Lloyd Woolf (born 1981) is a British comedy actor and writer.
Personal life
Woolf was born in 1981 in Swansea, and grew up in the Swansea Valley town of
Pontardawe
Pontardawe () is a town and a community in the Swansea Valley (Welsh: ''Cwmtawe'') in Wales. With a population of 6,832, it comprises the electoral wards of Pontardawe and Trebanos. A town council is elected. Pontardawe forms part of the county ...
. After graduating with an English degree from
Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
, Woolf moved to London. He now lives in Essex with his wife and children.
Career
At university Woolf became involved in the
Cambridge Footlights
Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, commonly referred to simply as the Footlights, is an amateur theatrical club in Cambridge, England, founded in 1883 and run by the students of Cambridge University.
History
Footlights' inaugural ...
, performing alongside the likes of
Ed Weeks
Edward Charles Egerton Weeks (born 25 October 1980) is an English actor, comedian, writer and producer. He is best known for starring as Dr. Jeremy Reed in the Fox/Hulu comedy series '' The Mindy Project'' (2012–2017). He also starred as Col ...
,
Dan Stevens
Daniel Jonathan Stevens (born 10 October 1982) is a British actor and writer. He first drew international attention for his role as List of Downton Abbey characters#Matthew Crawley, Matthew Crawley in the ITV (TV network), ITV acclaimed period ...
,
Sarah Solemani
Sarah Solemani (born 4 September 1982) is an English actress, writer and activist. She is best known for starring in the BAFTA winning sitcom '' Him & Her'' and playing Renee Zellweger's best friend Miranda in ''Bridget Jones's Baby'', for whic ...
,
Mark Watson
Mark Andrew Watson (born 13 February 1980) is a British comedian and novelist.
Early life
Watson was born in Bristol to a Welsh mother and English father. He has younger twin sisters and a brother, Paul. He attended Bristol Grammar School, ...
,
Matt Kirshen
Matt may refer to:
* Matt (name), people with the given name ''Matt'' or Matthew, meaning "gift from God", or the surname Matt
*In British English, of a surface: having a non-glossy finish, see gloss (material appearance)
* Matt, Switzerland, a ...
,
Tim Key
Timothy David Key (born September 1976) is an English poet, comedian, actor, screenwriter and radio personality. He is best known for playing Alan Partridge's sidekick Simon in '' Mid Morning Matters'', ''Alpha Papa'', and '' This Time'', as w ...
,
Tom Basden
Thomas William Basden (born 30 November 1980) is an English actor, comedy writer, and a member of the British four-man sketch group Cowards. He has written and performed extensively for comedy shows on the BBC and Channel 4 and often collabo ...
and
Stefan Golaszewski.
After graduating Woolf formed the sketch group
Cowards with Key, Basden and Golaszewski. They performed at the
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...
in 2005 and 2006. They produced two radio series for
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...
, broadcast in 2007 and 2008. They also produced a television series for
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002 , which was broadcast in January 2009, to critical acclaim. It was nominated for a
Scottish BAFTA.
As an actor Woolf also featured in the
BBC Three
BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, cov ...
sketch show ''
The Wrong Door'' and the sitcom ''
How Not to Live Your Life
''How Not to Live Your Life'' (styled in the opening credits as "how NOT to live your life") is a British sitcom, written by and starring Dan Clark that aired between 27 September 2007 and 22 December 2011 on BBC Three, about a pessimistic twent ...
'', as well as the short film ''
Nightwalking''. In theatre, Woolf appeared in Captain Oates' Left Sock at the
Finborough Theatre
The Finborough Theatre is a fifty-seat theatre in the West Brompton area of London (part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) under artistic director Neil McPherson. The theatre presents new British writing, as well as UK and world pr ...
and ''The Roman Bath'' at the
Arcola Theatre
Arcola Theatre is an Off West End theatre in the London Borough of Hackney. It presents plays, operas and musicals featuring established and emerging artists.
The theatre building, in the former Colourworks paint factory on Ashwin Street, Dals ...
. He appeared briefly in
Richard Ayoade
Richard Ellef Ayoade ( ; born 23 May 1977) is a British actor, comedian, broadcaster and filmmaker. He is best known for his role as socially awkward IT technician Maurice Moss in Channel 4 sitcom ''The IT Crowd'' (2006–2013), for which he w ...
's feature film ''
The Double
A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another.
Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to:
Film and television
* Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character
* ...
'' opposite
Jesse Eisenberg
Jesse Adam Eisenberg (; born October 5, 1983) is an American actor, writer, and director. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Jesse Eisenberg, various accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, two BAFTA Award ...
. He has also featured in numerous TV adverts, including
Pot Noodle
Pot Noodle is a brand of instant noodle snack foods, available in a selection of flavours and varieties. This dehydrated food consists of noodles, assorted dried vegetables and flavouring powder. It is prepared by adding boiling water, which rap ...
's infamous Welsh miners parody.
Woolf has also performed extensively as a stand-up, including a solo show at the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe.
Partnership with Joe Tucker
Woolf has formed a successful writing partnership with
Joe Tucker.
In 2012, Woolf and Tucker co-wrote the Sky One sitcom ''
Parents
A parent is a caregiver of the offspring in their own species. In humans, a parent is the caretaker of a child (where "child" refers to offspring, not necessarily age). A ''biological parent'' is a person whose gamete resulted in a child, a male t ...
'' starring
Sally Phillips
Sally Elizabeth Phillips (born 10 May 1970) is an English actress, television presenter, and comedian. She co-created and was one of the writers of the sketch comedy show '' Smack the Pony''. She is also known for her roles in '' Miranda'' as T ...
and
Tom Conti
Tommaso Antonio Conti (born 22 November 1941) is a Scottish actor, theatre director, and novelist. He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play in 1979 for his performance in '' Whose Life Is It Anyway?'' and was nominated for the Academy A ...
. Woolf also featured in the show as Dr. Blair.
Their second sitcom, ''
Big Bad World
''Big Bad World'' is the fifth studio album by American rock band Plain White T's. It was released on September 23, 2008, by Hollywood Records. The creation of this album was a follow up album to '' Every Second Counts'' in hopes of breaking fre ...
'' starring
Blake Harrison, was broadcast on
Comedy Central (UK and Irish TV channel) in 2013.
Woolf and Tucker created and wrote the comedy thriller ''
Witless'', starring
Kerry Howard and
Zoe Boyle, for
BBC Three (online). The show ran for three series between 2016 and 2018, and was nominated for the
Rose d'Or
The Rose d'Or ('Golden Rose') is an international awards festival in entertainment broadcasting and programming. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) first acquired the Rose d’Or in 1961, when it was created by Swiss Television in the lakesi ...
. Again, Woolf appeared in the show as PC Ferns.
Woolf and Tucker wrote and created ''
Click & Collect
''Click & Collect'' is a British comedy television film directed by Ben Palmer, written by Joe Tucker and Lloyd Woolf, and starring Asim Chaudhry and Stephen Merchant.
Plot
Uptight Andrew Bennett lives in a semi-detached house in Bedford. When h ...
'' starring
Stephen Merchant
Stephen James Merchant (born 24 November 1974) is an English comedian, actor, director, presenter and writer.
Alongside Ricky Gervais, Merchant was the co-writer and co-director of the British TV comedy series '' The Office'' (2001–2003), an ...
and
Asim Chaudhry, a one-off Christmas Special for
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's Flagship (broadcasting), flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News ...
. It was broadcast on Christmas Eve 2018.
Notes and references
External links
Lloyd Woolf's Agent
Alumni of the University of Cambridge
Male actors from Swansea
British male comedians
Living people
21st-century British male actors
British male television actors
British male stage actors
British male film actors
1981 births
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