Dawn French: Movies & Box Office

Dawn French is a British actress, comedian and writer whose career spans over four decades, beginning with her debut on The Comic Strip Presents in 1982 and continuing to the present day. Born on 11 October 1957 in Holyhead, Wales, to English parents, she was raised in a military family, moving between RAF bases before attending the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama where she met future comedy partner Jennifer Saunders. The duo formed the iconic double‑act French & Saunders, creating the eponymous sketch series in 1987 that ran for twenty years and earned them multiple BAFTA nominations and a 2009 BAFTA Fellowship. French’s solo breakthrough came with the beloved BBC sitcom The Vicar of Dibley (1994‑2007), in which she played the effervescent Reverend Geraldine Granger, a role that attracted over twelve million viewers for its final episode and remains a cultural touchstone in British comedy. She also headlined the anthology series Murder Most Horrid (1991‑1999), delivering a new darkly comic character each week, and later starred in Jam & Jerusalem, Delicious and The Trouble with Maggie Cole, showcasing her versatility across drama and comedy. Beyond television, French has appeared in films such as Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (as the Fat Lady) and voiced Mrs Beaver in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Her stage work includes productions at the Royal Opera House and the London Palladium, while her one‑woman shows “30 Million Minutes” and “Dawn French is a Huge Twt” have toured internationally. An accomplished author, she has written several best‑selling novels and memoirs, including Dear Fatty and Because of You, the latter being long‑listed for the 2021 Women’s Prize for Fiction. French’s personal life has included marriages to Lenny Henry (1990‑2010) and Mark Bignell (2013‑present), with whom she shares an adopted daughter, Billie. A vocal supporter of charitable causes such as the Orchid Project and a lifelong fan of Plymouth Argyle, she continues to influence British entertainment through her writing, performing and public advocacy.