Bill Wallis
Encyclopedia
Bill Wallis is a British
character actor and comedian who has appeared in numerous radio and television roles, as well as in the theatre.
He attended Farnham Grammar School
from 1948 to 1955. He gained a State Scholarship
and went to Cambridge University where he met Peter Cook
. When Cook and the team took Beyond the Fringe
to Broadway
, Wallis took over the roles played by Alan Bennett
.
Some of his most frequent appearances have been on BBC Radio 4
for The Afternoon Play and the Classic Serial, but he was also in the cast of the long-running sketch show Week Ending
, and in the first episode of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
, originating the roles of Mr. Prosser and Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz. He reprised the latter in the second episode and in one episode of the second series.
Wallis has appeared in a number of television programmes including Chelmsford 123
, Doctor at Large (1971), ITV
's production of The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾
, the first series of Blackadder
(drunken knight), Blackadder II
(Ploppy the Jailer), Blackadder Goes Forth
(Agent Brigadier Smith), Just Good Friends
(A J Styles) and Yes, Prime Minister
. He also appeared briefly in the first episode of ITV
's Midsomer Murders
, apparently driving a Morgan
sports car. In fact this was pushed by other cast members, as he does not hold a driving licence. He appeared in Not Only... But Also
with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore
, alongside comedy stalwarts John Wells
and Joe Melia
, singing the comic song "Alan a' Dale," which students of the absurdist
strand of British humour such as Monty Python
will recognise. He appeared in the original London cast of the unsuccessful Andrew Lloyd Webber
/Alan Ayckbourn
musical Jeeves
in 1975.
His film appearances include The Other Boleyn Girl (2008), Keep the Aspidistra Flying
(1997) and Splitting Heirs
(1993).
He has two children by his first wife, Jean Spalding, a noted cellist.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
character actor and comedian who has appeared in numerous radio and television roles, as well as in the theatre.
He attended Farnham Grammar School
Farnham Grammar School
Farnham Grammar School is now called Farnham College which is located in Farnham, Surrey.-History:The grammar school was created some time before 1585...
from 1948 to 1955. He gained a State Scholarship
State Scholarship (UK)
A State Scholarship was a financial scholarship award for university entrants based on Scholarship Level exam results. Although the award was based on exam performance, the amount received was means-tested.-History:...
and went to Cambridge University where he met Peter Cook
Peter Cook
Peter Edward Cook was an English satirist, writer and comedian. An extremely influential figure in modern British comedy, he is regarded as the leading light of the British satire boom of the 1960s. He has been described by Stephen Fry as "the funniest man who ever drew breath," although Cook's...
. When Cook and the team took Beyond the Fringe
Beyond the Fringe
Beyond the Fringe was a British comedy stage revue written and performed by Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett, and Jonathan Miller. It played in London's West End and then on New York's Broadway in the early 1960s, and is widely regarded as seminal to the rise of satire in 1960s Britain.-The...
to Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, Wallis took over the roles played by Alan Bennett
Alan Bennett
Alan Bennett is a British playwright, screenwriter, actor and author. Born in Leeds, he attended Oxford University where he studied history and performed with The Oxford Revue. He stayed to teach and research mediaeval history at the university for several years...
.
Some of his most frequent appearances have been on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
for The Afternoon Play and the Classic Serial, but he was also in the cast of the long-running sketch show Week Ending
Week Ending
Week Ending... was a satirical radio current affairs sketch show, first broadcast on BBC Radio 4, usually on Friday evenings. It was devised by writer/producers Simon Brett and David Hatch, and was originally hosted by Nationwide presenter Michael Barratt.The show's title was always announced as...
, and in the first episode of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy radio series written by Douglas Adams . It was originally broadcast in the United Kingdom by BBC Radio 4 in 1978, and afterwards on global short wave radio on the BBC World Service, National Public Radio in the U.S. and CBC Radio in...
, originating the roles of Mr. Prosser and Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz. He reprised the latter in the second episode and in one episode of the second series.
Wallis has appeared in a number of television programmes including Chelmsford 123
Chelmsford 123
Chelmsford 123 is a British television situation comedy produced for Channel 4 by Hat Trick Productions. It ran for two series, of six and seven episodes, in 1988 and 1990....
, Doctor at Large (1971), ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
's production of The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾
For the TV-series, see The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ is the first book in the Adrian Mole series of comedic fiction, written by Sue Townsend. The book is written in a diary style, and focuses on the worries and regrets of a teenager who believes himself...
, the first series of Blackadder
The Archbishop
"The Archbishop" is the third episode in of the first series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder .- Plot :In November 1487, the dying Duke of Winchester , the greatest landowner in the kingdom, leaves his lands to the Catholic Church, prompting King Richard to have Godfrey, the Archbishop of Canterbury,...
(drunken knight), Blackadder II
Blackadder II
Blackadder II is the second series of the BBC situation comedy Blackadder, written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, which aired from 9 January 1986 to 20 February 1986...
(Ploppy the Jailer), Blackadder Goes Forth
Blackadder Goes Forth
Blackadder Goes Forth is the fourth and final series of the BBC situation comedy Blackadder, written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, which aired from 28 September to 2 November 1989 on BBC One....
(Agent Brigadier Smith), Just Good Friends
Just Good Friends
Just Good Friends was a British sitcom written by the late John Sullivan. It starred Paul Nicholas and Jan Francis as former lovers Vincent Pinner and Penny Warrender, who meet in a pub five years after he jilted her at the altar....
(A J Styles) and Yes, Prime Minister
Yes Minister
Yes Minister is a satirical British sitcom written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn that was first transmitted by BBC Television between 1980–1982 and 1984, split over three seven-episode series. The sequel, Yes, Prime Minister, ran from 1986 to 1988. In total there were 38 episodes—of which all but...
. He also appeared briefly in the first episode of ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
's Midsomer Murders
Midsomer Murders
Midsomer Murders is a British television detective drama that has aired on ITV since 1997. The show is based on the books by Caroline Graham, as originally adapted by Anthony Horowitz. The lead character is DCI Tom Barnaby who works for Causton CID. When Nettles left the show in 2011 he was...
, apparently driving a Morgan
Morgan Motor Company
The Morgan Motor Company is a British motor car manufacturer. The company was founded in 1910 by Harry Frederick Stanley Morgan, generally known as "HFS" and was run by him until he died, aged 77, in 1959. Peter Morgan, son of H.F.S., ran the company until a few years before his death in 2003...
sports car. In fact this was pushed by other cast members, as he does not hold a driving licence. He appeared in Not Only... But Also
Not Only... But Also
Not Only... But Also was a popular 1960s BBC British television series starring Peter Cook and Dudley Moore.-History:The show was originally intended as a solo project for Moore, called Not Only Dudley Moore, But Also His Guests...
with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore
Dudley Moore
Dudley Stuart John Moore, CBE was an English actor, comedian, composer and musician.Moore first came to prominence as one of the four writer-performers in the ground-breaking comedy revue Beyond the Fringe in the early 1960s, and then became famous as half of the highly popular television...
, alongside comedy stalwarts John Wells
John Wells (satirist)
John Wells was an English actor, writer and satirist, educated at Eastbourne College and St Edmund Hall, Oxford...
and Joe Melia
Joe Melia
-Films:* Too Many Crooks * Follow a Star * The Intelligence Men * Four in the Morning * Modesty Blaise * Oh! What a Lovely War * Antony and Cleopatra * Sweeney!...
, singing the comic song "Alan a' Dale," which students of the absurdist
Absurdism
In philosophy, "The Absurd" refers to the conflict between the human tendency to seek value and meaning in life and the human inability to find any...
strand of British humour such as Monty Python
Monty Python
Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
will recognise. He appeared in the original London cast of the unsuccessful Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
/Alan Ayckbourn
Alan Ayckbourn
Sir Alan Ayckbourn CBE is a prolific English playwright. He has written and produced seventy-three full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, where all but four of his plays have received their...
musical Jeeves
By Jeeves
By Jeeves, originally Jeeves, is a 1975/1996 musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Alan Ayckbourn, based on the novels of P. G. Wodehouse....
in 1975.
His film appearances include The Other Boleyn Girl (2008), Keep the Aspidistra Flying
Keep the Aspidistra Flying
Keep the Aspidistra Flying, first published 1936, is a socially critical novel by George Orwell. It is set in 1930s London. The main theme is Gordon Comstock's romantic ambition to defy worship of the money-god and status, and the dismal life that results....
(1997) and Splitting Heirs
Splitting Heirs
Splitting Heirs is a 1993 British film starring Eric Idle, Rick Moranis, Barbara Hershey, Catherine Zeta-Jones, John Cleese and Sadie Frost. The film was directed by Robert Young, and features music by Michael Kamen...
(1993).
He has two children by his first wife, Jean Spalding, a noted cellist.