Jennifer Jane Saunders (born 6 July 1958) is an English actress, comedian, singer and screenwriter. Saunders originally found attention in the 1980s, when she became a member of
The Comic Strip
The Comic Strip are a group of British comedians who came to prominence in the 1980s. They are known for their television series ''The Comic Strip Presents...'', which was labelled as a pioneering example of the alternative comedy scene. The ...
after graduating from the
Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...
with her best friend and comedy partner,
Dawn French. With French, she co-wrote and starred in their eponymous sketch show, ''
French and Saunders
''French and Saunders'' is a British sketch comedy television series written by and starring comedy duo and namesake Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders that originally broadcast on BBC2 from 1987 to 1993, and later on BBC One until 2017. It is a ...
'', for which they jointly received a
BAFTA Fellowship
The BAFTA Fellowship, or the Academy Fellowship, is a lifetime achievement award presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) in recognition of "outstanding achievement in the art forms of the moving image". The award is t ...
in 2009. Saunders later received acclaim in the 1990s for writing and playing her character
Edina Monsoon in her sitcom ''
Absolutely Fabulous
''Absolutely Fabulous'' (also known as ''Ab Fab'') is a British television sitcom based on the ''French and Saunders'' sketch, "Modern Mother and Daughter", created by Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. The show was created and written by Saund ...
''.
Early life
Jennifer Jane Saunders was born on 6 July 1958 in
Sleaford
Sleaford is a market town and civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. Centred on the former parish of New Sleaford, the modern boundaries and urban area include Quarrington to the south-west, Holdingham to the nor ...
,
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...
, England.
[Hannah Hamad. ]
Jennifer Saunders
' — screenonline.org. Retrieved 4 October 2007. Her mother, Barbara Jane Saunders née Duminy, was a biology teacher, born in France, and her father, Robert Thomas Saunders, served as a pilot in the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
(RAF). He reached the rank of
group captain
Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...
, and later worked for
British Aerospace
British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marconi ...
. She has three brothers.
[Decca Aitkenhead. ]
What are you looking at?
' The Guardian. Retrieved 15 November 2021.[Chrissy Iley]
"Farewell French and Saunders"
The Times, 12 August 2007; retrieved 15 November 2021. As her father was in the armed forces during her childhood years, Saunders changed schools many times.
She was educated from the age of five to 18 in
boarding school
A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...
s and then at
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 ...
, an independent school in west London. After school, she worked for a year in Italy as an
au pair
An au pair (; plural: au pairs) is a helper from a foreign country working for, and living as part of, a host family. Typically, au pairs take on a share of the family's responsibility for childcare as well as some housework, and receive a monet ...
.
In 1977, Saunders received a place at the
Central School of Speech and Drama
The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...
in London on a drama teachers' course,
where she met her future comedy partner,
Dawn French. French and Saunders came from RAF backgrounds, and had grown up on the same base, even having had the same best friend, without ever meeting.
The comic duo originally did not get on well, and as far as Saunders was concerned, French was a "cocky little upstart". The distrust was mutual: French considered Saunders snooty and uptight.
French wanted to become a drama teacher,
whereas Saunders loathed the idea and had not fully understood what the course was about; thus, she disliked French for being enthusiastic and confident about the course.
Saunders was shocked to find that she was taking a course to become a teacher, as her mother had filled in the application form. Her mother was saddened when Saunders chose not to apply for an
Oxbridge
Oxbridge is a portmanteau of Oxford and Cambridge, the two oldest, wealthiest, and most famous universities in the United Kingdom. The term is used to refer to them collectively, in contrast to other British universities, and more broadly to de ...
university education.
After the initial friction experienced while at college, French and Saunders shared a flat together. French has remarked on Saunders' messy habits when sharing the house saying: "When we lived together in
Chalk Farm
Chalk Farm is a small urban district of north London, lying immediately north of Camden Town, in the London Borough of Camden.
History
Manor of Rugmere
Chalk Farm was originally known as the Manor of Rugmere, an estate that was mentioned in ...
, she had a room at the top of the house. We got broken into and the police said, 'Well, it is quite bad, but the worst is that room at the top.' And, of course, nobody had been in there."
The two performed together after graduation, working the festival, cabaret,
and stand-up circuits. They formed a double-act called The Menopause Sisters. Saunders described the act, which involved wearing
tampons
A tampon is a menstrual product designed to absorb blood and vaginal secretions by insertion into the vagina during menstruation. Unlike a pad, it is placed internally, inside of the vaginal canal. Once inserted correctly, a tampon is held ...
in their ears, as "cringeworthy."
The manager of the club where they performed recalled, "They didn't seem to give a damn. There was no star quality about them at all."
Career
Early career
French and Saunders would eventually come to public attention as members of the informal comedy collective
The Comic Strip
The Comic Strip are a group of British comedians who came to prominence in the 1980s. They are known for their television series ''The Comic Strip Presents...'', which was labelled as a pioneering example of the alternative comedy scene. The ...
, part of the
alternative comedy scene in the early 1980s. They answered a 1980 advert in ''
The Stage
''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. It was founded in 1880. It contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at those wh ...
'' newspaper looking for female comedians to perform at The Comic Strip, which had, until that point, only had male performers.
When they walked into the audition, they were immediately told, "You're booked. When can you start?"
They became continuing members of The Comic Strip, which included
Adrian Edmondson
Adrian Charles Edmondson (born 24 January 1957) is an English actor, comedian, musician, writer and television presenter. He was part of the alternative comedy boom in the early 1980s and had roles in the television series ''The Young Ones (TV s ...
,
Rik Mayall
Richard Michael Mayall (7 March 1958 – 9 June 2014) was an English actor, stand-up comedian and writer. He formed a close partnership with Ade Edmondson while they were students at Manchester University and was a pioneer of alternative ...
,
Peter Richardson, and
Robbie Coltrane
Anthony Robert McMillan (30 March 195014 October 2022), known professionally as Robbie Coltrane, was a Scottish actor and comedian. He gained worldwide recognition in the 2000s for playing Rubeus Hagrid in the ''Harry Potter'' film series. H ...
.
The group performed at the Boulevard Theatre, above Soho's
Raymond Revuebar
The Raymond Revuebar (1958–2004) was a theatre and strip club at 11 Walker's Court (now the location of The Box Soho nightclub), in the centre of London's Soho district. For many years, it was the only venue in London that offered full-fronta ...
, and gained a cult following, with visiting audience members including
Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable characters. He is ...
,
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. In many of his films, he played rebels against the social structure. He received numerous ...
, and
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...
, who once joined in the performance. By the time French and Saunders became members of The Comic Strip, French was already working as a drama teacher, whilst Saunders was on
the dole
Unemployment benefits, also called unemployment insurance, unemployment payment, unemployment compensation, or simply unemployment, are payments made by authorized bodies to unemployed people. In the United States, benefits are funded by a comp ...
and spending much of her time in bed.
1980s and 1990s
The comedy group appeared on
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
's first night on air, in the first episode of ''
The Comic Strip Presents
The Comic Strip are a group of British comedians who came to prominence in the 1980s. They are known for their television series ''The Comic Strip Presents...'', which was labelled as a pioneering example of the alternative comedy scene. The c ...
: Five Go Mad In Dorset'', broadcast on 2 November 1982.
In the episodes "
Bad News" and "More Bad News", Saunders plays a trashy rock journalist touring with the fictional
heavy metal band Bad News.
In 1985, Saunders starred in and co-wrote ''
Girls on Top'' with French,
Tracey Ullman
Tracey Ullman (born Trace Ullman, 30 December 1959) is a British-American actress, comedian, singer, writer, producer, and director. Her earliest mainstream appearances were on British television sketch comedy shows '' A Kick Up the Eighties'' ( ...
, and
Ruby Wax
Ruby Wax (; born 19 April 1953) is an American-British actress, comedian, writer, television personality, and mental health campaigner. A classically-trained actress, Wax was with the Royal Shakespeare Company for five years and co-starred on t ...
, which portrayed four eccentric women sharing a flat in London.
Saunders also appeared in
Ben Elton
Benjamin Charles Elton (born 3 May 1959) is an English comedian, actor, author, playwright, lyricist and director. He was a part of London's alternative comedy movement of the 1980s and became a writer on the sitcoms '' The Young Ones'' and ''Bla ...
's ''
Happy Families
Happy Families is a traditional British card game usually with a specially made set of picture cards, featuring illustrations of fictional families of four, most often based on occupation types. The object of the game is to collect complete fami ...
'' where she played various members of the same family, including all four Fuddle sisters in the six-episode BBC
situation comedy
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
. Saunders starred in a Comic Strip film called ''The Supergrass'', a little-known parody of slick 1980s police dramas, directed by Peter Richardson. Saunders played
Meryl Streep
Mary Louise Meryl Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Often described as "the best actress of her generation", Streep is particularly known for her versatility and accent adaptability. She has received numerous accolades throu ...
playing
Arthur Scargill
Arthur Scargill (born 11 January 1938) is a British trade unionist who was President of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) from 1982 to 2002. He is best known for leading the UK miners' strike (1984–85), a major event in the history of ...
's wife in ''Strike'', a Comic Strip spoof on the
1984 miners' strike. She appeared twice as a guest on ''
The Young Ones''.
In 1987, she and French created ''
French and Saunders
''French and Saunders'' is a British sketch comedy television series written by and starring comedy duo and namesake Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders that originally broadcast on BBC2 from 1987 to 1993, and later on BBC One until 2017. It is a ...
'', a popular
sketch comedy
Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...
series for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
which aired until 2007.
By the end of the 1980s, the show was an established comedy programme and became a staple in BBC viewing.
'' live benefit in 1989, along with Dawn French and others.
Saunders and French followed separate careers as well as maintaining their comedy sketch show. Saunders' biggest solo success has been ''
''. The comedy was, in fact based largely on a fourteen-minute ''French & Saunders'' sketch called "Modern Mother and Daughter". Saunders and French were going to star in the comedy together, but just as the studio had been booked, French received a long-awaited phone call confirming that an adoption agency had a new baby for her to adopt.
Saunders proceeded to star in the comedy. The series, which she wrote and starred in as the irresponsible fashion
, brought her international acclaim and attention.
The show ran for five full series, two telemovies, three special episodes, and a feature film over the course of twenty-four years from 1992 to 2016.
". Although they share no scenes, Jennifer's Absolutely Fabulous co-star
also appeared in ''The One With Ross's Wedding Part Two'' as the Waltham's housekeeper. In 1999, she appeared alongside French in ''
''.
. The first series aired in 2006, the second in 2008, and the third in 2009 on
. The show starred
host. The show ran for one series. Saunders played the eponymous character whose programme features crude headlines such as "Wife a slapper? Lie detector reveals all".
Also in 2007, the final series of ''French & Saunders'' aired. ''A Bucket o' French & Saunders'' featured a compilation of old and new sketches and aired on BBC One in September 2007. It was the third show she had written in a year.
In 2008 and 2009, French & Saunders completed their final live tour, ''French & Saunders: Still Alive''.
Saunders appeared on the "
'', posting a lap time of 1:46.1s, making her the fifth-fastest guest ever in the car that was used at that time. A self-confessed petrolhead, she has a passion for
s and has so far owned four.
''. Playing the
'', a BBC Three comedy set in the fictional Broadmarsh prison where she plays the cruel and work-shy governor, Margaret. The show's creator,
, stated that she 'begged' Saunders to take the role, having been a fan of Saunders' previous comedy work.
She also wrote the script for the
...