David Walliams: From Sketch Comedy Icon to Children’s Literary Star
David Walliams, whose full name is David Edward Williams, was born on August 20, 1971, in the quiet suburb of Banstead, Surrey, England. He has had a varied career as an actor, comedian, writer, and TV personality. Walliams grew up in a modest family; his father worked as an engineer for London Transport and his mother as a lab technician. From a young age, he showed a talent for acting. He got better at acting at the University of Bristol, where he got a degree in drama in 1992. During breaks from school, he worked with the National Youth Theatre. In 1990, he met Matt Lucas for the first time there. This chance meeting would lead to one of British comedy’s longest-lasting partnerships. Walliams changed the spelling of his last name when he joined the actors’ union Equity so that he wouldn’t be confused with another David Williams. This helped him stand out in the competitive world of acting. This small change was the start of a professional journey full of brave changes and unapologetic creativity.
David Walliams’ estimated net worth in 2025 is around $25 million. He built this fortune through his work as a comedian, actor, television personality, and bestselling children’s author.
It wasn’t easy for Walliams to get into the public eye. He started his career in his mid-20s and had to do a lot of stand-up, radio plays, and fringe theater in the 1990s. He had small roles and writing credits on TV before Little Britain became a huge hit in 2003, which made him famous across the country. The BBC sketch comedy show, which Lucas co-created and starred in, became a cultural phenomenon. It ran for three seasons until 2006 and led to the creation of Rock Profile, a radio show that came before it. Walliams’s characters, from the wheelchair-bound Andy Pipkin (next to Lucas’s angry Lou Todd) to the prim transvestite Emily Howard with her famous “I’m a lady!” line, were full of sharp satire and grotesque humor that critics didn’t always agree on but that audiences loved. Walliams became known as a master of character-driven absurdity thanks to the show’s international syndication and live tours, which included sold-out runs at the Edinburgh Festival. He used this style again with Lucas in the airport-themed Come Fly With Me (2010–2011), which made their comedic chemistry even stronger.
Walliams showed that he could act in both funny and serious roles, not just sketches. His early roles included a smooth-talking villain in Stephen Poliakoff’s Capturing Mary (2007) and a touching biopic role as comedian Frankie Howerd in Rather You Than Me (2008), which earned him praise for getting rid of his clownish persona. He had small parts in Hollywood movies like Stardust (2007), Run Fatboy Run (2007), and Dinner for Schmucks (2010), where he often played wonderfully strange supporting characters. He was a hapless chemistry teacher in the British sitcom Big School (2013–2014) with Catherine Tate, and he voiced the weird Gibbis in Doctor Who’s “The God Complex” (2011). Walliams was also a great host, and his specials like David Walliams: My Life with James Bond (2006) showed how much he loved pop culture. His rubbery body and perfect timing on screen have made him a go-to actor for everything from Agatha Christie adaptations like Partners in Crime (2015) to holiday anthology sketches in David Walliams & Friends (2015).
One of the most surprising changes in Walliams’s career was when he started writing books, which made him a very successful children’s author. His first book, The Boy in the Dress (2008), which he co-wrote with Quentin Blake, was about a boy who loved football and dressed up as a girl. It sold millions of copies and was turned into a BBC show. This started a long run of bestsellers, including Gangsta Granny (2011), Demon Dentist (2013), Awful Auntie (2014), and The Midnight Gang (2017). These books mix whimsy, heart, and mild danger, and they often get National Book Awards nominations. Walliams’s picture books, like The Slightly Annoying Elephant (2013) and The Bear Who Went Boo! (2015), are fun for younger readers because of their silly stories and silly pictures. By 2025, more than 40 million copies of his books will have been sold around the world. They have been translated into more than 50 languages and often turned into stage plays and TV movies, which are a holiday favorite in the UK. His writing is based on his own weaknesses, like his bipolar disorder, and it gives stories empathy and strength that go beyond just being funny.
Walliams’s public image is as flashy as it is kind, as shown by his epic charity swims for Sport Relief. He crossed the English Channel in 2006, despite getting stung by jellyfish and being very tired, and raised £500,000. His 2011 Thames odyssey, which took him 140 miles from Gloucester to Westminster, raised £2 million, but he had to deal with “Thames tummy” problems because the water was dirty. He won the Pride of Britain Award and an OBE in 2015 for his work in the arts and for charity. He was a judge on Britain’s Got Talent from 2012 to 2022, bringing a cheeky sense of humor to the panel with Simon Cowell and Amanda Holden. He left the show after a short controversy over leaked comments. In 2022, he was on Australia’s Got Talent for a short time. Walliams was married to model Lara Stone from 2010 to 2015. They had a son named Alfred in 2013 and shared custody of him. In his 2012 memoir Camp David, he talked openly about his sexuality and mental health issues. He is still a strong supporter of LGBTQ+ rights and children’s literacy.
David Walliams is 54 years old and shows no signs of slowing down. He is the kind of performer who thrives on change. His work, from the loud sketches in Little Britain to the soft pages of his novels, honors the outsider, the strange, and the unbreakable spirit of people. Walliams keeps us entertained, provoked, and inspired, whether he’s diving into rivers for charity or into imaginary worlds for kids. He shows that kindness and laughter are the best superpowers.