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David Edward Williams (born 20 August 1971), known professionally as David Walliams (), is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television personality. He is best known for his work with Matt Lucas on the BBC sketch comedy series Little Britain (2003–2006) and Come Fly With Me (2010–2011). He is also a writer of children's books, having sold more than 50 million copies worldwide.
From 2013 to 2014, Walliams wrote and starred in the BBC One sitcom Big School. In 2015, he starred as Tommy Beresford in the BBC drama series Partners in Crime, and wrote and starred in the sketch comedy series Walliams & Friend. From 2012 to 2022, Walliams was a judge on the television talent show competition Britain's Got Talent, for which he won the award for Best TV Judge at the 2015, 2018, 2019 and 2020 National Television Awards. In 2022, he was a judge on the tenth season of Australia's Got Talent.
Walliams began writing children's novels in 2008 after securing a contract with the publisher HarperCollins. His books have been translated into 53 languages, and he has been described as "the fastest-growing children's author in the UK", with a literary style compared to that of Roald Dahl.Philip Ardagh, Awful Auntie review – David Walliams's best book yet , The Guardian, 25 September 2014. Some of his books have been adapted into television films, which he has also appeared in, including Mr Stink (2012), Gangsta Granny (2013) and Billionaire Boy (2016). As of 2023, Walliams book sales stand at over 50 million copies sold worldwide.
Walliams was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to charity and the arts. His charity work includes swimming the English Channel, Strait of Gibraltar and River Thames, raising millions of pounds for the BBC charity Sport Relief.
He portrayed comedian Frankie Howerd in the BBC Four television film Rather You Than Me. In 2010, Walliams appeared with Paul Rudd and Steve Carell in the comedy Dinner for Schmucks. Walliams played the strange mole-like alien Gibbis in the sixth series of Doctor Who, in the episode "The God Complex", broadcast on BBC One in 2011. In April 2012 Walliams appeared in an episode of ITV's Perspectives programme entitled "David Walliams: The Genius of Dahl". Also in 2012, he narrated Are You Having a Laugh? TV and Disability on BBC Two, and the ITV2 series Top Dog Model.
In 2013, Walliams appeared in two episodes of the comedy series Blandings as Rupert Baxter, an efficiency expert hired to serve as Lord Emsworth's secretary. Also that year, and in 2014, Walliams starred as chemistry teacher Keith Church in the BBC One sitcom Big School, which he created and co-wrote. The series also starred Catherine Tate, Frances de la Tour and Philip Glenister. In March 2014 Walliams narrated a short video for the charity, Electrical Safety First, featuring the character Charley from the Charley Says educational films of the 1970s.
For Comic Relief's Red Nose Day 2015, Walliams appeared as Lou Todd and Stephen Hawking in the Andy Pipkin role along with Catherine Tate as a nun. In 2015, coinciding with the 125th anniversary of Agatha Christie's birth, Walliams played the role of Tommy Beresford in Partners in Crime, a six-part BBC series. In September 2015, Walliams began filming for his BBC sketch show Walliams & Friend, which also starred Joanna Lumley and Morgana Robinson and premiered on Christmas Eve in 2015. The show returned for a full series in November 2016.
Walliams hosted the final comedy show Thrills and Spills in December 2016. The final was held in Louisville, Kentucky. In December 2016, Walliams presented the Royal Variety Performance and a Christmas special episode of Blankety Blank, both shows for ITV. In 2017, Walliams guest presented five episodes of The Nightly Show for ITV.
In 2017, Walliams, along with Rochelle Humes, were both confirmed as Voice Trumpets, joining the existing cast of Daniel Rigby, Antonia Thomas, Jim Broadbent, Fearne Cotton and Jane Horrocks In series 2 of the reboot of classic British children's television series Teletubbies.
In October 2019, Walliams became the new National Television Awards (NTAs) host for 2020, taking over after Dermot O'Leary's ten-year presenting stint.
The duo 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 US. The programme first aired on BBC Three before moving to the more mainstream BBC One. Among the characters Walliams played were Emily Howard, a deluded "transvestism"; 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. 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 United States by HBO, Little Britain USA, aired in 2008. The characters from Little Britain played by Walliams and Lucas appeared in a 2010 UK television advertising campaign for the Nationwide Building Society. In January 2005 Walliams and Lucas were named the most powerful people in TV comedy by Radio Times.
Their later series was Come Fly with Me, a six-part series airing on BBC One. The first episode was the third most-watched programme of Christmas Day 2010, and the most watched comedy of the year. The duo have not worked or made any public appearances together since early 2011 (although they each make separate cameo appearances in Michael Winterbottom's 2013 film The Look of Love).
Little Britain returned to BBC Radio 4 on 31 October 2019, for a one-off special entitled Little Brexit.
In 2022, it was announced that Walliams would be joining Seven Network's Australia's Got Talent as a judge for the show's tenth season alongside fellow Britain's Got Talent judge Alesha Dixon, and Australian actors Kate Ritchie and Shane Jacobson.
In November 2022, after controversy erupted regarding leaked disparaging comments made by Walliams to contestants, it was reported that Walliams had decided "to bow out after a ten-year run", and that he wished to leave the show "on a high after a wonderful time". He was replaced by Strictly Come Dancing judge Bruno Tonioli.
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. It was the last of Walliams books to be illustrated by Quentin Blake. The book was awarded the Children's Award in the inaugural People's Book Prize in 2010, and was made into a 60-minute film, which premiered on BBC One on 23 December 2012.
On 28 October 2010 Walliams published his third book Billionaire Boy, illustrated by Tony Ross,Sarah Kingsford, Review: Billionaire Boy by David Walliams, Express, 24 October 2010. telling the story of Joe Spud, the richest 12-year-old in the country. Joe's father is a famous inventor, and his wealth means that Joe has everything he could ever want: his own bowling alley, cinema and a trained orangutan who serves as his butler, but there is just one thing he really needs: a friend. The book included a 'billion pound note' that was used to enter a competition to win a day as a billionaire in London. This was the first of his books to be illustrated by Tony Ross.
Walliams' 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. Ben learns that she was once an international jewel thief and all her life she has wanted to steal the crown jewels. Ben is determined that they do it together. It won a Red House Children's Book Award and was adapted to be a 70-minute film for BBC One and shown on 26 December 2013.
In September 2012 Walliams released his fifth children's book, Ratburger, telling the story of a young girl named Zoe whose life is a misery as she has an evil stepmother. It was made into a one-off drama for Sky One.
Ratburger was followed in September 2013 by Walliams' sixth book, Demon Dentist, relating the tale of a young boy named Alfie with no family except his dad whose world goes upside-down when a new dentist arrives in town. The book won the top prize in the Younger Readers category at the 2015 Red House Children's Book Awards.Siobhan Palmer, David Walliams wins prize at Red House Children's Book Awards 2015 The Daily Telegraph, 21 February 2015
Walliams' seventh children's book, Awful Auntie, was released on 25 September 2014. This was the story of a girl named Stella whose Auntie has moved into her house with her owl, Wagner. It is the first (and currently only) of Walliams' books to not include Raj the newsagent, due to the book being set in the 1930s before Raj was born.
In September 2015 he released Grandpa's Great Escape. The story follows a boy called Jack trying to rescue his Grandpa who suffers from Alzheimer's disease from a care home run by an evil matron. The book was adapted for BBC One, with the script written by Walliams and Kevin Cecil, and starring Tom Courtenay as Grandpa. This book, although set in the 1980s like Awful Auntie is, sees the return of Raj the newsagent. The same year that Grandpa's Great Escape was published, Walliams backed children's fairytales app GivingTales in aid of UNICEF, together with Roger Moore, Stephen Fry, Ewan McGregor, Joan Collins, Joanna Lumley, Michael Caine, Charlotte Rampling and Paul McKenna.
The Midnight Gang was published in November 2016. Bad Dad was published in November 2017. Walliams sold £16.57 million worth of books in 2017. The Ice Monster was published in November 2018. In 2020, the book Code Name Bananas, which was set in World War II-era Britain was published, and was being announced on Walliams' Instagram. Walliams' next children's novel, Spaceboy, was published in September 2022. On 5 April 2023, the children's novel Robodog was published. The story is about Robodog, the newest recruit at the police dog school, as he sets out to save his city from some evil criminals trying to destroy it.
| The Slightly Annoying Elephant | Tony Ross | 32 | ||
| The First Hippo on the Moon | 20 October 2014 | |||
| 3 | The Queen's Orang-utan | 26 February 2015 | ||
| 4 | The Bear Who Went Boo! | 5 November 2015 | ||
| 5 | There's a Snake in My School! | 19 September 2016 | ||
| 6 | Boogie Bear | 26 July 2018 | 40 | |
| 7 | Geronimo | 15 November 2018 | 32 | |
| 8 | The Creature Choir | 12 December 2019 | ||
| 9 | Little Monsters | 15 October 2020 | Adam Stower | |
| 10 | Marmalade: The Orange Panda | 17 February 2022 | ||
| 11 | Grannysaurus | 08 Dec 2022 | ||
| 11 | Little Monsters Rule! | 26 Oct 2023 |
The World's Worst Teachers was published on 27 June.
In July 2020, tweets by author and activist Jack Monroe described Walliams' books as "like Little Britain for kids", with "horrific racism and classism and bodyshaming in a veneer of privileged deniability".; HarperCollins issued a response, stating "David Walliams's books have a diverse readership which is reflected in their content". Also in July 2020, Williams' next book, The World's Worst Parents was published, and the book followed the same structure as all of the previous short story collection books.
In September 2021 it was announced that one of the stories in The World's Worst Children would be removed after podcaster Georgie Ma made a complaint, saying Walliams' book was "normalising jokes on minorities from a young age." The story criticised by Ma earlier in the year is "about a Chinese boy called Brian Wong" who is "never, ever wrong". Ma, who also called out the story for its "casual racism", talked in May with representatives of HarperCollins, who agreed to remove the story in future editions of the book. The book was later republished in 2022, with a new story about Charlie the Chucker, who "delights in pelting people with snowballs".
On 28 April 2022, Walliams' next book in the short story collections, this time titled The World's Worst Pets was published. However, this book was illustrated by Adam Stower, Walliams' new illustrator, whereas all the other books in the series were illustrated by Tony Ross. The next and latest book of the series, The World's Worst Monsters was published on 6 July 2023.
In 2013, he played the part of Bottom in a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Noël Coward Theatre opposite Sheridan Smith as Titania.
In July 2014, Walliams appeared on stage with Monty Python during their live show Monty Python Live (Mostly) held at the O2 Arena, London. He was the special guest in their "Blackmail" sketch.
In 2018, Walliams also starred in the British Airways Safety video, which was conducted in conjunction with Comic Relief for the airlines in house charity. Walliams most notable occasion in the video is the lifejacket instruction. Since then the video has been reworked with a mixture of the previous version; however, Walliams still appears in the new version.
Walliams also co-hosted the 2014 Sport Relief telethon. This time, he hosted the earlier slot between 19:00–22:00 with Gary Lineker and later Davina McCall.
Walliams first swam from Lee-on-the-Solent near Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight in around two hours and also completed an eight-hour swim off the coast of Croatia before embarking on the cross-Channel attempt. Walliams has insisted that prior to his challenge he had never seriously taken part in any sport. 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.
| Team captains: regulars David Mitchell and Lee Mack. Panellists: Shappi Khorsandi, Fay Ripley and Claudia Winkleman |
| Other team captain: Sean Lock regular. Panellists: Jamelia, Josh Widdicombe, Jon Richardson and Victoria Coren |
| Panellists: Lee Mack, Sheila Hancock and Tony Hawks |
| Team captains: Ulrika Jonsson and Charlie Brooker. Panellists: Danny Wallace, Tom Deacon and Penny Smith |
| Team 1: Walliams with his mother Kathleen. Team 2: Miranda Hart and Patricia Hodge, who play mother and daughter in the sitcom Miranda |
| Panellists: David Tennant and Patricia Hodge. Dawn Porter was the guide. The celebrity whose house was shown was Ann Widdecombe. |
| Panellists: Barbara Windsor, David Tennant, George Lamb, Keith Harris and Orville and Stacey Solomon, with Lee Ryan and Duncan James from Blue playing as contestants |
| Panellists: regular Andy Parsons with guests: Andrew Maxwell, Daniel Sloss, Doc Brown and Seann Walsh |
| Panellists: regulars Rufus Hound and Jedward with guests Germaine Greer and Lauren Laverne |
| Team captains: regulars Rufus Hound and Marcus Brigstocke. Guests: Dara Ó Briain and Jo Brand During the show it was said that Walliams had done 12 hours. |
| Panellists: Russell Tovey, Jo Brand and Sue Perkins |
| Team captains: former regular Lee Hurst and Phil Tufnell. Panellists: Dave Berry, Gabby Logan and Richard Bacon |
| Panellists: Alex Horne, Roisin Conaty, Russell Tovey, Tim Key and Sarah Cawood |
| Guests: Christopher Biggins, Lionel Blair, Una Stubbs, Holly Walsh and Jenni Falconer |
| Guests: Christopher Biggins and Holly Walsh |
| Contestants: Adam Woodyatt |
| Panellists: Clive Anderson, Lembit Öpik and Holly Walsh |
| Panellists: Humphrey Ker with regular members Josie Lawrence, Neil Mullarkey and Tony Slattery |
| Panellists: Alexa Chung, Chris O'Dowd, Matt Edmondson, Robert Webb, Neil Tennant and Nick Grimshaw |
In 2009, Walliams dated eighteen-year-old model Lauren Budd. Budd claimed Walliams had approached her agent, Carole White for a date with Budd.
In 2009, Walliams began dating Dutch model Lara Stone. It's over: Lara Stone and David Walliams finalise separation , The Telegraph On 20 January 2010, they got engaged after her parents had given their blessing to the relationship. On 16 May 2010, the couple were married at central London's Claridge's Hotel.The couple split in March 2015 On 6 May 2013, Stone gave birth to the couple's child, Alfred.
Walliams and Stone lived in a house with a recording studio, formerly owned by Noel Gallagher, known as Supernova Heights in Belsize Park, North London. It was reported on 4 March 2015 that, following five years of marriage, the pair had decided to try a trial separation after "drifting apart". On 9 September 2015, Walliams filed for divorce from Stone, citing "unreasonable behaviour". The couple were granted a decree nisi the next day; the marriage was formally dissolved six weeks after the date of filing.
Walliams hinted at being pansexual in the book Inside Little Britain, but said he did not like to be labelled by that word. In an interview with Radio Times in 2013, he stated: "I think it's all about falling in love with the person and that is overlooked, really. I hate it when people 'confess' or 'reveal' their sexuality and also things can change for people over the years. So it is about the person but I also think it goes beyond that. You don't just fall in love with someone's body, do you? You fall in love with someone's soul and heart and brain."
Walliams has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and he described his 2006 swim of the English Channel as "some sort of redemption".
Walliams is seen pulling down the trousers and underwear of young men before he appears to kiss their buttocks and simulate anal sex. The volunteers attempt to keep their clothes on.
During the documentary, Walliams reads a letter he claims was written by a victim of sexual abuse who criticises the Des Kaye character. Elsewhere in the documentary, Walliams says, "I love cruelty, it's my favourite thing in the world."
Chortle reported that, "tellingly, Edwardswho seemed genuinely embarrassed by the incidentdid not appear at the final curtain call."
On 2 November 2009, Walliams performed the sketch with Mark Ronson at London's O2 Academy Brixton in front of 3,000 people at a charity event for Concert for CARE. Footage from the event shows Ronson trying to stop Walliams from pulling his trousers and underwear down. Ronson's buttocks were exposed. After the event, Walliams was reported to have said, "When I put my mind to it, I have the strength of ten men so there's no stopping me. Mark is a cool, calm character. To put him in that position was out of his comfort zone." Walliams claimed that he offered to buy Ronson a new suit.
Walliams' portrayal of a predatory paedophile is not funny. It's sickening and unacceptable. That sketch should not be repeated anywhere. It should be withdrawn from public viewing and filed in a film archive so that future historians have evidence of what passed for 'comedy' only 13 years ago. Some viewers will have interpreted Walliams as playing the trope of gay men as predators and paedophiles. Even though Walliams supports the LGBT+ community, his depiction plays into the hands of those who wrongly equate homosexuality with the exploitation of young people.
| + ! Year ! Title ! Role !Notes | |||
| 1996 | Mash and Peas | Gareth Peas | 9 episodes |
| 1998 | Sir Bernard's Stately Homes | Anthony Rodgers | 6 episodes |
| Barking | Various roles | 6 episodes | |
| 1999 | Various roles | 5 episodes | |
| 30 episodes | |||
| Rats | 5 episodes | ||
| Jake Plaskow | 1 episode | ||
| 2001 | Fun at the Funeral Parlour | Cobra | 1 episode |
| 2002 | Ben Fletcher | 1 episode | |
| Ray Collins | 2 episodes | ||
| Various roles, writer | 23 episodes | ||
| Shop Assistant – Series 1/Ep 4 | 1 episode | ||
| George Bartlett | 1 episode "The Body in the Library" | ||
| 2005–16 | Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway | Himself, 8 episodes | 8 episodes |
| Various Characters, writer | 6 episodes | ||
| Gibbis, episode "The God Complex" | 1 episode | ||
| 2012–16 | A League of Their Own | Guest, 8 episodes | 11 episodes |
| Judge | 145 episodes | ||
| Mr. Church | 12 episodes | ||
| 2013 | Rupert Baxter, 2 episodes | 2 episodes | |
| Mike | Television film | ||
| Tommy Beresford | 6 episodes | ||
| Various characters, creator, writer | 7 episodes | ||
| 2016 | Presenter | 1 episode | |
| Guest presenter, 5 episodes | 5 episodes | ||
| 2017– | Teletubbies | Voice Trumpet | Voiceover |
| 2018– | It'll be Alright on the Night | Narrator | 9 episodes |
| Judge | 6 episodes | ||
| Prince Charming | Christmas special | ||
| Presenter | |||
| Derek Swallows | 3 episodes | ||
| Guest | 1 episode | ||
| The Giant | Christmas special | ||
| Interviewed Guest | One-off special | ||
| Presenter | One-off special | ||
| 2021 | Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway | Himself | Ant & Dec Present Saturday Knight Takeaway |
| The Masked Dancer | Guest Judge | Series 1 – episode 5 | |
| The Lateish Show with Mo Gilligan | Guest | Series 2 – episode 4 | |
| Hansel and Gretel: After Ever After | Troll | Television film | |
| The Wheel | Participant | Christmas special | |
| 2022 | Comic Relief: Rock Profile | Various music stars | One-off comedy special with Matt Lucas |
| Australia's Got Talent | Judge | ||
| Red Riding Hood: After Ever After | Big Bad Wolf & narrator | Television film | |
| Gangsta Granny Strikes Again! | Mike | Television film |
| 1999 | Plunkett & Macleane | Viscount Bilston |
| 2002 | Cruise of the Gods | Jeff 'Lurky' Monks |
| Voice on TV | ||
| Customer in Libby's shop | ||
| Sextus | ||
| Bulgy Bear (voice) | ||
| Cart pusher | ||
| Müeller | ||
| Anton Harrison | ||
| Mr. Pumblechook | ||
| Melquiades and Karolius (voice) | ||
| Pudsey (voice) | ||
| 2019 | Missing Link | Mr. Lemuel Lint (voice) |
| Tobias Quince | ||
| Losberne |
| + !Year !Production !Role !Director !Venue | ||||
| 2005-7 | Little Britain Live | Various characters / wiriter | Jeremy Sams | UK, Ireland and Australian tours |
| 2008 | No Man's Land | Foster | Rupert Goold | Gate Theatre Duke of York's Theatre |
| 2013 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Nick Bottom | Michael Grandage | Noël Coward Theatre |
At the 2012 National Television Awards, Walliams won the 'Landmark Achievement Award', for his television career and achievements for Sport Relief. In December 2012 he won the Specsavers National Book Awards "Children's Book of the Year" for Ratburger. In December 2013 he won the Specsavers National Book Awards "Children's Book of the Year" for Demon Dentist. In December 2014 he won the Specsavers National Book Awards "Children's Book of the Year" for Awful Auntie. Awful Auntie also won the 2014 Specsavers National Book Awards "Audiobook of the Year".
Walliams has won the award for Best TV Judge at the 2015, 2018 and 2019 National Television Awards.
He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to charity and the arts. He was invested with the honour by Princess Anne.
| 1 | The Boy in the Dress | 1 November 2008 | Quentin Blake | 233 | 26 December 2014 | 6.31 | BBC One | 2019 musical |
| 2 | Mr Stink | 29 October 2009 | 269 | 23 December 2012 | 7.08 | 2012 musical | ||
| 3 | Billionaire Boy | 28 October 2010 | Tony Ross | 281 | 1 January 2016 | 6.34 | 2018 musical | |
| 4 | Gangsta Granny | 27 October 2011 | 299 | 26 December 2013 | 7.36 | 2015 play | ||
| 5 | Ratburger | 19 September 2012 | 319 | 24 December 2017 | 1.01 | |||
| 6 | Demon Dentist | 26 September 2013 | ✔ | |||||
| 7 | Awful Auntie | 25 September 2014 | 2017 play | |||||
| 8 | Grandpa's Great Escape | 24 September 2015 | 461 | 1 January 2018 | 5.78 | |||
| 9 | The Midnight Gang | 3 November 2016 | 478 | 2018 play | ||||
| 10 | Bad Dad | 2 November 2017 | ||||||
| 11 | The Ice Monster | 6 November 2018 | ||||||
| 12 | Fing | 21 February 2019 | ||||||
| 13 | The Beast of Buckingham Palace | 21 November 2019 | ||||||
| 14 | Slime | 2 April 2020 | ||||||
| 15 | Code Name Bananas | 5 November 2020 | ||||||
| 16 | Megamonster | 24 June 2021 | ||||||
| 17 | Gangsta Granny Strikes Again! | 16 November 2021 | 368 | |||||
| 18 | Spaceboy | 29 September 2022 | Adam Stower | |||||
| 19 | Robodog | 5 April 2023 | 320 | |||||
| 20 | Astrochimp | 23 May 2024 | 224 |
| 1 | The World's Worst Children | 19 May 2016 | Tony Ross | 268 |
| 2 | The World's Worst Children 2 | 25 May 2017 | 286 | |
| 3 | The World's Worst Children 3 | 29 May 2018 | 288 | |
| 4 | The World's Worst Teachers | 27 June 2019 | 312 | |
| 5 | The World's Worst Parents | 2 July 2020 | ||
| 6 | The World's Worst Pets | 28 April 2022 | Adam Stower | |
| 7 | The World's Worst Monsters | 6 July 2023 | 288 |
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