Comedy writer and actress, born in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, EC England, UK. Trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama, London, she teamed up with Dawn French in a comedy act, taking it from clubs to theatre (An Evening with French and Saunders, 1989), and making a successful breakthrough into television with The Comic Strip Presents ... (1990), Girls on Top and six series of French and Saunders. She became internationally known following the success of her comedy series Absolutely Fabulous (19935, 2001; Emmy, 1993), starring herself and Joanna Lumley, which generated a US version in 1995. She teamed up again with French for Let Them Eat Cake (1999) and wrote the series Jam and Jerusalem (featuring French) in 2006.
Jennifer Jane Saunders (born July 6, 1958 in Sleaford, Lincolnshire) is an English comedian, actress, and comedy writer. She is one-half of the comedy duo, French and Saunders (with Dawn French), and is most widely known for writing and starring in the popular British sitcom Absolutely Fabulous.
Biography
Early years
Saunders attended the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. It was at London's Central School of Speech and Drama, in 1977, that she met her future partner, Dawn French, and as far as Saunders was concerned, French was a cocky little upstart. French considered Saunders snooty and aloof. French had already been to drama classes, whereas Saunders had enrolled on the course only under pressure from her mother, who hoped that as her daughter had failed to get into university, she might salvage a future as a drama teacher.
Dawn's and Jennifer's double-act personae had been created and honed on stage, playing the London clubs and fringe cabaret venues in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
French, Saunders, and Absolutely Fabulous
She and French created French &
Both comedians are able to play a seemingly endless array of roles in parodies ranging from Fellini to Baywatch, to The White Stripes.
Saunders' biggest solo success, Absolutely Fabulous, was in fact based largely on a French &
Jennifer Saunders came to international attention for Absolutely Fabulous, which she created, wrote, and starred in as the irrepressible, irresponsible, impossible Edina Monsoon.
The Comic Strip
Both Saunders and French were also founding and ongoing members of the comedy troupe The Comic Strip, along with many of the comedians who were to become their generation's most well-known comedy performers including Peter Richardson, Rik Mayall, and Robbie Coltrane, as well as Saunders' husband Adrian Edmondson.
Saunders' first exposure to a wider audience occurred when comedy producer Martin Lewis recorded a Comic Strip record album in Spring 1981 and featured skits by French & The album was the first recording to feature Saunders and presented her and comedic partner Dawn French to an audience outside London.
The Comic Strip was a completely different half hour film each week.
In the episodes "Bad News" and "More Bad News," Saunders plays a trashy rock journalist touring with the fictional heavy metal band, Bad News.
Saunders starred with Edmondson in a Comic Strip film called, The Supergrass, a little-known parody of slick '80s police dramas directed by Peter Richardson.
Saunders also appeared twice as guest in, The Young Ones, where Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson were two of the main stars.
In 1985, Saunders appeared as all four Fuddle sisters in the six episode BBC situation comedy, Happy Families, written by Ben Elton (cowriter of The Young Ones) and starring Edmonson as her brother Guy Fuddle, who needs to reunite the family for the sake of their dying grandmother, also played by Saunders.
Miscellany
Saunders appeared in the Amnesty International The Secret Policeman's Biggest Ball live benefit in 1989, along with Dawn French and others.
She has also appeared on the US television shows Roseanne and Friends and in the Spice Girls' movie Spiceworld.
Along with Dawn French, Saunders declined an OBE in 2001. (French and Saunders) Writers Guild of Great Britain Award for Scripting (1993). (French and Saunders) Honorary Rose Award (2002), (with Dawn French). (Shrek 2)
Currently
Saunders is currently working on two new series in 2006, Jam and Jerusalem, about a Women's Institute, and The Vivienne Vyle Show.
Jennifer Saunders is married to fellow comedian Adrian Edmondson, with whom she has three daughters: Eleanor (b.
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