Dawn French

Dawn French
French at the 2005 Make Poverty History march
French at the 2005 Make Poverty History march
Birth name Dawn Roma French
Born 11 October 1957 (1957-10-11) (age 52)
Holyhead, Wales
Nationality British
Influences John Cleese
Spouse Lenny Henry (m.1984, 1 adopted daughter)
Notable works and roles Various in French & Saunders
Rev. Geraldine Granger in The Vicar of Dibley
Rosie Bales in Jam and Jerusalem
Caroline Arless
Lark Rise to Candleford

Dawn Roma French[1] (born 11 October 1957) is a British actress and comedian. In her career, she has been nominated for six BAFTA Awards. She is best-known for starring in and writing her comedy sketch show, French and Saunders, alongside her comedy partner Jennifer Saunders, and for playing the lead role of Geraldine Granger in the sitcom The Vicar of Dibley.

Contents

Background

French was born in Holyhead, Anglesey, Wales to parents Denys Vernon French and Felicity "Roma" O'Brien and educated at the independent St Dunstan's Abbey School (now absorbed by Plymouth College) boarding school on North Road West in Plymouth, Devon, England. She has a brother, Gary French, who was born in 1955. Her father, Denys (5 August 1932 - 11 September 1977)[2][3], was a member of the Royal Air Force being stationed at RAF Valley. The RAF partly funded her private education[4] She later won a debating scholarship that brought her to study at the Spence School in New York.[4] It was after returning from New York that she broke up with fiance David White, a former Royal Navy Officer.

French's confidence and self-belief stems from her father who told her how beautiful she was each day.[5] She stated "He taught me to value myself. He told me that I was beautiful and the most precious thing in his life."[6] He had a history of severe depression and attempted suicides but managed to conceal his illness from French and her brother.[5] He committed suicide in 1977 when French was nineteen and he was forty-five, having left the RAF.[7]

She then went on to study at the London's Central School of Speech and Drama in 1977, where she met her future comedy partner Jennifer Saunders.[5][8] Both came from RAF backgrounds. They had grown up on the same base, even having had the same best friend, although never meeting.[9] At first, as far as Saunders was concerned, French was a "cocky little upstart". The hatred was mutual; French considered Saunders snooty and aloof.[9] The comic duo originally did not like each other[7] as French actually wanted to become a drama teacher[8] whereas Saunders loathed the idea and thus disliked French for being enthusiastic and confident about the course.[5]

Having overcome their initial dislike of one another, both French and Saunders shared a flat whilst at college.[5] During her time at the college, French also worked as a chambermaid to earn money.[10] After they graduated, they formed a double-act called The Menopause Sisters. Saunders has described the act as "cringeworthy", which involved wearing tampons in their ears.[9] The manager of the club where they performed recalled "They didn't seem to give a damn. There was no star quality about them at all."[9] French and Saunders would eventually come to public attention as members of The Comic Strip, part of the alternative comedy scene in the early 1980s.

Career

Television

French has had an extensive career on television, debuting on Channel 4's The Comic Strip Presents series in an episode called "Five Go Mad in Dorset" in 1982.[8] Each episode presented a self-contained story distinct from other episodes, and showcased Comic Strip performers Peter Richardson, Rik Mayall, and Robbie Coltrane and Adrian Edmondson, in addition to French and Saunders. She acted in twenty-seven of the thirty-seven episodes, and wrote two of them.[8] One week featured a parody of spaghetti westerns, and another, a black and white film about a hopelessly goofy boy. Some of French's first exposure to a wider audience occurred when comedy producer Martin Lewis recorded a Comic Strip record album in Spring 1981, which featured skits by French & Saunders. The album was released on Springtime!/Island Records in September 1981. The album presented Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders to an audience outside London. In 1985, French starred in Girls On Top with Saunders, Tracey Ullman and Ruby Wax which portrayed four eccentric women sharing a flat in London.[8]

French has co-written and starred in her own successful comedy series French & Saunders with Jennifer Saunders, which debuted in 1987 and still airs sporadically to this day.[8] On their show, the duo have spoofed many celebrities such as Madonna, Cher and Catherine Zeta-Jones and they have also parodied films in the series such as The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. After twenty years of them being on television together, their last sketch series, A Bucket o' French & Saunders, began airing on September 8, 2007.[5]

French and Saunders have also followed separate careers. During French's time starring in Murder Most Horrid from 1991 to 1999, she played a different character each week, whether it was the murderer, victim or even both.[8] In 2002, French appeared in the comedy/drama mini-series Ted and Alice. The series was set in the Lake District where French played a tourist-information officer who incidentally falls in love with an alien.[11] She has also appeared in the BBC sitcom Wild West along with Catherine Tate,[12] in which she played 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, ending after two years in 2004.

French's biggest solo television role to date has been as the title figure in the long running and popular BBC comedy The Vicar of Dibley, created by Richard Curtis. She starred as Geraldine Granger, a vicar of a small village called Dibley. In the final full-length episode of the well-known series, 12.3 million people watched the episode to see her character's marriage ceremony.[13] Her last appearance on The Vicar of Dibley was with Sting and Trudie Styler in a special mini episode made for Comic Relief in 2007. She was nominated for a BAFTA for "best comedy performance" in last episode of The Vicar of Dibley. Repeats of the show on BBC One still attract millions of viewers.[14]

More recently, French has played a major role in Jam & Jerusalem as a woman called Rosie who had an alter ego. She co-starred alongside Sue Johnston, Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley. She also made a guest appearance in Little Britain as Vicky Pollard's mother Shelly Pollard, who was seen defending her daughter in the dock in Thailand as she was charged with drug smuggling, and was sentenced to twenty years, ten more than her daughter. French also appeared in a special version of Little Britain Live which featured several celebrity guests and was shown by the BBC as part of Comic Relief. She played the part of a lesbian barmaid in a sketch with Daffyd Thomas.[15] In 2006, French played a role in the television series Marple in the episode "Sleeping Murder". She also appears as Caroline Arless in the BBC television drama, Lark Rise to Candleford in 2008.[10] Talking about her role, she has stated "I'm quite a vibrant character. She's quite extreme, in that she drinks too much, laughs too much and sings too much. But she loves her family very much, it's just that she goes over the top sometimes."[16] French also said "I didn't want to appear in a series which was all about just a few main characters. It gives me the chance to observe, to learn things from other actors."[10]

On television, French has kissed Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp and George Clooney (in some cases for charity). French also raised money for charity by kissing Hugh Grant.[7]

It has recently been reported that French has sold her autobiography for £1.5 million, released in 2008.[17] The autobiography is in the form of letters.[18] On an appearance on The Paul O'Grady Show on Monday, 6th October 2008, it was revealed that the title of the book is 'Dawn French: Dear Fatty'. Dawn said that 'Fatty' is her nickname for Jennifer Saunders, as a joke about her own size. Dawn also said that she became great friends with Jennifer well before they started working together, which was "over 30 years ago".

Film and theatre

In films, French has played The Fat Lady in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,[19] replacing the late Elizabeth Spriggs, who played the character in the first film of the series. French's 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.[20]

She has also taken to roles in the theatre. French has previously played roles in plays such as A Midsummer Night's Dream, My Brilliant Divorce and Smaller, which is a play about a schoolteacher caring for her disabled mother. January 2007 saw French performing as the Duchesse de Crackentorp in an opera in the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London. The opera production was The Daughter of the Regiment (La fille du régiment) by Gaetano Donizetti, which depicted the life of a baby adopted by an army regiment. French soprano Natalie Dessay and the Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez took the roles which required singing.[21]

Advertising

French is known for her larger figure and for her efforts to promote the notion that "big" can be beautiful. As a result, she has her own line of clothes, Sixteen47, taking its name from the statistic that 47% of the British female population are at least a size 16.[7] The line aims to produce clothes designed to look flattering on larger women.

Due to her admitted chocoholism, she was chosen as the face of Terry's Chocolate Orange, using the slogan "It's not Terry's, it's mine",[22] which was replaced with "Don't tap it, whack it!"[23] As of August 29, 2007, French has been dropped as the face of Terry's Chocolate Orange, causing speculation that Terry's regarded her as an unsuitable role model because of her size. The company stated "After such a long partnership we feel that the campaign has run its course and we are in the process of developing different work."[24]

Her voice can be heard advertising the Tesco's "Every Little Helps" promotion.

Personal life

French met her husband Lenny Henry on the alternative comedy circuit. The couple married on 20 October, 1984, and have an adopted daughter, Billie.[11] French has stated that Billie has always known that she was adopted,[11] but once took out an injunction when a biographer came close to revealing the identity of Billie's biological mother.[11] When faced with a question about how she and Lenny Henry would feel if Billie wanted to find out about her birth mother, French commented "Whatever she wants to do when she's 18, we'll support her. What I do worry about is anyone else making the decision for her."[11]

The couple had a home in Shinfield, near Reading, in Berkshire[25] which they recently sold to buy a property in Cornwall where French intends to spend the rest of her life. It was once misinterpreted by the press that she was going there specifically to die because of an alleged belief that she would die prematurely. This thought was due to her recent large weight gain, she is now very 'large', weighing well over 25 stone. She quashed these rumours while appearing on Parkinson in November 2007 stating that she likes, "being in one place" and simply hopes that this will be her last move. Both her grandmothers have lived to be well over the age of ninety.[26] The £2.3 million mansion with 40 rooms overlooks a smugglers' cove in the Daphne du Maurier country. The grade II-listed building dates back to the 19th century.[18]

Awards and recognition

In 2001, French was offered an OBE. However, both she and Saunders declined the offer.[27] French and Saunders also won the honorary Golden Rose of Montreux award in 2002[7] and in 2003, she was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. In a 2006 poll consisting of 4,000 people, French was named as the most admired female celebrity amongst women in Britain.[28] She has also won and been nominated for several notable awards:

BAFTA Awards

British Comedy Awards

National Television Awards

Other

Credits

Television

-Five Go Mad in Dorset (1982)

-Five Go Mad on Mescaline (1983)

Theatre

Films

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ Dawn French: I just had a lot of fun — manchestereveningnews.co.uk. Retrieved May 11, 2007.
  2. ↑ Births, Marriages and Deaths Index - England & Wales
  3. ↑ Dawn French's father told her that she was beautiful - then he took his own life — Daily Mail Online. Retrieved November 11, 2008.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Dawn French bio dawnfrench.tripod.com. Retrieved June 2, 2007.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Farewell French and Saunders — times online.co.uk. Retrieved August 30, 2007.
  6. ↑ 'We know how to use our mighty weight and the power of a full and voluptuous body' — telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved December 6 2007.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Dawn French - comedienne and actress — bbc.co.uk. Retrieved June 18, 2007.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 Dawn French — screenonline.org.uk. Retrieved May 10, 2007.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 What are you looking at? — guardian.co.uk. Retrieved October 5, 2007.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Dawn French on the torture her latest role imposed on her 'spherical' body — dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved January 18 2007.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 Dawn French: The French connection — independent.co.uk. Retrieved December 13 2007.
  12. ↑ Catherine Tate profile — bbc.co.uk. Retrieved May 26, 2007.
  13. ↑ Dibley's Farewell is ratings hit — bbc.co.uk. Retrieved March 8, 2007.
  14. ↑ Weekly Viewing Summary. W.e 26/08/07 — barb.co.uk. Retrieved September 5, 2007.
  15. ↑ Model Moss joins Little Britain — news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved June 4, 2007.
  16. ↑ Lark Rise To Candleford — bbc.co.uk. Retrieved December 30 2007.
  17. ↑ Dawn French's £1.5m memoirs — timesonline.co.uk. Retrieved April 4, 2007.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Dawn French moves to Cornwall to die — timesonline.co.uk. Retrieved December 6 2007.
  19. ↑ Dawn French takes Potter role — news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved May 23, 2007.
  20. ↑ The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe — digitalspy.co.uk. Retrieved September 8, 2007.
  21. ↑ Dawn French to make opera debut — news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved May 23, 2007.
  22. ↑ After 250 years, Terry's chocolate factory melts away — independent.co.uk. Retrieved August 31, 2007.
  23. ↑ The hard sell — guardian.co.uk. Retrieved August 31, 2007.
  24. ↑ Dawn French dropped from chocolate ads — digitalspy.co.uk. Retrieved September 6, 2007.
  25. ↑ Dawn & Lenny's £2.4m mansion — sundaymirror.co.uk. Retrieved December 4, 2006.
  26. ↑ Dawn French: 'I'll die before I get old — dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved August 13, 2007.
  27. ↑ It is an honour to stand among the refuseniks — independent.co.uk. Retrieved May 11, 2007.
  28. ↑ David Beckham, Dawn French named top idols — digitalspy.co.uk. Retrieved September 8, 2007.

External links

The Comic Strip
Adrian Edmondson — Dawn French — Rik Mayall — Nigel Planer — Peter Richardson — Jennifer Saunders