Dawn French

**Dawn Roma French** (born 11 October 1957) is a British comedian and actress.

French studied acting at the London Central School of Speech and Drama, and met Jennifer Saunders there in 1977. French and Saunders became famous when they appeared on a comedy series called _The Comic Strip_. They wrote the famous comedy series _French & Saunders_ which was first on BBC TV in 1987. She has been nominated for seven BAFTA Awards and also won a Fellowship BAFTA along with Saunders.

French is also well known for appearing as Geraldine Granger in British sitcom _The Vicar of Dibley_. In her career in movie, French played "The Fat Lady" picture in the movie _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_ and voiced the beaver in _The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe_.

French is known for her larger figure. She tries to promote the idea that "big" can be beautiful. As a result, she has her own line of clothes, Sixteen47 .  The name is from the statistic that 47% of British females are at least a size 16. The clothes are made to look good on larger women.

### Television

- _The Comic Strip_ (1982)
- _Five Go Mad in Dorset_ (1982)
- _Five Go Mad on Mescaline_ (1983)
- _The Young Ones_ (1982–1984)
- _Girls On Top_ (1985–1986)
- _Happy Families_ (1985)
- _Kate Bush – Experiment IV_ (Video)(1986)
- _French and Saunders_ (1987–2007)
- _Murder Most Horrid_ (1991–1999)
- _Absolutely Fabulous_ (1992)
- _The Legends of Treasure Island_ (1993–1995)
- _The Vicar of Dibley_ (1994–2007) Geraldine Granger
- _Sex & Chocolate_ (1997)
- _Let Them Eat Cake_ (1999)
- _Ted and Alice_ (2002)
- _Wild West_ (2002–2004)
- _Marple_: _Sleeping Murder_ (2005)
- _Jam and Jerusalem_ (2006, 2008, 2009)
- _Dawn French's Girls Who Do Comedy_ (2006)
- _Little Britain Abroad_ (2006)
- _Marple_ (2006)
- _High Table_ (2007)
- _The Meaning of Life_ (2007)
- _Dawn French's Boys Who Do Comedy_ (2007)
- _Lark Rise to Candleford_ (2008 & 2011)
- _Psychoville_ (2009–2011)
- _The Paul O'Grady Show_ (2009) [Guest Host]
- _Alan Carr: Chatty Man_ (2009)
- _Roger & Val Have Just Got In_ (2010 – present)
- _Paul O'Grady Live_ (2010)

### Theatre

- _Me and Mamie O'Rourke_
- _When I Was a Girl I Used to Scream and Shout_
- _All Souls' Night, Lyric Theatre_
- _Swan Lake_ (1996)
- _Then Again_ (1997)
- _Side By Side_ (1997)
- _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ (2001)
- _My Brilliant Divorce_ (2003)
- _Smaller_ (2005)
- _La fille du régiment_ (2007)
- _Still Alive_ (2008–2009) the last comedy sketch show done by French and Saunders

### Movies

- _Eat the Rich_ (1987)
- _The Adventures of Pinocchio_ (1996)
- _David Copperfield_ (1999)
- _Maybe Baby_ (2000)
- _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_ (2004) The Fat Lady
- _The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe_ (2005) Mrs Beaver (Voice)
- _Love and Other Disasters_ (2006)
- _Coraline_ (2009) Miss Miriam Forcible/Other Forcible (Voice)
- _Animals United_ (2010) Angie (Voice)

## Awards and recognition

French and Saunders won the Golden Rose of Montreux award in 2002 and in 2003. She was listed in _The Observer_ as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. In a 2006 poll French was named as the most admired female celebrity amongst women in Britain.

### BAFTA Awards

- 1989 – Nominated – BAFTA TV Award for Best Light Entertainment Performance in _French and Saunders_
- 1991  – Nominated – BAFTA TV Award for Best Light Entertainment Performance in _French and Saunders_
- 1998 – Nominated – BAFTA TV Award for Best Comedy Performance in _The Vicar of Dibley_
- 2000 – Nominated – BAFTA TV Award for Best Comedy Performance in _The Vicar of Dibley_
- 2001 – Nominated – BAFTA TV Award for Best Comedy Performance in _The Vicar of Dibley_
- 2007 – Nominated – BAFTA TV Award for Best Comedy Performance in _The Vicar of Dibley_
- 2009 – **Won** – BAFTA Fellowship – awarded with Jennifer Saunders
- 2011 – Nominated – BAFTA Best Female Performance In A Comedy Role in _ Roger and Val Have Just Got In _

### British Comedy Awards

- 1997 – **Won** – British Comedy Award for Best TV Comedy Actress in _The Vicar of Dibley_
- 1998 – Nominated – British Comedy Award for Best TV Comedy Actress in _The Vicar of Dibley_
- 2011 - Nominated - British Comedy Awards for Best TV Comedy Actress in _Psychoville_

### National Television Awards

- 1998 – Nominated – National Television Award for Most Popular Comedy Performer in _The Vicar of Dibley_
- 2000 – Nominated – National Television Award for Most Popular Comedy Performer in _The Vicar of Dibley_
- 2002 – Nominated – National Television Award for Most Popular Comedy Performance in _Ted and Alice_
- 2003 – Nominated – National Television Award for Most Popular Comedy Performance in _Wild West_

### Other

- 1991 – **Won** – Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award for TV- Light Entertainment in _French and Saunders_
- 2001 – Along with Jennifer Saunders, declined an OBE.
- 2002 – **Won** – Rose d'Or Light Entertainment Festival Award shared with Jennifer Saunders

## Other websites

- Biography at the Museum of Broadcast Communications
- French and Saunders

## Infobox (comedian awards)

- **child**: yes
- **baftaawards**: **Fellowship** _with _Jennifer Saunders''


## Infobox (comedian)

- **name**: Dawn French
- **image**: Dawn French 4.jpg
- **imagesize**: 200px
- **caption**: French at the 2005 Make Poverty History march.
- **birth name**: Dawn Roma French
- **birth place**: Holyhead, Wales, UK
- **nationality**: British
- **medium**: Actress, writer, comedienne
- **notable work**: **Various** in _French & Saunders_
**Geraldine Granger** in _The Vicar of Dibley_
**Various** in _Murder Most Horrid_
- **influences**: John Cleese
- **active**: 1981–present
- **spouse**: (divorced);