Dave Johns

For other people named David Johns, see David Johns (disambiguation).

David Alan Johns (born 15 July 1956) is an English stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. He is best known for his breakthrough role as Daniel Blake in the 2016 Ken Loach film I, Daniel Blake.^[1]

Dave Johns
Born	David Alan Johns (1956-07-15) 15 July 1956 (age 69) Wallsend, England
Occupation(s)	Comedian, actor, writer
Website	davejohns.net

Career

Johns has appeared on Never Mind the Buzzcocks (four times), 8 Out of 10 Cats, Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive, 28 Acts in 28 Minutes and, as an actor, he has appeared on Mud, Time Gentlemen Please, Inspector George Gently, and Harry Hill as God.^[2]

In 2009, he and Owen O'Neill dramatised Stephen King's Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption for the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin.^[3]

In 2016, he starred as the title character in the Ken Loach film I, Daniel Blake in a critically acclaimed performance described as "powerful", "a welcome comic touch", and "all the more moving for its restraint".^[4][5][6] He later wrote a stage version of the film updated to the 2021/2022 cost of living crisis which premiered at the Northern Stage, Newcastle upon Tyne in May 2023.^[7]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2016	I, Daniel Blake	Daniel
2017	Howay!	Terry	Short film
	Me, the Elephant	Dad
2018	Walk Like a Panther	Trevor 'Bulldog' Bolton
2019	The Keeper	Roberts
2019	Fishermen's Friends	Leadville Trebilcock
2020	23 Walks	Dave
	Blithe Spirit	Harold
2022	Fisherman's Friends: One and All	Leadville Trebilcock
2022	Making Up	Ted Bickerstaff
2023	Turtles (Les Tortues)	Thom Halford

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Mud	Trev	Episode #2.1
1997	Rag Nymph	Man	Episode #1.1
	The Moth	Man	Uncredited TV movie
1998	Harry Hill	God	Episodes #2.2, #2.7 & #2.8
	Colour Blind	Auctioneer	Episode #1.2 TV Mini-series
2001	Time Gentlemen Please	'Cheesy' Alan Supple	Episode: "New Year's Steve"
2006	Cattle Drive	The Burglar	Episode #1.1
	Dogtown	Norm
2010	Inspector George Gently	Comedian	Episode: "Gently Evil"
2013	It's Kevin	Various	Episode #1.6
2017	The Nightly Show	Himself	1 episode
2025–present	The Dumping Ground	Bernie	Series 13

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Title	Result	Ref
2016	British Independent Film Awards	Best Actor	I, Daniel Blake	Won	[8]
		Most Promising Newcomer		Nominated
	Dublin Film Critics Circle Awards	Best Actor		Won	[9]
	European Film Awards	European Actor		Nominated	[10]
2017	Empire Awards	Best Male Newcomer		Won	[11]
	London Critics Circle Film Awards	British/Irish Actor of the Year		Nominated	[12]