Dawn French - Bio by Daniel B. (Information collected 2008-03-01)

Dawn French is one of Britain’s most loved comediennes. Born Dawn Roma French in Holyhead, Wales, Dawn was brought up along with her brother on the Anglesey RAF Base, RAF Valley. Dawn was educated at St Dunstan’s Abbey, now known as Plymouth College; however she did not enjoy her school life. While at college, French won a debating scholarship, which allowed her to study the Spence School in New York. Whilst there, Dawn met an Irish sailor and was briefly engaged to him. In 1977, Dawn’s father, Denys French, committed suicide after leaving the RAF. He was 45.

Dawn returned to Wales on the news, and after this, left for London where she was to follow in her favourite teacher from school’s footsteps and become a drama teacher. Dawn entered the Central School of Speech and Drama in 1977, two weeks late, and there she met her future best friend, Jennifer Saunders. However, the relationship was not an instant success. Jennifer and Dawn avoided each other for an entire year, with Jennifer considering Dawn “a cocky little upstart”, and Dawn seeing Jennifer as “snooty and aloof”. However, they both struck a chord when they were forced to share a flat, which was being rented by a mutual friend. In the house, Dawn and Jennifer started an act, dubbed The Menopause Sisters, which they used to perform for the other residents of the flat, in the front room. From this, the partnership of French & Saunders was born.

At this time, Dawn was teaching drama, while Jennifer was on the dole. At home, one day, Jennifer spotted an ad for women who wished to perform in the underground comedy scene. As French and Saunders have put it,“We were the only things with breasts to walk through the doors.”

And, they were promptly hired. In that group of fresh, young comedians was Adrian Edmondson, who would later become Saunders husband, Rik Mayall, Alexei Sayle and Robbie Coltrane, all of whom, would go on to form The Comic Strip, a group of young comedians who parodied everything from Enid Blyton to the detective show genre. It was around this time that Dawn met a comedian, who had been establishing himself on talent shows around Britain. His name was Lenny Henry. Dawn fell in love with Lenny, even going so far as to lock her friend Jennifer out of the house, so that he wouldn’t fall for her instead. Dawn convinced him to try out character comedy, and establish himself as a stand-up comic on the alternative scene, which led to his eponymous TV show, and unmitigated success in the UK.

In 1983, Lenny proposed to Dawn, and she recalls that her commitment to Lenny was tested by his mum, who would pile her dinner plate up with stacks of various Jamaican foods. She passed the test, and was married to Lenworth George Henry on the 20th October, 1984, at St Paul's Church in Covent Garden. The pair purchased their home in Berkshire, where they are currently in the process of moving from, to a home closer to Dawn’s mother.

In 1987, after several years on The Comic Strip Presents and a short lived Channel 4 series Girls on Top, Dawn and Jennifer were offered a chance of a lifetime. The BBC commissioned the two to write their own show, which was titled French & Saunders and featured a mixture of all the things that have now become synonymous with the names Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. Originally conceived by the pair as a variety show, French & Saunders has become one of Britain’s staple foods in a comedy diet. From its origins of sketches such as the Two Fat Men, the ever popular “white room” sketches and the Menopatsy Sisters (A spin-off of their original conception sketch) to their ever popular (and surprisingly accurate) movie parodies, such as The Piano, Misery, Titanic, Kill Bill, Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings, French & Saunders, has continued to achieve strong ratings for the BBC, with it’s final series earning up to 4 Million viewers per episode.

In 1991, Dawn decided to launch her solo career, with Murder Most Horrid beginning on BBC One, with Dawn playing a murderer or a murder victim each episode. The series was a great success and ran for 4 successful series, winning two British Comedy Awards.

In 1992, Dawn and Lenny decided to adopt a child, and hence Billie Henry became a part of the family. Dawn went on an extended maternity leave, returning to the small screen in 1994, when she launched another series of French & Saunders, and started a little series based on real life events, which would become a hit for both Dawn and the BBC. The Vicar of Dibley started airing in November of 1994, and would attract up to 15 Million viewers per episode, with 12 Million tuning in for the final episode (proper) of the Vicar’s wedding.

Over the last ten years or so, Dawn has been involved in many projects. She reunited with the original cast from The Comic Strip Presents to do Four Men in a Car in 1998, which remains the latest TCSP episode to feature all original Comic Strip members. In 2001, Dawn and Jennifer declined an Order of the British Empire (OBE), stating that “[they] didn’t deserve it”. 2003 saw Dawn become involved with the Harry Potter franchise, replacing Elizabeth Spriggs as the Fat Lady. In 2006, Dawn co-starred in Jam & Jerusalem, a project written by Jennifer Saunders, where Dawn plays Rosie, a woman with mental difficulties.

Dawn is also involved with her own clothing company, Sixteen47, which caters fashion for the larger lady, and has been a wild success. And, until recently, was the face of Terry’s Chocolate Orange, and helped boost sales with her catchcry “It’s not Terry’s…It’s mine.”