- published: 26 Apr 2016
- views: 94155
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]
Matthew Richard "Matt" Lucas (born 5 March 1974) is an English comedian, screenwriter, singer, and actor best known for his acclaimed work with David Walliams in the television show Little Britain; as well as for his portrayals of the scorekeeping baby George Dawes in the comedy panel game Shooting Stars, Tweedledee and Tweedledum in Alice in Wonderland, and the roguish innkeeper Thénardier in the musical Les Misérables.
In May 2007, he was placed seventh in the list of the UK's 100 most influential gay men and women, by British newspaper The Independent.
Lucas was born in Paddington, London, the son of Diana (née Williams) and John Stanley Lucas (1944–1996), who ran a chauffeuring business. Lucas was raised in an observant Jewish family, with some of his British-born mother's family having fled Nazi Germany. His family were members of Edgware and District Reform Synagogue. Lucas grew up in Stanmore, Middlesex; he has an older brother, Howard. He has had alopecia since his childhood, which in interviews he has inconsistently attributed to various events, including a delayed reaction to a car accident at the age of four. He lost all of his hair when he was six years old. Lucas' father died of a heart attack aged 52, in Brent, Greater London.
Little Britain is a British character-based comedy sketch show which was first broadcast on BBC radio and then turned into a television show. It was written by comic duo David Walliams and Matt Lucas. The show's title is an amalgamation of the terms 'Little England' and 'Great Britain', and is also the name of a Victorian neighbourhood and modern street in London.
The show comprises sketches involving exaggerated parodies of British people from all walks of life in various situations familiar to the British. These sketches are presented to the viewer together with narration in a manner which suggests that the programme is a guide—aimed at non-British people—to the ways of life of various classes of British society. Despite the narrator's description of great British institutions, the comedy is derived from the British audience's self-deprecating understanding of either themselves or people known to them.
An American continuation of the show, entitled Little Britain USA was broadcast in 2008. This series was shown on HBO in the US, HBO Canada in Canada, BBC One in the UK and on Network Ten in Australia, as well as various other television channels across the world.
In this green and pleasant land
We have a dream to understand
In the mountains of the mind
There is a spirit you will find
Just like the angel from above
Sent to deliver words of love
Ancient cross and Zion star
Eastern ways and praise to Jah
This is our land
This is your land
This is our inheritance
To lead you on a merry dance
In the beginning there was light
Shining path and journeys bright
When the nations pray as one
Then will the races all be won
In this green and pleasant land
We have a dream to understand
Open paradises gate
Dance on the land and celebrate
Say no matter what your colour
Your race or your culture
This is our inheritance