989 to 1992, one year below Simon Pegg.[citation needed]
Williams changed his name to Walliams (
/ˈwæliəmz/) when he joined the actors' trade union Equity, as there was already a member named David Williams.[1] This was spoofed in a mock interview on Rock Profile, when Robbie Williams was continuously referred to as 'Robbie Walliams'.
After leaving university, his first job was writing for The Ant & Dec Show, a children's show that aired on CBBC from 1995 to 1997[2], his first appearance onscreen was as "Lesley Luncheonmeat" on Sky1's show Games World in 1993. He appeared alongside Alex Verrey, who played Big Boy Barry, every Tuesday evening. He went on to be "The Lift" on the first series of the CBBC gameshow Incredible Games in 1994. In 1998 he wrote and starred in Barking, a late night sketch show broadcast on Channel 4 and featuring a host of, back then, unknown stars such as Catherine Tate, Peter Kay and Mackenzie Crook. He appeared with The League of Gentlemen's Mark Gatiss, who wrote and appeared in Doctor Who parodies The Pitch of Fear, The Web of Caves and The Kidnappers for BBC2's "Doctor Who Night" in 1999. He later performed in the Big Finish Productions Doctor Who audio play Phantasmagoria, written by Gatiss. Walliams appeared with Matt Lucas in the video of the Fat Les song Vindaloo (the unofficial anthem for the England national football team at the 1998 FIFA World Cup) and had a cameo role in a 1999 episode of Simon Pegg's Spaced (1x3 "Art") as Vulva, an artist/collaborator from Brian's past and now a self-proclaimed artist of impressionism.
He played Jake Plaskow in the BBC's Attachments, set in an internet start-up company. In 2001 he was one of the leads in Cruise of the Gods. In 2003 he appeared in EastEnders and Marple.
From 2003 to 2005 Walliams co-wrote and co-starred in three series of the BBC TV character sketch show Little Britain with Matt Lucas. The programme first aired on BBC3 before moving to the more mainstream BBC1. A successful live stage show of the series, Little Britain Live, was produced in 2006. A number of seasonal and charity specials followed, up to 2009. A spin-off series produced in the USA by HBO, Little Britain USA, followed in 2008.
In 2005 Walliams starred in the video for Charlotte Hatherley's single Bastardo along with Simon Pegg, Lucy Davis and Lauren Laverne. In 2006 he made an appearance in the film A Cock and Bull Story. Later in the year he presented a documentary on James Bond, entitled David Walliams: My Life with James Bond. In 2007 he returned to non-comedy television, garnering excellent reviews[citation needed] for his portrayal of a suave and dangerous manipulator in Stephen Poliakoff's Capturing Mary as well as appearing in the film Virgin Territory. In September 2007, Walliams appeared in the comedy film Run, Fat Boy, Run. Walliams portrayed comedian Frankie Howerd in the BBC4 TV film Rather You Than Me. On 26 August 2008 he made his stage debut at the Gate Theatre in Dublin opposite Michael Gambon in Harold Pinter's No Man's Land, in front of an audience that included Pinter himself. The production transferred to London later in the year. In 2010, Walliams appeared alongside Paul Rudd and Steve Carell in the comedy Dinner for Schmucks.
Walliams appeared in Series 7, Episode 6 of the BBC 2 show Top Gear.[3][4]
He also plays the mole-like alien, Gibbis, in the eleventh episode of the sixth series of Doctor Who entitled "The God Complex".
He is the narrator of Are You Having a Laugh? TV and Disability, which was shown on BBC 2 on 25 June 2010.
In early 2011 he hosted new panel show Wall of Fame on Sky 1.
He will star as Uncle Pumblechook in Great Expectations.
In the late-1990s, playing minor roles in sketches such as The Club. Walliams and Lucas played grotesque caricatures of various rock musicians in the series Rock Profile and in the spoof documentary series Sir Bernard's Stately Homes. They were also stars of the Paramount Comedy Channel show Mash and Peas, and it was in this guise that they appeared in the Fat Les video (see above). They also had small roles in Plunkett and Maclaine as prisoners.
They have appeared together in a music video for the Pet Shop Boys single "I'm with Stupid", in which the two are apparently auditioning their version of the song's video for Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, who are tied up and appear to be hostages.
The pair are best known for Little Britain, which ran from 2003 to 2009 on the BBC in the UK and from 2008 onwards on HBO in the USA. Among the characters Walliams played were Emily Howard, a deluded "transvestite", Ray McCooney, an insane Scottish hotel owner, and Sebastian Love, an aide de camp to the Prime Minister (portrayed by Anthony Head) on whom Love has a huge crush.
The characters from Little Britain played by Walliams and Lucas appeared in a 2010 UK television advertising campaign for the Nationwide Building Society.
Their later series was Come Fly with Me, a six-part series airing on BBC One.[5] The first episode was the third most watched programme of Christmas Day 2010, and the most watched comedy of the year.[6]
Walliams took up swimming as a youth as his preferred form of exercise, because he was overweight.[7] On 4 July 2006 he swam the English Channel for the charity Sport Relief (part of Comic Relief).[8][9] He took 10 hours and 34 minutes to swim the 22-mile (35 km) stretch of sea, equivalent to 700 lengths of an Olympic-size swimming pool. This was wrongly reported as one of the top 50 recorded times for an unaided Channel crossing; in reality Walliams placed 167th at the time of crossing in only the CSA listings, excluding the CSPF listings.[10] He raised over £1 million in donations. Under the supervision of his trainer, he trained for nine months to prepare for the swim.[7] The training had to coincide with Walliams and Lucas's Little Britain Live tour, so he daily had to train for several hours before performing on stage in the evening. He first swam from Lee-on-the-Solent near Portsmouth to the Isle Of Wight in around 2 hours and also completed an eight-hour swim off the coast of Croatia before embarking on the cross-channel attempt. He has insisted that prior to his challenge he had never seriously taken part in any sport.[11] The Bluetones' lead singer Mark Morriss wrote a song, "Fade In/Fade Out", in honour of Walliams' achievement; it can be found on their self-titled album, released on 9 October 2006.[citation needed]
On 7 March 2008, Walliams, along with James Cracknell, swam the 12 miles (19 km) Strait of Gibraltar from Spain to Morocco, again for Sport Relief. He successfully completed the swim in just over 4½ hours.[12]
In March 2010 Walliams and a group of celebrities cycled an end-to-end journey through the UK, raising over £1 million for Sport Relief. Walliams suffered a serious fall when tackling the Kirkstone Pass, a thousand-foot climb in the Lake District but was able to complete the ride.[13]
In March 2011, he undertook "24 Hour Panel People", in which he took part in back to back recordings of various panel show formats over the course of 24 hours to raise money for Comic Relief. The recordings were streamed live on the BBC website. The shows featured included Would I Lie To You?, 8 Out of 10 Cats, Just a Minute, It's Only TV...But I Like It, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, The Generation Game, Through the Keyhole, Blankety Blank, Mock the Week, Argumental, Celebrity Juice, QI, Mastermind, Have I Got News for You, Call My Bluff, and Never Mind the Buzzcocks.
On 4 February 2011, Walliams announced that he would swim a 140-mile length of the River Thames in aid of Sport Relief. Starting on 5 September at Lechlade-on-Thames Walliams swam the 140-mile swimmable length of the 215-mile river, completing his challenge on 12 September 2011 reaching Westminster Bridge.[14][15][16] On the first day of the swim, he experienced a symptom of hypothermia, possibly due to his not wearing a wetsuit. He later encountered severe stomach problems due to the bacteria in the Thames and suffered a torn disc. He swam up to twelve hours a day. During his swim, Walliams helped rescue a dog that had slipped loose from its owner and jumped in the water to join David. The Labrador dog got into difficulties on returning to the riverbank and was lifted out of the water by the owner, with a hand from Walliams. Animal rights group PETA declared they would award him an honour.[17] Upon finishing his eight-day swim, he found out he made over £1 million for Sport Relief.
In early 2008 Walliams signed a contract with HarperCollins to publish two children's books.[18] The debut novel, The Boy In The Dress, illustrated by Quentin Blake, was released worldwide on 1 November 2008. It explores several of the themes of Little Britain from Walliams' own life on an emotional level, such as the camp humour of cross-dressing and effeminacy.[1] The story recounts a neglected 12-year-old boy's search for a female role model, his friendship with the popular girl in school, and the ways in which relationships develop along gender lines. The story has a strong resonance with Anne Fine's 1989 book Bill's New Frock.
In November 2009 came Mr Stink, again illustrated by Quentin Blake, about a 12-year-old girl who meets a tramp and helps look after him. She keeps him hidden from her family. The book consists of 26 illustrated chapters full of jokes. It is aimed at teenagers and children over 9. The book was awarded the Children's Award in the inaugural People's Book Prize in 2010.[19]
On 28 October 2010 he published his third book Billionaire Boy, illustrated by Tony Ross.[citation needed] It tells the story of Joe Spud, the richest 12-year-old in the world. Joe has everything he could ever want: his own Formula One racing car, a thousand pairs of trainers, 8 billion pounds, even an orang-utan for a butler, but there is just one thing he really needs: a friend.[citation needed] The book included a 'billion pound note' that was used to enter a competition to win a day as a billionaire in London.[citation needed]
His fourth book, 'Gangsta Granny' was released in October 2011 and again illustrated by Tony Ross. It tells the story of Ben who is bored every time he is made to stay at his grandma’s house as all she wants to do is to play board games and eat cabbage soup. But Ben finds out she was once an international jewel thief and all her life, she has been plotting to steal the crown jewels, and wants Ben to help.
Walliams was given a special award in recognition of his sporting efforts for charity. Matt Lucas made a documentary of this, entitled Little Britain's Big Swim, which is on the DVD. On 6 November 2006 he won the Mirror's "Pride of Britain" Award for the Most Influential Public Figure as he raised more than £1 million swimming the channel for the charity Sport Relief. Although initially tipped as a contender for the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year poll for 2006, he failed to make the final shortlist of 10 contenders. Walliams was given a special award during the ceremony for his achievement. In July 2006 he became Patron of 'Cardiac Risk in the Young.' In September 2011, David won the Lincolnshire Young People's Book Award in the 9-11 year old category with his book, Mr Stink. The award is voted for by the school children of Lincolnshire.
At the 2012 National Television Awards, David won the Landmark Achievement Award, for his television career and achievements for Sport Relief.
In 2009 Walliams began dating Dutch model Lara Stone. On 20 January 2010, it became known that they were engaged. Walliams proposed to Stone in Los Angeles, after her parents gave their blessing to the relationship.[20] On 16 May 2010 the couple were married at central London's Claridge's Hotel.[21][22]
He has previously been romantically linked to Patsy Kensit, Abi Titmuss, Emily Scott and model Lauren Budd.[23]
Walliams has been diagnosed with Bipolar disorder,[24] and described his 2006 swim of the English Channel as "some sort of redemption".[25] He admitted to going through periods of intense self-loathing and suffered a mental breakdown and had insomnia for nine months until he sought professional help.[citation needed]
- Neil Simpson: Yeah but No But: The Biography of Matt Lucas and David Walliams: London: John Blake: 2006: ISBN 1-84454-258-0
- Boyd Hilton, Matt Lucas, David Walliams: Inside Little Britain: London: Ebury Press: 2006: ISBN 0-09-191231-8
- The Boy in the Dress: Children's Chatty Fiction (2008)
- Mr Stink: Children's Chatty Fiction (2009)
- Billionaire Boy: Children's Chatty Fiction (2010)
- Gangsta Granny: 2011: (Harper Collins)
- ^ a b Lee, Sandra (12 October 2008). "Send in the Clown". Sunday Herald Sun (Melbourne): pp. 27–29.
- ^ (in English) Britain's Got More Talent. episode 4. season 6. 14 April 2012. ITV. ITV2. ""I had two jobs early on, one was writing scripts for ant and dec on their show 'the ant and dec show'""
- ^ "Top Gear – Classic Clips". http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/videos/index.shtml?cat=celeb&id=87. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
- ^ "David Walliams takes some acting tips from Michael Gambon". The Sunday Times (London). 28 October 2007. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article2732749.ece. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
- ^ "David Walliams and Matt Lucas reunite for new BBC show set in an airport". Daily Telegraph (London). 29 May 2010. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/7780315/David-Walliams-and-Matt-Lucas-reunite-for-new-BBC-show-set-in-an-airport.html. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
- ^ "EastEnders wins Christmas Day viewing figures battle". BBC News. 26 December 2010. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12080132.
- ^ a b "Desert Island Discs with David Walliams". Desert Island Discs. 27 February 2009. BBC Radio 4. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/desertislanddiscs_20090222.shtml.
- ^ "BBC SPORT Watch Walliams' Channel swim". BBC News. 2006-07-04. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tv_and_radio/sport_relief/5143966.stm. Retrieved 2011-11-06.
- ^ Naughton, Philippe (4 July 2006). "Little Britain star swims the Channel". The Times (London). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2255100,00.html.
- ^ "Channel Swimming Association Ltd". Channelswimmingassociation.com. http://www.channelswimmingassociation.com/. Retrieved 2011-11-06.
- ^ www.stuff.co.nz[dead link]
- ^ "BBC SPORT – Walliams completes swim to Africa". BBC News. 2008-03-07. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tv_and_radio/sport_relief/7282858.stm. Retrieved 2011-11-06.
- ^ "Sport Relief – Million Pound Bike Ride". http://www.bbc.co.uk/sportrelief/news/040310_walliams.shtml. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
- ^ "BBC News – David Walliams takes on Sport Relief Thames swim challenge". Bbc.co.uk. 2011-08-30. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-14712941. Retrieved 2011-11-06.
- ^ "Walliams vs The Thames: David Walliams' 140 mile River Thames Sport Relief Swim". Littlebritainfans.com. http://www.littlebritainfans.com/thames_swim.htm. Retrieved 2011-11-06.
- ^ "David Walliams Completes 140-Mile River Thames Swim Challenge For Sport Relief Charity | Showbiz News | Sky News". News.sky.com. http://news.sky.com/home/showbiz-news/article/16067916. Retrieved 2011-11-06.
- ^ WALLIAMS TO BE HONOURED FOR DOG RESCUE. Express.co.uk (2011-09-13). Retrieved on 2012-04-07.
- ^ "Walliams plans children's stories". BBC News Online (London). 17 December 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7148694.stm. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
- ^ Neilan, Catherine (10 July 2010). "Walliams among winners for inaugural People's Book Prize". The Bookseller. http://www.thebookseller.com/news/124051-walliams-among-winners-for-inaugural-peoples-book-prize.html. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
- ^ "David Walliams to marry model Lara Stone". BBC News Online (London). 20 January 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8470029.stm. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
- ^ "David Walliams marries Dutch model Lara Stone". BBC News Online (London). 17 May 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8685843.stm. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
- ^ Nathan, Sara; Cable, Simon (17 May 2010). "David Walliams gives his laydee Lara Stone a kiss as they leave their lavish £80,000 wedding at Claridges in London". Daily Mail (London). http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1278651/David-Walliams-Lara-Stone-married-lavish-80-000-ceremony-attended-star-cast-celebrity-friends.html.
- ^ McDermott, Nick; Cohen, Tamara (20 January 2010). "David Walliams can't hold back the joy as model fiancée Lara shows off her engagement ring". Daily Mail (London). http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1244590/Little-Britain-star-David-Walliams-wed-Lara-Stone-whirlwind-romance.html. Retrieved 21 January 2010.
- ^ Mills, Simon (2 Sep 2011). "David Walliams: In at the deep end". ES Magazine (London). http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/lifestyle/esmagazine/article-23983345-david-walliams-in-at-the-deep-end.do. Retrieved 2 Sep 2011.
- ^ Hastings, Chris (21 February 2009). "Comic Walliams speaks of depression battle". Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/4743574/Comic-Walliams-speaks-of-depression-battle.html. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
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| Persondata |
| Name |
Walliams, David |
| Alternative names |
Williams, David |
| Short description |
English comedian, writer, and actor |
| Date of birth |
20 August 1971 |
| Place of birth |
Merton, Surrey, England |
| Date of death |
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