David Walliams (born August 20, 1971, Banstead, England) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and presenter, who first gained fame with the television show Little Britain, a sketch comedy that he and his frequent collaborator, Matt Lucas, starred in and wrote. Walliams later became a successful children’s book author.
Williams grew up in Banstead, England, a suburb of London. His father was an engineer for London Transport, and his mother was a lab technician. He later studied drama at the University of Bristol (B.A., 1992). During his breaks from school, he performed at the National Youth Theatre, where he met Lucas. Williams changed the spelling of his last name when he joined the actor’s trade union.
Walliams and Lucas began writing and acting together, and they had some success on British television with the sketch comedy Mash and Peas (1996) and the parody Sir Bernard’s Stately Homes (1999). They gained a larger following with Rock Profile (1999–2001, 2009), a spoof interview show where the duo dressed as such famous musicians as Elton John, Bono, and Liam Gallagher, the front man of the 1990s British band, Oasis. Walliams and Lucas’s breakout hit, however, came when they adapted their radio show, Little Britain, to television in 2003. In a series of sketches, the two played eccentric, sometimes grotesque characters living in all parts of Great Britain. The show could be coarse and controversial at times, but it was enormously popular, gaining a wide audience and introducing a myriad of catchphrases to British speech. It won numerous awards, including the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) award for best comedy series in 2004 and 2005. A sold-out live tour followed, as well as a spin-off, Little Britain USA (2008), which aired on the American cable station HBO for one season.
With the success of Little Britain, Walliams garnered numerous acting roles, many of which showed his range. He took a dramatic turn as a manipulative socialite in the TV movie Capturing Mary (2007), which also starred Maggie Smith; joined an all-star cast of funny men, including Steve Carell, in the feature film Dinner for Schmucks (2010); and played a married detective in the TV miniseries Partners in Crime (2015). He also continued to write, reteaming with Lucas to create the British television series Come Fly with Me (2010–11), in which they both acted as an airport’s offbeat flight and ground staff. Walliams later wrote the TV series Big School (2013–14), playing an uptight but endearing science teacher. In between his film and TV roles, Walliams recalled his theatre training and appeared on stage in No Man’s Land (2008) with Michael Gambon and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2013). In 2012 Walliams joined the panel of judges on the talent show Britain’s Got Talent. He was frequently lauded for his on-screen chemistry with the other judges, especially the cantankerous Simon Cowell.
Walliams found additional success as a children’s author when he published his first novel, The Boy in the Dress, in 2008. The tale of a 12-year-old soccer player who likes to cross-dress combined compassion and gross-out jokes, and it was compared to the works of Roald Dahl. The Boy in the Dress quickly became a number one best seller in Britain, as did Walliams’s next book, Mr. Stink (2009). A succession of novels followed, often with such alliterate titles as Billionaire Boy (2010), Gangsta Granny (2011), and Demon Dentist (2013). Many of his beloved books were made into TV movies, with Walliams acting as some of the most memorable characters. Several of his works were also adapted to the stage, including Awful Auntie (2014). In addition to novels, Walliams published such picture books as The Slightly Annoying Elephant (2013), The First Hippo on the Moon (2014), and The Bear Who Went Boo (2015). He also co-authored Inside Little Britain (2006) and wrote the autobiography Camp David (2012).
Offscreen, Walliams gained attention for his charitable work. To raise money for the organization Sport Relief, he swam across the English Channel to France in 2006, across the Strait of Gibraltar to Morocco in 2008, and the length of the Thames River in 2011. Walliams was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2017.