Julia Sawalha (born 9 September 1968) is an English actress who played Saffron "Saffy" Monsoon in the BBC 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 ...

''. She is also known for her portrayal of Lynda Day, editor of the ''Junior Gazette'', in ''

Press Gang ''Press Gang'' is a British children's television comedy drama consisting of 43 episodes across five series that were broadcast from 1989 to 1993. It was produced by Richmond Film & Television for Central, and screened on the ITV network in i ...

'', as Hannah Greyshott in '' Second Thoughts'', and its sequel series, '' Faith in the Future'', Lydia Bennet in the 1995 television miniseries of

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...

's ''

Pride and Prejudice ''Pride and Prejudice'' is an 1813 novel of manners by Jane Austen. The novel follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, the dynamic protagonist of the book who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreci ...

'', Georgina and Kid in ''

Sheeep ''Sheeep'' is a British children's animated television series that aired on CBBC in the United Kingdom and was produced by Grand Slamm Children's Films and HIT Entertainment. It is based on the book ''Sheep in Wolves' Clothing'' by Japanese au ...

'', Carla Borrego in ''

Jonathan Creek ''Jonathan Creek'' is a long-running British mystery crime drama series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. It stars Alan Davies as the titular character, who works as a creative consultant to a stage magician while also solvi ...

'', and Dorcas Lane in the BBC's costume drama ''

Lark Rise to Candleford ''Lark Rise to Candleford'' is a trilogy of semi-autobiographical novels by Flora Thompson about the countryside of north-east Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, England, at the end of the 19th century. The stories were previously published s ...

''. Her film credits include, '' Buddy's Song'' (1991), '' The Wind in the Willows'' (1996), ''

Chicken Run ''Chicken Run'' is a 2000 stop-motion animated comedy film produced by Pathé and Aardman Animations in partnership with DreamWorks Animation. Aardman’s first feature-length film and DreamWorks Animation's fourth film, it was directed by ...

'' (2000), and '' Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie'' (2016).

Early life and education

Sawalha was born in

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its nam ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

on 9 September 1968, and is the daughter of Roberta Lane and actor Nadim Sawalha. Her father was born in

Madaba Madaba ( ar, مادبا; Biblical Hebrew: ''Mēḏəḇāʾ''; grc, Μήδαβα) is the capital city of Madaba Governorate in central Jordan, with a population of about 60,000. It is best known for its Byzantine and Umayyad mosaics, especi ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

. She was named after her paternal grandmother, a businesswoman who had received an award from

Queen Noor Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mo ...

for enterprise. She is of Jordanian, English, and French

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

ancestry. Sawalha was educated at the Theatre Arts School, a fee-paying

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British En ...

which is part of the

Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts The Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts is a performing arts conservatoire based in Woking, England. It was founded in 1911 by Italia Conti, an actress. The first production at Italia Conti Academy was the play '' Where the Rainbow Ends''. F ...

, based at the time in

Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history ...

in south London, which she left at the age of fifteen.

Career

Sawalha made her debut in the 1982 BBC miniseries '' Fame Is the Spur'', and in 1988 played a small role in ''

Inspector Morse Detective Chief Inspector Endeavour Morse, GM, is the eponymous fictional character in the series of detective novels by British author Colin Dexter. On television, he appears in the 33-episode drama series '' Inspector Morse'' (1987–2000), ...

'' on the episode "Last Seen Wearing". She first gained attention for her starring role in the Bafta award-winning ITV teenage comedy-drama ''

'', which ran from 1989 to 1993. In 1992 she appeared in episode "Parade" (S2 E4) of '' Bottom'' as Veronica Head, a beautiful young barmaid at the Lamb and Flag, whom Richie tries to woo by boasting of his false adventures in the

Falklands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...

. From 1991 to 1994, she starred in the ITV family comedy '' Second Thoughts'' and continued with her character, Hannah ( Lynda Bellingham's daughter), in the British Comedy Award-winning '' Faith in the Future'' (1995–1998). In 1994, she played Mercy (Merry) Pecksniff in the BBC production of ''

Martin Chuzzlewit ''The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit'' (commonly known as ''Martin Chuzzlewit'') is a novel by Charles Dickens, considered the last of his picaresque novels. It was originally serialised between 1842 and 1844. While he was writing it ...

''. From 1992 to 2012, Sawalha played strait-laced daughter Saffron "Saffy" Monsoon in the BBC sitcom ''

'' alongside

Jennifer Saunders 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 after graduating from the Royal Central School of ...

and

Joanna Lumley Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley (born 1 May 1946) is an English actress, presenter, former model, author, television producer, and activist. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous'' (1992 ...

. She appeared in the 1995 BBC adaptation of

's ''

'' as Lydia Bennet, with Jennifer Ehle and

Colin Firth Colin Andrew Firth (born 10 September 1960) is an English actor and producer. He was identified in the mid-1980s with the " Brit Pack" of rising young British actors, undertaking a challenging series of roles, including leading roles in '' A M ...

. She voiced Ginger in DreamWorks/

Aardman Animations Aardman Animations Limited (also known as Aardman Studios, simply Aardman or Aardman Animation and stylised as AARDMAN as of 2022) is a British animation studio based in Bristol, England. It is known for films made using stop-motion and clay ani ...

' ''

'' (2000). From 2000 to 2001, she voiced Georgina and provided Kid's vocal effects in the obscure

HIT Entertainment HIT Entertainment Limited (commonly written as HiT) was a British-American entertainment company founded in 1982 as Henson International Television, the international distribution arm of The Jim Henson Company, by Jim Henson, Peter Orton, and Sop ...

/Grand Slamm Children's Films TV series,

. She also played "Dawn the Wise Man" in ''The Flint Street Nativity'' on Christmas Eve. In 2000, she appeared as Janet, the Australian barmaid in the first series of the British sitcom ''

Time Gentlemen Please ''Time Gentlemen Please'' is a British sitcom primarily written by Richard Herring and Al Murray and broadcast on Sky One from 2000 to 2002. Premise The show is set in a forgotten, unwelcoming pub whose opinionated landlord, 'Guv' (short f ...

''. She also played the much put-upon PA to "Zak" in Argos TV adverts during 2002–2004, along with

Richard E. Grant Richard E. Grant (born Richard Grant Esterhuysen; 5 May 1957) is a Swazi-English actor and presenter. He made his film debut as Withnail in the comedy ''Withnail and I'' (1987). Grant received critical acclaim for his role as Jack Hock in Mar ...

. She joined actor

Ioan Gruffudd Ioan Gruffudd (; (born 6 October 1973) is a Welsh actor. He first came to public attention as Fifth Officer Harold Lowe in ''Titanic'' (1997), and then for his portrayal of Horatio Hornblower in the ''Hornblower (TV series), Hornblower'' seri ...

in the TV adaptations of C. S. Forester's ''

Horatio Hornblower Horatio Hornblower is a fictional officer in the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, the protagonist of a series of novels and stories by C. S. Forester. He later became the subject of films, radio and television programmes, an ...

'' novels, as the captain's wife Maria. The following year, she became

Alan Davies Alan Roger Davies (; born 6 March 1966) is an English stand-up comedian, writer, actor and TV presenter. He is best known for his portrayal of the title role in the BBC mystery drama series ''Jonathan Creek'' (1997–2016) and as the only per ...

's co-star in ''

'' after

Caroline Quentin Caroline Quentin (born Caroline Jones; 11 July 1960) is an English actress, broadcaster and television presenter. Quentin became known for her television appearances: portraying Dorothy in ''Men Behaving Badly'' (1992–1998), Maddie Magellan in ...

left, appearing in a Christmas Special ("Satan's Chimney"). She returned for a series between 2003 and 2004. In 2006, she participated in the third series of the

genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...

documentary series '' Who Do You Think You Are?'' tracing her family's roots, which are Jordanian

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arabs, Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert ...

on her father's side, and French Huguenot on her mother's. She also appeared in the pilot of BBC 1's ''A Taste of my Life'' presented by

Nigel Slater Nigel Slater (born 9 April 1956) is an English food writer, journalist and broadcaster. He has written a column for ''The Observer Magazine'' for over a decade and is the principal writer for the ''Observer Food Monthly'' supplement. Prior to ...

. After a two-year break, she was back on screen in May 2007, competing in the BBC dog training celebrity reality show ''

The Underdog Show ''The Underdog Show'' was a six-week television series presented by Julian Clary and his dog, Valerie. The series was produced by the independent production company Splash Medi Format The show on BBC2 featured celebrities Julia Sawalha, Anton du B ...

.''She then returned to acting in two successive BBC costume dramas: as Jessie Brown in 2007 series '' Cranford'', followed by ''

'' from 2008 through 2011. She provided the voice acting for Sister Hannah (a.k.a. "Hammer"), a main character in the 2008

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generati ...

video game ''

Fable II ''Fable II'' is a 2008 action role-playing open world video game, developed by Lionhead Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox 360. The game is the second installment in the ''Fable'' game series, and the sequel to 2004's ...

''. In Autumn 2014, Julia played the part of Jan Ward in

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

's thriller miniseries '' Remember Me'', featuring

Michael Palin Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, television presenter, and public speaker. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. Since 1980, he has made a number of travel documentaries. Palin w ...

. On 9 May 2015 she read the account of a member of the Women's Land Army at '' VE Day 70: A Party to Remember'' in

Horse Guards Parade Horse Guards Parade is a large parade ground off Whitehall in central London (at grid reference ). It is the site of the annual ceremonies of Trooping the Colour, which commemorates the monarch's official birthday, and the Beating Retreat. H ...

, London, which was broadcast live on BBC1. In 2016, she appeared in an episode of ''

Midsomer Murders ''Midsomer Murders'' is a British crime drama television series, adapted by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson from the novels in the '' Chief Inspector Barnaby'' book series (created by Caroline Graham), and broadcast on two channels of ...

'' and reprised her role as Saffron "Saffy" Monsoon in '' Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie''. In July 2020, she made a statement revealing

intended to recast her character in the upcoming sequel to ''Chicken Run'', stating that she is now considered to sound too old, and commented "I have officially been plucked, stuffed & roasted". The decision was met with widespread criticism with some finding the decision

ageist Ageism, also spelled agism, is discrimination against individuals or groups on the basis of their age. The term was coined in 1969 by Robert Neil Butler to describe discrimination against seniors, and patterned on sexism and racism. Butler defi ...

. She even released video clips online of her voicing the character again to prove her voice still sounded the same.

Personal life

She had a relationship with Dexter Fletcher whom she met on the set of ''

''. On 1 January 2004,

tabloid newspapers Tabloid journalism is a popular style of largely sensationalism, sensationalist journalism (usually dramatized and sometimes unverifiable or even Fake news, blatantly false), which takes its name from the Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid ne ...

reported that she had married

, her co-star in the television series ''

''. Both she and Davies, who avoided discussing their private lives in public, denied this, and took legal action against the reports.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Theatre credits

References

External links

*
Julia Sawalha
on '' Who Do You Think You Are?'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Sawalha, Julia 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses British comedy actresses English child actresses English film actresses English people of French descent English people of Jordanian descent English television actresses Alumni of the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts English voice actresses Living people 1968 births People from Wandsworth