Dawn French

Dawn French
French in January 2005
Born	(1957-10-11) 11 October 1957 (age 59) Holyhead, Anglesey, Wales, UK
Residence	Fowey, Cornwall, England, UK
Occupation	Actress, comedian, writer
Years active	1981–present
Spouse(s)	Lenny Henry (m. 1984; div. 2010) Mark Bignell (m. 2013)
Children	1

Dawn Roma French (born 11 October 1957) is a British actress, writer, and comedian. She is best known for starring in and writing for the comedy sketch show French and Saunders with comedy partner Jennifer Saunders and for playing the lead role as Geraldine Granger in the sitcom The Vicar of Dibley. French has been nominated for seven British Academy Television Awards and also won a BAFTA Fellowship with Jennifer Saunders.

French was born in Holyhead, Wales to English parents Denys Vernon French (5 August 1932 – 11 September 1977) and Felicity Roma French (née O'Brien), who married in their hometown of Plymouth in 1953. She was educated at the independent St Dunstan's Abbey School (now absorbed by Plymouth College). She has a brother, Gary (born 1955). Her father served in the Royal Air Force, stationed at RAF Valley. The RAF partly funded her private education. When her father was stationed at the former RAF Faldingworth, she attended Caistor Grammar School in Caistor, boarding in the school's Lindsey house. She later won a debating scholarship that brought her to study at the Spence School in New York.

French has claimed that her self-confidence and self-belief stem from her father, who told her how beautiful she was each day. She stated, "He taught me to value myself. He told me that I was beautiful and the most precious thing in his life." He had a history of severe depression and attempted suicides but managed to conceal his illness from Dawn and her brother.

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