Dawn French
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Dawn French (born 11 October, 1957 in Holyhead, Wales) is a British comedian and actress best known as one half of the comic duo French & Saunders, the other half being Jennifer Saunders of Absolutely Fabulous fame.
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. Here she met her future husband Lenny Henry, with whom she has an adopted daughter. 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[link], 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.
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 [link], 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 the confection, Terry's Chocolate Orange using the slogan "It's not Terry's, it's mine."
In 2001, both she and Saunders declined an OBE. In 2002, Dawn French appeared in the comedy/drama mini-series Ted and Alice. Other cast members included Stephen Tompkinson, Eleanor Bron and David Troughton. In 2003, she was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. In 2005 French provided the voice for the character Mrs. Beaver in Disney and Walden Media's film adaptation of C. S. Lewis' .
With Vicar of Dibly now officially ending, French is readying for a new television comedy in 2006, in which she will star, High Table. French will play the head in an Oxbridge college.[link]
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
- Coraline (filming) (2007)
- Jam and Jerusalem TV series (announced 10/05)
- (2005)
- The Vicar of Dibley TV series (1994-2005)
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
- Ted and Alice TV show (2002)
- Absolutely Fabulous TV series (1998)
- Sex & Chocolate TV show (1997)
- Murder Most Horrid TV series (1996)
- French and Saunders TV series (1988)
- Eat the Rich (1987)
- The Young Ones TV series (1982-84)
External links
- [French and Saunders]
- [Dawn French] A biography at the [British Film Institute]'s [screenonline] site.
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