Daisy Constance Donovan (born 23 July 1973) is an English television presenter, actress and writer.

Early life

Donovan was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Her father was fashion photographer and film director Terence Donovan; her mother, Diana (''née'' St. Felix Dare), was chairwoman of the

English National Ballet School English National Ballet School is a specialist classical ballet school based in London in the United Kingdom. The School was founded in 1988 by Peter Schaufuss as the official school of English National Ballet. The School's current Artistic D ...

. She is sister to

Rockstar Games Rockstar Games, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in New York City. The company was established in December 1998 as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, using the assets Take-Two had previously acquired from BMG Interactive. Foun ...

co-founder Terry Donovan and half-sister to Big Audio Dynamite keyboard player Dan Donovan – and former sister-in-law of

Patsy Kensit Patricia Jude Kensit (born 4 March 1968) is an English actress and was the lead singer of the pop band Eighth Wonder in the 1980s. Beginning her career as a child actor, Kensit gained attention when she acted in a string of commercials for Bird ...

.Leith, William (30 March 2002
"Queen of Cringe"
''The Guardian''. Retrieved 5 February 2016. Donovan went to the independent

St Paul's Girls School St Paul's Girls' School is an independent day school for girls, aged 11 to 18, located in Brook Green, Hammersmith, in West London, England. History St Paul's Girls' School was founded by the Worshipful Company of Mercers in 1904, using part o ...

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

, London, where she met her inspiration – the High Mistress, Baroness Brigstocke. She started reading

Classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

before switching to study English at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, where she performed with the Drama Society. She then studied at the

London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) is a drama school located in Hammersmith, London. It is the oldest specialist drama school in the British Isles and a founding member of the Federation of Drama Schools. LAMDA's Principal is ...

Career

Donovan became a receptionist, and then a runner on the first series of ''

The Eleven O'Clock Show ''The 11 O'Clock Show'' is a satirical late-night British television comedy series on Channel 4 which featured topical sketches and commentary on news items. It ran between 30 September 1998 and 8 December 2000, most notably hosted by Iain Lee a ...

''. The producers were looking for a female interviewer who would act straight but use comedic lines, and searched everywhere – until they tried their receptionist, the rather posh-talking Donovan. She made occasional appearance as "

It Girl An "it girl" is an attractive young woman, who is perceived to have both sex appeal and a personality that is especially engaging. The expression ''it girl'' originated in British upper-class society around the turn of the 20th century. ...

" Pandora Box-Grainger. In the second series she presented shorts, 'Angel of Delight', in which she interviewed politicians (she once asked

Denis Healey Denis Winston Healey, Baron Healey, (30 August 1917 – 3 October 2015) was a British Labour Party (UK), Labour politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979 and as Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 to 1970; he ...

whether he would ever give

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

a "pearl necklace") and got the co-host job with

Iain Lee Iain Lee (born Iain Lee Rougvie; 9 June 1973) is an English broadcaster, writer, and former television presenter and stand-up comedian who hosts the phone-in talk show '' The Late Night Alternative'' on "pay to view" Patreon. Lee's career began ...

from late 1999–2000. In 2000, Donovan was featured prominently in series one of sitcom ''

My Family ''My Family'' is a British sitcom created and initially co-written by Fred Barron, which was produced by DLT Entertainment and Rude Boy Productions, and broadcast by BBC One for eleven series between 2000 and 2011, with Christmas specials broadc ...

'', playing Brigitte, Ben's annoying, superstitious

dental assistant Dental assistants are members of the dental team. They support a dental operator (such as a dentist or other treating dental auxiliary) in providing more efficient dental treatment. ''Dental assistants'' are distinguished from other groups of d ...

. Donovan subsequently hosted quiz shows: ''

Does Doug Know? Does may refer to: * A form of the English verb '' do'' * Deer, a ruminant mammal belonging to the family Cervidae * plural of John Doe John Doe (male) and Jane Doe (female) are multiple-use placeholder names that are used when the true nam ...

'' and the eponymous '' Daisy Daisy'', which she also wrote and produced. In 2006, Donovan presented the ''British Fashion awards'' and later presented one series of a programme based in America called ''

Daisy Does America ''Daisy Does America'' is a hybrid reality/comedy series that premiered on TBS on 6 December 2005. The show, similar to British actress and comedian Daisy Donovan's previous outing for British television ''Daisy, Daisy'', was adapted for US audie ...

''. Since 2006 she has concentrated on writing screenplays and acting in minor roles. Donovan appeared in '' Death at a Funeral'' (2007), '' Wild Child'' (2008) and ''

I Give it a Year ''I Give It a Year'' is a 2013 romantic comedy film, written and directed by Dan Mazer and starring Rose Byrne, Rafe Spall, Anna Faris and Simon Baker. The film was based and filmed in London and was released on 8 February 2013. ''I Give It a Ye ...

'' (2012).

Personal life

In 2005 she married her longtime boyfriend,

Dan Mazer Daniel Gideon Mazer (born 4 October 1971) is a British screenwriter, producer, and comedian. Mazer is best known as the long-time writing and production partner of comedian Sacha Baron Cohen and worked with him on his three unorthodox characters ...

, a comedy writer and producer, in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. They have two daughters, Maisy and Mini Ivy. She lives in

West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North London ...

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Donovan, Daisy 1973 births Living people Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art Alumni of the University of Edinburgh English film actresses English women writers English stage actresses British television presenters Participants in American reality television series People educated at St Paul's Girls' School British women television presenters