Book description
Dawn French is one of the greatest comedy actresses of our time, with
a career that has spanned nearly three decades. Loved for her
irreverant humour, Dawn has achieved massive mainstream success while
continuing to push boundaries and challenge stereotypes. Here she
describes the journey that would eventually establish her as a perhaps
unlikely, but nevertheless genuine, national treasure.
Dawn began her career as part of the groundbreaking alternative
comedy group, the Comic Strip, marking a radical departure from the
more traditional comedy acts of the time. Later came the all-female
Girls On Top, which teamed Dawn with Jennifer Saunders, Ruby
Wax and Tracy Ullman and firmly established women in British comedy.
As part of the wildly successful and much loved duo French and
Saunders, Dawn helped create a repetoire of brilliantly observed
characters, parodying popular culture and impersonating everything
from Madonna and Harry Potter to The Exorcist. Dawn's more
recent role in the Vicar of Dibley showcased not only her
talent but also her ability to take a controversial and topical issue
and make it mainstream - and very funny.
From her early years as an RAF child and her flat-sharing antics
with Jennifer Saunders, to her outspoken views on sizism and her
marriage to Lenny Henry, Dear Fatty will chronicle the
extraordinary, hilarious rise of a complex, dynamic and unstoppable woman.
Dawn French was born in Wales in 1957. She trained to be a drama
teacher at London's Central School of Speech and Drama where she met
Jennifer Saunders. Dawn French has numerous television credits to her
name, the most notable of which is her role in
The Vicar of Dibley
. She is married to the comedian Lenny Henry, with whom she has a
daughter.
