Bill Wallis

For other people named William Wallis, see William Wallis (disambiguation).

Bill Wallis
Born	20 November 1936 Farnham, Surrey
Died	6 September 2013 Bath, Somerset

Bill Wallis (20 November 1936 – 6 September 2013) was 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; however, due to unavailability, the roles of Jeltz and (briefly) Prosser were taken over by Toby Longworth

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. 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.

His film appearances include The Other Boleyn Girl (2008), Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1997) and Splitting Heirs (1993).

He has two children with his first wife, the cellist Jean Spalding, and two children with his second wife, the artist and lecturer Dr Karen Wallis. He died on 6 September 2013.

References

Mentions Wallis being based in Bath

External links

• Bill Wallis at IMDb