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 The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

, 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 Matthew Crawley in the ITV acclaimed period drama series ''Downton Abbey'' (2010–2012). He also starred as D ...

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 which ...

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, wh ...

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 mu ...

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 ...

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 Stefan Golaszewski (born November 1980) is a British writer, performer and director. He is part of the comedy troupe Cowards and is the writer and creator of BAFTA winning sitcoms ''Him & Her'' and '' Mum''. Early life and education Golaszews ...

. 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 spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

, 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 BAFTA in Scotland is the Scottish branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Formed in 1986, the branch holds two annual awards ceremonies recognising the achievement by performers and production staff in Scottish film, televis ...

. As an actor Woolf also featured in the

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air 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, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...

sketch show ''

The Wrong Door ''The Wrong Door'' is a comedy sketch show, that first aired on BBC Three on 28 August 2008. The programme is the first comedy show in which the majority of the sketches include CGI elements. As such, it was produced under the working title of ...

'' 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 twenty ...

'', as well as the short film ''

Nightwalking ''Nightwalking'' (also known as ''Night Walking'') is a 2008 British comedy horror short film directed by Daniel Cormack, starring Raquel Cassidy and Lloyd Woolf. In 2010, ''Nightwalking'' was selected for preservation by the British Film Instit ...

''. 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 p ...

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, Dalst ...

. 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 ...

's feature film '' The Double'' opposite

Jesse Eisenberg Jesse Adam Eisenberg (; born October 5, 1983) is an American actor, writer, and director. He has received various accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awar ...

. 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 r ...

'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 Joe Tucker is a British comedy writer, director and animator known for directing and co-writing the award-winning short film '' For the Love of God''. He has also directed a number of music videos for Hot Club de Paris and, together with Lloyd W ...

. 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 Ti ...

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 Aw ...

. Woolf also featured in the show as Dr. Blair. Their second sitcom, '' Big Bad World'' starring

Blake Harrison Blake Harrison is an English actor, comedian and dancer. He is best known for playing Neil Sutherland in the BAFTA-winning E4 comedy ''The Inbetweeners'' and more recently as 'Medium' Dan, in the ITV sitcom Kate & Koji since 2020. Career H ...

, was broadcast on

Comedy Central (UK and Irish TV channel) Comedy Central is a British pay television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated. This channel is specific to audiences within the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel is aligned with the original US versi ...

in 2013. Woolf and Tucker created and wrote the comedy thriller '' Witless'', starring

Kerry Howard Kerry Elizabeth Howard (born 24 March 1982) is an English actress. She played Laura in the BBC Three comedy series '' Him & Her'' and Leanne in '' Witless''. She also appears in BBC Three "Feed My Funny" comedy sketches with Lu Corfield and act ...

and

Zoe Boyle Zoe Boyle (born 1 January 1989) is an English actress known for her roles as Lavinia Swire on the series ''Downton Abbey'' and Trinity Ashby on ''Sons of Anarchy''. Education Boyle attended the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama, at the ...

, for

BBC Three (online) BBC Three was a British over-the-top Internet television service operated by the BBC. It was launched on 16 February 2016 as a replacement for the linear BBC Three television channel, which closed down the same day but was later relaunched on ...

. 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'' 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), and ...

and

Asim Chaudhry Asim Chaudhry is a British comedian, writer, director and actor best known for playing Chabuddy G in the BBC mockumentary series ''People Just Do Nothing'', which he co-created. For this role, he won a Royal Television Society Award and was nomi ...

, 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 network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

. 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 {{UK-comedian-stub