Karen Dunbar (born 1 April 1971) is a Scottish comedian, actress and writer. She first appeared on television on the

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Ireland. I ...

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 ''

Chewin' the Fat ''Chewin' the Fat'' is a Scottish comedy sketch show, starring Ford Kiernan, Greg Hemphill and Karen Dunbar. Comedians Paul Riley and Mark Cox also appeared regularly on the show among other actors such as Gregor Fisher and Tom Urie. ''Chewi ...

'' (1999–2002), and was subsequently given her own show by the channel titled ''

The Karen Dunbar Show ''The Karen Dunbar Show'' was a Scottish comedy sketch show that aired on BBC One Scotland, starring comedian and actress Karen Dunbar. It was produced by BBC Scotland. It also starred actor and musician Tom Urie. Theme The original theme tun ...

'' (2003–2006).

Early life

Dunbar was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and moved to

Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire Subdivisions of Scotland, council area and the historic Shires of Scotlan ...

at an early age. She attended

Ayr Academy Ayr Academy (Scottish Gaelic: ''Acadamaidh Inbhir Àir'') is a non-denominational secondary school situated within the Craigie Estate area at University Avenue in Ayr, South Ayrshire. It is a comprehensive school for children of ages 11–18 fro ...

Career

''Chewin' the Fat''

Dunbar began her career as a DJ and karaoke host before she attended The Comedy Unit's open auditions in 1997 where she was cast in the

comedy sketch show ''

.'' It has been rumoured that Dunbar was offered the role of Isa for the spin-off ''

Still Game ''Still Game'' is a Scottish sitcom, produced by The Comedy Unit with BBC Scotland. It was created by Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill, who played the lead characters, Jack Jarvis, Esq and Victor McDade, two Glaswegian pensioners. The characte ...

'' focusing on the characters Jack Jarvis and Victor McDade, but she declined in order to star in her own show. No such rumour has ever been confirmed nor denied by Dunbar or any of her former co-stars.

''The Karen Dunbar Show''

She was subsequently given her own show by the channel, ''

,'' which received two coveted

Golden Rose The Golden Rose is a gold ornament, which popes of the Catholic Church have traditionally blessed annually. It is occasionally conferred as a token of reverence or affection. Recipients have included churches and sanctuaries, royalty, military ...

nominations for Best Comedy Show and Karen herself two personal nominations for Best Comedy Performance''.'' Karen has presented

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 November 197 ...

series such as ''Karen Dunbar’s Beautiful Sunday'' and ''Karen’s Summer Supplement,'' as well as being Team Captain on the quiz show ''Step Back in Time''.

Theatre

In Christmas 2007, Dunbar made her first appearance in

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

, at the King's Theatre in

, playing Nanny Begood in ''

Sleeping Beauty ''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess cu ...

''. Further pantomime roles include the dual role of the Good Fairy and the Wicked Stepmother in ''

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

'' (2008–09) and

Widow Twankey Widow Twankey (originally Twankay, sometimes Twanky) is a female character in the pantomime '' Aladdin''. She is a pantomime dame, played by an older man. History The story of Aladdin is drawn from the '' Arabian Nights'', a collection of Midd ...

in ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; ar, علاء الدين, ', , ATU 561, ‘Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of ...

'' (2009–10). She appeared as a critic on ''

Britain's Got More Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global Got Talent, ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (c ...

'' on 27 May 2008. She played the fairy godmother in ''

'' (2012–13) and appeared in the 2013–14 season as a new character, the Slave of the Ring, in Aladdin. As a comedy actress, she has also tackled serious roles, most notably to date her performance in the poetic

monologue In theatre, a monologue (from el, μονόλογος, from μόνος ''mónos'', "alone, solitary" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes a ...

''A Drunk Woman Looks at the Thistle'' adapted by

Denise Mina Denise Mina (born 21 August 1966) is a Scottish crime writer and playwright. She has written the ''Garnethill'' trilogy and another three novels featuring the character Patricia "Paddy" Meehan, a Glasgow journalist. Described as an author of T ...

from Hugh MacDiarmid's poem of the same name. In between 2012 and 2016, she was featured in

Phyllida Lloyd Phyllida Christian Lloyd, (born 17 June 1957) is an English film director and producer, best known for '' Mamma Mia!'' (2008) and '' The Iron Lady'' (2011). Her theatre work includes directing productions at the Royal Court Theatre and Royal N ...

's acclaimed trilogy of all-female Shakespeare plays at the

Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage and Josie Rourke have all served as artistic director, a post held since 2019 by Micha ...

, playing Casca in

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...

, Bardolph/Vernon in Henry IV and Trinculo in The Tempest.

''Happy Hollidays''

In 2009, Dunbar starred in a six-part series of the Scottish comedy ''

Happy Hollidays ''Happy Hollidays'' is a Scottish television situation comedy, created and written by Simon Carlyle and Gregor Sharp, and broadcast by BBC Scotland. One series of the comedy was commissioned by BBC Scotland and the show was produced by Effinge ...

.'' She played the role of Arme Gonnerssen in '' M.I. High'' in 2009.

Recent work

In 2014, she was lead compère at the

XX Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

opening ceremony held in

alongside

John Barrowman John Scot Barrowman (born 11 March 1967) is a Scottish-American actor, author, presenter, singer and comic book writer. He is known for his role as Captain Jack Harkness in '' Doctor Who'' and ''Torchwood'', and as Malcolm Merlyn in the Arrow ...

. Barrowman and Dunbar sang and performed a showcase of Scottish culture, inventions and places during the broadcast, which reached a global audience of 1.5 billion people. In October 2017 Dunbar appeared in BBC Scotland's ''

River City ''River City'' is a Scottish television soap opera that was first broadcast on BBC One Scotland on 24 September 2002. ''River City'' follows the lives of the people who live and work in the fictional district of Shieldinch. In November 2017, a s ...

'' for a special one-off appearance. She played the part of Francesca Simpson, estranged wife of Pete Galloway (played by Andy Gray). In 2019, Dunbar appeared in the tours ''

Calendar Girls ''Calendar Girls'' is a 2003 British comedy film directed by Nigel Cole. Produced by Touchstone Pictures, it features a screenplay by Tim Firth and Juliette Towhidi, based on a true story of a group of middle-aged Yorkshire women who produced ...

'' and '' Still Game Live: The Final Farewell''.

Personal life

Dunbar is a lesbian. She featured on ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

s "Pink List" of LGBT people contributing to Scotland's cultural life in 2014 and was awarded the Role Model of the Year award at the Icon Awards which celebrate Scotland's LGBTI community in 2015. She spoke about her experiences of homophobia and the acceptance she found in Glasgow's LGBT community in a BBC documentary, ''I Belong to Glasgow'', screened in 2014. She spoke in 2016 about her plans to marry her female partner. In 2018, Dunbar gave a

TED TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Depa ...

talk in

in which she spoke briefly about her recovery from a challenging upbringing, prior alcoholism and a distasteful change in her comedic style, which she later remedied.

Filmography

Television

Film

Theatre credits

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunbar, Karen 1971 births Living people People educated at Ayr Academy People from Ayr Scottish film actresses Scottish television actresses Scottish lesbian actresses Scottish lesbian writers Scottish women comedians Lesbian comedians Scottish LGBT comedians Comedians from Glasgow 20th-century Scottish comedians 21st-century Scottish comedians 20th-century Scottish actresses 21st-century Scottish actresses 20th-century Scottish LGBT people 21st-century Scottish LGBT people