Dawn French

Also known as Dawn Roma French

British actress, comedian and writer (born 1957)

OverviewAI-generated

Dawn French is a British comedian, novelist, writer, and stage actor. Born in Holyhead, Anglesey, Wales, in 1957, she began her work period in 1981. She is educated at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and resides in Fowey. Her fields of work include prose and acting.

French is the spouse of Lenny Henry and speaks English. She has authored thirty works, with notable titles including *Oh Dear Sylvia*, *X40 Dear Fatty Dumpbin*, *X18 Dear Fatty Dumpbin*, *Through the Age*, and *Well Rounded Woman*. Her notable work also includes *The Magician's Elephant*.

Synthesized by Vinony from 22 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, TMDb. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

In the Vinony graph

Vinony's link graph records 538 inbound references to Dawn French, and connects out to British Academy Television Awards, Spice Girls and Marks & Spencer.

It sits within the topics 1957 births, 20th-century British actresses and 20th-century British comedians.

Vinony links it to 31 Wikipedia language editions.

Person · Open Library

Born: 1957
Works: 30

Top works

Oh Dear Sylvia
X40 Dear Fatty Dumpbin
X18 Dear Fatty Dumpbin
Through the Age
Well Rounded Woman

via Open Library + Wikidata

Film & TV

Holyhead, Anglesey, Wales, UK

Dawn Roma French (born 11 October 1957) is a British actress, comedian, presenter and writer. French is known for writing and starring on the BBC comedy sketch show French and Saunders with her best friend and comedy partner, Jennifer Saunders, and played the lead role as Geraldine Granger in the BBC sitcom The Vicar of Dibley. She has been nominated for seven BAFTA TV Awards and won a BAFTA…

Known for

Becoming Victoria Wood — Self2026
Can You Keep a Secret? — Debbie Fendon2026
Shaun Tan's Tales from Outer Suburbia2026
BeddyByes — Gramma Leeba2025
Joan Rivers at the BBC — Self (archive footage)2024
Kirsty MacColl at the BBC — Self (archive footage)2024
The Nevermets — Narrator2024
The Magician's Elephant — Sister Marie (voice)2023
Dawn French Is a Huge Twat — Self2023
imagine... French & Saunders: Pointed, Bitchy, Bitter — Self - Featured Artist2023

via TMDB

Key facts

Born: ( 1957-10-11 ) 11 October 1957 (age 68) , Holyhead , Wales
Education: Royal Central School of Speech and Drama ( BA )
Occupations: Actress comedian writer
Years active: 1981–present
Notable work: The Comic Strip Presents... , French and Saunders , Murder Most Horrid , The Vicar of Dibley
Spouse: Lenny Henry ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1984 ; divorced</span>"}]]}'>div. 2010 ) , Mark Bignell ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 2013 )
Awards: BAFTA Fellowship (2009, with Jennifer Saunders )

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of: human
Given name: Dawn
Gender: female
Citizenship: United Kingdom
Place of birth: Holyhead
Spouse: Lenny Henry
Occupation: television presenter
Languages spoken: English language
Notable work: The Magician's Elephant
Hair colour: brown hair
Image: Dawn French 4.jpg
Residence: Fowey

Show 4 more facts

Commons category: Dawn French
date of birth: 1957-10-11
start of work period: 1981-00-00
social media followers: 609200

Sources (7)

via Wikidata · CC0

~20 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Dawn Roma French (born 11 October 1957) is an English actress, comedian, and writer. She is known for writing and starring in the BBC sketch comedy series French and Saunders (1987–2007) with her friend and comedy partner Jennifer Saunders, and for starring in the BBC comedy series Murder Most Horrid (1991–1999) and The Vicar of Dibley (1994–2007). She has been nominated for seven British Academy Television Awards and won a BAFTA Fellowship with Saunders in 2009.

Early life

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Dawn French” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.