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Dawn French (born 11 October, 1957 in Holyhead, Wales) is a Welsh comedian and actress best known as one half of the comic duo French & Saunders, the other half being Jennifer Saunders of Absolutely Fabulous fame.

Biography

French was educated in Plymouth, and first came to public attention as a member of The Comic Strip, part of the alternative comedy scene in the early 1980s. A successful television series French and Saunders followed in 1987. Her first post-Saunders project was Murder Most Horrid, a dark comedy satire of murder mysteries.

Her biggest solo television role to date has been as the title figure in the long running BBC comedy The Vicar of Dibley, created by Richard Curtis. Since finishing The Vicar of Dibley, she starred in the BBC sitcom Wild West http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/wildwest, in which she plays a woman living in Cornwall who is a lesbian more through lack of choice than any specific natural urge. This series was not met with as much success as her earlier role.

She played The Fat Lady in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, replacing the less well-known actress, Elizabeth Spriggs, who had played the character in the first film of the series. Her husband, Lenny Henry, provided the voice of the Shrunken Head in the same film, though they did not share any screen time together.

In 2005 French provided the voice for the character Mrs. Beaver in Disney and Walden Media's film adaptation of C. S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

With The Vicar of Dibley now officially ending, French is readying for a new television comedy in 2007, in which she will star, High Table. French will play the head in an Oxbridge college http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/july06/dawn067701.php.

Awards

In 2001, both she and Saunders declined an OBE. In 2002, Dawn French appeared in the comedy/drama mini-series Ted and Alice. In 2003, she was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy.

Away from the stage

As a large woman, she is known for her efforts to promote the notion that big can be beautiful. As part of this she has her own line of clothes, Sixteen 47, deriving its name from the statistic that 47% of the British female population are at least a size 16. It aims to produce clothes that larger women can look beautiful in. For her large size and admitted chocoholism, she was chosen as the face of Terry's Chocolate Orange, using the slogan "It's not Terry's, it's mine."

Personal life

French met her future husband Lenny Henry on the alternative comedy circuit. The couple married on 20 October, 1984, and have an adopted daughter, Billie. The couple have a home in Spencers Wood, Reading, Berkshire but have put it on the market in light of their purchase of a home close to Dawn's mother in Fowey, Cornwall

Bibliography

• Beneath the Cassock: Vicar of Dibley by Joy Carroll
• Cruising by Beryl Cook (with a forward by Dawn French)
• A Feast of French and Saunders by Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French
• Dawn French: The Biography by Alison Bowyer
• Frigid Women by Sue Riches, Victoria Riches and Dawn French
• Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie (audio cassette version- partially read by Dawn French)
• Dawn French: Level 1 by Gwen Berwick and Sydney Thorne
• The Vicar of Dibley- complete series scripts, by Richard Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer

Film and television

• High Table TV series (2007)
• Coraline (filming) (2007)
• Dawn French's Girls Who Do Comedy Three part TV series (2006)
• Jam and Jerusalem TV series (2006)
• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
• The Vicar of Dibley TV series (1994-2007)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
• Wild West (2002-2004)
• Ted and Alice TV show (2002)
• Let Them Eat Cake TV show (1999)
• Sex & Chocolate TV show (1997)
• Murder Most Horrid TV series (1996)
• Absolutely Fabulous TV series (1992)
• French and Saunders TV series (1988)
• Eat the Rich (1987)
• Girls On Top (1985-1986)
• The Young Ones TV series (1982-84)
• The Comic Strip TV series/made-for-TV movies (1981-?)

References

External links

• French and Saunders
• British Film Institute bio

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