Bill Wallis
| Bill Wallis | |
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Bill Wallis
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| Born | 20 November 1936 Guildford, Surrey, England |
| Died | 6 September 2013 (aged 76) Bath, Somerset, England |
| Occupation | Actor, comedian |
| Spouse(s) | Jean Spalding Karen Mills |
| Children | 4 |
William Wallis (20 November 1936 – 6 September 2013) was an English character actor and comedian who appeared in numerous radio and television roles, as well as in the theatre.
Wallis was born in Guildford in Surrey, the only son of Albert Wallis, a trainee fishmonger turned engineer, and his wife, Anne, a nurse. He attended Farnham Grammar School from 1948 to 1955, where he was head boy. He gained a State Scholarship to St John's College, Cambridge, and while at Cambridge University met Peter Cook and David Frost. When Cook and the team took Beyond the Fringe to Broadway, Wallis took over the roles played by Alan Bennett.
Wallis appeared in a number of television programmes including Chelmsford 123, Doctor at Large (1971), ITV's production of The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, the BBC's 1984 adaptation of John Masefield's book The Box Of Delights, 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. One longstanding role was that of the hard-drinking Dr Nick McKenzie in the BBC drama Dangerfield, from 1995 until 1998. In 1988 he appeared as Gestapo-man Werner Beck in award-winning War and Remembrance. 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 did not hold a driving licence. He appeared in Not Only... But Also with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, alongside comic actors 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. He presented and narrated a semi-dramatised documentary titled "A Pleasant Terror" on the life and works of M. R. James, broadcast by ITV in December 1995.
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