David Walliams Facts
David William, better known for David Walliams is many things: he writes, hosts, acts, among much more. Here’s are 10 amazing facts about David William, including his career and, unfortunately, controversies.
David Walliams Facts
David Walliams Facts: The Basics
David Edward Williams OBE, born 20 August 1987, known professionally as David Walliams, is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television personality.
David Walliams Facts: Television Career
Walliams performed, firstly, in the Big Finish Productions audio play Phantasmagoria, based on Doctor Who and written by Mark Gatiss in 1999.
After that, in 2005, Walliams, alongside other big names, starred in the video for Charlotte Hatherley’s single Bastardo.
He continued his career by presenting a documentary on James Bond, entitled David Walliams: My Life with James Bond.
In 2007, he returned to non-comedy television, garnering positive reviews for his portrayal of a suave and dangerous manipulator in Stephen Poliakoff's Capturing Mary.
His later series was Come Fly with Me, a six-part series airing on BBC One and its first episode was the third most-watched programme of Christmas Day in 2010 and the most-watched comedy of the year.
David Walliams Facts: Britain’s Got Talent
Since 2012 Walliams has been a judge on the ITV talent show Britain's Got Talent along with Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon, and Simon Cowell. In 2015, 2018, and 2019, he was recognised at the National Television Awards as Best Judge for his involvement in the series.
David Walliams Facts: Writing Career
Walliams has written almost fifteen children’s novels, many had their adaption for the big screen and even a stage adaptation too, including not only plays but musicals as well. In 2017, Walliams is estimated to have sold over £16 million worth of books. Alongside his children’s novels, David Williams also wrote seven picture books, all illustrated by Tony Ross, and some short story collections.
David Walliams Facts: Theatre and Screenwriting
On 26 August 2008 Walliams 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.
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 addition to his writing credits for his Sketch Shows and adaptions of his novels, it was announced in November 2015 that he would be co-writing an animated feature with filmmaker Edgar Wright for DreamWorks Animation. Then in July 2016, it was announced that it would be titled Shadows and be released in 2019.
David Walliams Facts: Charity Work
Walliams co-hosted a segment of the Sport Relief telethon in 2012, co-hosting the 22:00–22:40 slot with Miranda Hart when the show moved over to BBC Two while the BBC News at Ten was aired. 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.
On 4 July 2006 Walliams swam the English Channel for Sport Relief. It took him 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. And, he raised over £1 million in donations.
David Walliams Facts: Awards
Walliams was given a special award in recognition of his sporting efforts for charity. Matt Lucas even produced a documentary on the subject, entitled Little Britain's Big Swim.
In 2006, Walliams won the Pride of Britain Award for "The Most Influential Public Figure" as he raised more than £1.5 million swimming the channel for the Sport Relief charity.
At the 2012 National Television Awards, Walliams won the “Landmark Achievement Award”, for his television career and achievements for Sport Relief.
David Walliams Facts: Controversies
#1 Kim Jong-un Halloween
In early November 2017, Walliams’ fans got upset following his Halloween costume of the North-Korean leader Kim Jong-un. At the time, Walliams himself posted a photo on his Twitter account, in costume, wearing a black suit, wig, and artificial prosthetics that appeared to alter his eyelids and hairline. There was an immediate backlash online and many Twitter users branding the outfit "racist" and accusing Walliams of "yellow-face". Walliams responded to the backlash lightly, constructing a fake text message from Kim Jong-un which he posted to Twitter, reading: "Hi Dave, Loved the Halloween outfit mate! Wet meself laughing. Don't see what all the fuss is about. Kim x. PS Can't wait to read Bad Dad.”
#2 Stereotypes and Black Faces
In June 2020, Netflix, Britbox, NOW TV, and BBC iPlayer dropped Walliams and Lucas' Little Britain and Come Fly with Me, over the use of blackface and stereotypes to portray black, disabled, working-class, transgender, and gay people. In addition to the occurred, Variety Magazine attributed the widespread removal of the series on streaming platforms to heightened awareness in the wake of George Floyd's murder and the resulting Black Lives Matter protests. After the removal announcement, Walliams and Lucas released identical apologies on their Twitter: "[We] have both spoken publicly in recent years of our regret that we played characters of other races. Once again we want to make it clear that it was wrong & we are very sorry.”
#3 His Children’s Books
In the same year, author and activist Jack Monroe branded the content of Walliams' children's book The World's Worst Parents as "classist" due to the inclusion of a character on the basis that she was raising her family in a tower block flat. However, Harper Collins issued a response, stating "David Walliams's books have a diverse readership which is reflected in their content".
