Dawn French

Dawn French

Dawn Roma French is a British actress, writer, comedian and presenter. She is best known for starring in and writing for the BBC comedy sketch show French and Saunders. She also played the lead role as Geraldine Granger in the BBC sitcom The Vicar of Dibley. She has been nominated for seven BAFTA TV Awards and won a BAFTA Fellowship with Saunders in 2009.

About Dawn French in brief

Summary Dawn FrenchDawn Roma French is a British actress, writer, comedian and presenter. She is best known for starring in and writing for the BBC comedy sketch show French and Saunders with her best friend and comedy partner, Jennifer Saunders. She also played the lead role as Geraldine Granger in the BBC sitcom The Vicar of Dibley. She has been nominated for seven BAFTA TV Awards and won a BAFTA Fellowship with Saunders in 2009. French has claimed that her self-confidence and self-belief stem from her father, who told her how beautiful she was each day. She was born in Holyhead, Wales, to English parents Felicity Roma and Denys Vernon French, who married in their home town of Plymouth in 1953. Her father served in the Royal Air Force, stationed at RAF Valley. She attended Caistor Grammar School in Caistor, boarding in the school’s Lindsey house. She later won a debating scholarship that brought her to study at the Spence School in New York for a year. In 1977, French began studying drama at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, where she met her future comedy partner,. Both came from RAF backgrounds, even having had the same best friend, although never meeting. In 1985, French starred with Saunders, Tracey Ullman and Ruby Wax in Girls on Top, which portrayed four eccentric women sharing a flat in London. In 2002, French appeared in the comedy mini-series Ted and Alice, set in the Lake District.

In the series, she played a tourist information officer who falls in love with an alien. French also appeared in Murder Most Horrid, from 1991 to 1999, whether it was the murderer, victim, or both. She acted in 27 of the 37 episodes and wrote two of them. She appeared in The Lord of the Rings films such as Star Wars, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. She and Saunders came to public attention as members of the Comic Strip, part of the alternative comedy scene in the early 1980s. On their show, the duo spoofed many celebrities such as Madonna, Catherine Zeta-Jones and the Spice Girls. They have also parodied The Lord and the Lord of The Rings, Star Wars and The Chamber of secrets. After 20 years being on television together, their last series, French & Saunders, began airing on 8 September 2007, airing on BBC One. French andaunders have also followed careers in radio, television and stand-up, including a stint on The Jonathan Ross Show and a role in The X-Files. They also starred in the film version of The Godfather: Particulars, in which they played a couple who had an affair with each other in the 1970s and 80s. The film version was released on Springtime!Island Records in September 1981 and presented French and Jennifer Saunders to an audience outside London.