David Walliams, born David Edward Williams on 20 August 1971 at St Teresa's Maternity Hospital in Wimbledon, is an English actor, comedian, television presenter and best-selling children's author. He has confirmed in interviews, including with Welsh broadcaster Carol Vorderman on BBC Radio Wales, that he is a quarter Welsh through his paternal grandfather.
Walliams changed his professional surname from Williams to Walliams early in his career, after discovering another David Williams was already registered with the actors' union Equity. He has since said his birth surname "at least sounds a bit Welsh", which is the origin of this site's long-running, if vaguely worded, note about his Welsh roots.
He rose to national prominence alongside Matt Lucas in the BBC sketch comedy series Little Britain, which ran from 2003 to 2006 and later returned for specials. He served as a judge on Britain's Got Talent from 2012 to 2022, and since 2008 has built one of the best-selling children's book careers in the UK, with more than 50 million copies sold worldwide and translations into over fifty languages, including Welsh.