Mark Williams

Mark Williams (born 22 August 1959) is an English actor, comedian, presenter and screenwriter. He first achieved widespread recognition as one of the central performers in the popular BBC sketch show The Fast Show. His film roles include Horace in the 1996 version of 101 Dalmatians and Arthur Weasley in seven of the Harry Potter films. He made recurring appearances as Brian Williams in the BBC television series Doctor Who and as Olaf Petersen in Red Dwarf. Since 2013, Williams has portrayed the title character in the long-running BBC series loosely based on the Father Brown short stories by G. K. Chesterton. Early life Williams was born on 22 August 1959 in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. Educated at North Bromsgrove High School and then Brasenose College, Oxford, where he performed with the Oxford University Dramatic Society, he made a career as a theatre actor with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre. He came to wider public attention through his appearances on the BBC television programmes, Alexei Sayle's Stuff and The Fast Show. Williams has described the huge popularity of the latter show as a "double-edged sword", as it has led to his being seen by the public as a comedian rather than as an actor. Career Williams made his film début alongside fellow débutants Hugh Grant and Imogen Stubbs in the Oxford University Film Foundation production Privileged in 1982. His most famous cinema role is as Arthur Weasley in the Harry Potter film series, making his first appearance in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in 2002. Other high-profile appearances include the film adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Stardust alongside Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro and Claire Danes in 2007 and a 2012 role in Doctor Who as Brian Williams, father of the Doctor's companion, Rory.