Mark Williams is an English actor, comedian, presenter and screenwriter. He first achieved widespread recognition as one of the central performers in the BBC sketch show ''

The Fast Show ''The Fast Show'', also known as ''Brilliant'' in the United States, is a BBC comedy sketch show that ran on BBC Two, BBC 2 from 1994 to 1997, with specials in 2000 and 2014. The show's central performers were Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Si ...

''. His film roles include Horace in '' 101 Dalmatians'' (1996) and

Arthur Weasley The Order of the Phoenix is a fictional organisation in the ''Harry Potter'' series of novels by J. K. Rowling. Founded by Albus Dumbledore to fight Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters, the Order lends its name to the fifth book of the series, ' ...

in seven of the ''Harry Potter'' films. He appeared in ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' and ''

Red Dwarf A red dwarf is the smallest kind of star on the main sequence. Red dwarfs are by far the most common type of fusing star in the Milky Way, at least in the neighborhood of the Sun. However, due to their low luminosity, individual red dwarfs are ...

''. Since 2013, Williams has portrayed the title character in the long-running BBC series loosely based on the ''

Father Brown Father Brown is a fictional Roman Catholic priest and amateur detective. He is featured in 53 short stories by English author G. K. Chesterton, published between 1910 and 1936. Father Brown solves mysteries and crimes using his intuition and ...

'' short stories by

G. K. Chesterton Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936) was an English author, philosopher, Christian apologist, journalist and magazine editor, and literary and art critic. Chesterton created the fictional priest-detective Father Brow ...

Early life

Williams was born in

Bromsgrove Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England, about north-east of Worcester and south-west of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 34,755 in at the 2021 census. It gives its name to the wider Bromsgrove District, of which it is ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

, England and grew up in

Sidemoor Sidemoor is a village within the urban area of Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. The local school, Sidemoor First School, opened in 1884 and was relocated in 2007 to a new site on the edge of the village using money from a private finance initiative ...

. He was educated at North Bromsgrove High School and then

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The l ...

, where he graduated in English in 1978.

Career

Williams' acting work began in small-scale touring theatre, and he worked with the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

and National Theatre. Williams came to wider public attention in the 1990s through the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

sketch comedy programme ''

'', in which he was one of the central performers. He has said that for a while "people seemed to assume I was a comedian, which I've never been". He played

in the ''Harry Potter'' film series, making his first appearance in ''

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. It is the second novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series. The plot follows Harry's second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry ...

'' in 2002. Other high-profile appearances include the film adaptation of

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman (; born Neil Richard Gaiman; 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, audio theatre, and screenplays. His works include the comic series ''The Sandman (comic book), The Sandma ...

's '' Stardust'' alongside

Michelle Pfeiffer Michelle Marie Pfeiffer ( ; born April 29, 1958) is an American actress. She was one of the most bankable stars in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood during the 1980s and 1990s, and her List of Michelle Pfeiffer performances, performances ...

Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor, director, and film producer. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of List of awards and ...

and

Claire Danes Claire Catherine Danes (born April 12, 1979) is an American actress. Prolific in film and television since her teens, she is the recipient of three Primetime Emmy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards. In 2012, ''Time (magazine), Time'' named he ...

in 2007 and a 2012 role in ''

'' as Brian Williams, father of

the Doctor The Doctor, sometimes known as Doctor Who, is the protagonist of the long-running BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. An extraterrestrial Time Lord, the Doctor travels the universe in a time travelling spaceship called th ...

's companion,

Rory Rory is a given name of Gaelic origin. It is an anglicisation of the /''Ruaidhrí'' and /''Ruaraidh'' and is common to the Irish, Highland Scots and their diasporas. for the given name "Rory". The meaning of the name is "red king", composed ...

. Since 2013, he has appeared in the lead role in the BBC costume drama ''

''. Williams also featured in the first series of '' Blandings'', the BBC TV adaptation of the

P. G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse ( ; 15 October 1881 – 14 February 1975) was an English writer and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Je ...

Blandings Castle stories, broadcast in 2013, in which he played Beach, the Emsworths' tipsy butler. In 2014 and 2015, he presented the BBC daytime game show '' The Link''. The show ran for two series. His other film roles include '' 101 Dalmatians'' and '' The Borrowers'', both with

Hugh Laurie James Hugh Calum Laurie (; born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian, singer, musician and writer. He first gained professional recognition as a member of the English comedy double act Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry. Fry and Laurie act ...

. Williams has also presented several documentary programmes exploring industrial history which is his passion; ''Mark Williams' Big Bangs'' on the history of explosives, a follow-up to the previous series ''Mark Williams on the Rails'', ''Industrial Revelations'' and ''More Industrial Revelations''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Video games

Theme park rides

Voice-over

* ''

Power Rangers Operation Overdrive ''Power Rangers Operation Overdrive'' is the fifteenth season of the television franchise ''Power Rangers''. The season uses footage and other material from the 30th ''Super Sentai'' series ''GoGo Sentai Boukenger'', which celebrates the thirti ...

'' - Big Mouth Monster (episode: "Both Sides Now") * ''

Merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...

'' - The Goblin (episode: "Goblin's Gold") * ''

Power Rangers Samurai ''Power Rangers Samurai'' is the eighteenth season of the children's television series ''Power Rangers'', which is based on the Japanese ''Super Sentai Series''. The season was the first to be produced by Saban Capital Group, SCG Power Rangers, a ...

'' - Eyescar (episode: "The Rescue") * '' Lego Dimensions'' - Arthur Weasley * '' We're Going on a Bear Hunt'' - Dad * '' Early Man'' - Barry

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Mark Living people 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford English male television writers English male film actors English male stage actors English male television actors English male video game actors English male voice actors English television writers Male actors from Worcestershire Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners People from Bromsgrove English male comedians Comedians from Worcestershire Actors from Bromsgrove District Year of birth missing (living people)