Absolutely Fabulous

Background:

A BAFTA Award winning British comedian, actress, and comedy writer, Jennifer Saunders first came to prominence as part of the popular English comedy troupe The Comic Strip before starring in and helping to create a popular sketch show for BBC, “French & Saunders” (1987), with long-time collaborator Dawn French. The duo won a 1991 Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Award for their efforts in the show. One of the most loved TV faces in Britain, Saunders, however, did not gain success outside of her native land until she starred as Edina Monsoon in the hilarious sitcom “Absolutely Fabulous” (1992), which she also scripted. The show was a huge success in both the U.K and the U.S and brought Saunders her BAFTA Award and her next Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Award. On the movie front, Saunders is probably best known to American cartoon fans as the voice of the Fairy Godmother in the blockbuster hit Shrek 2 (2004).

With “Absolutely Fabulous,” Saunders has established herself as one of the few female English comics to gain true success in America. Compared to Tracey Ullmann, who is known in America primarily as an actress, Saunders is noted as a comedian and writer as well.

As for her private life, Saunders is married to fellow comedian Adrian Edmondson and has three daughters with him. In May 2007, the couple received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from the University of Exeter. She was once linked to Depeche Mode keyboardist Andrew Fletcher, whom she dated briefly in the late 1970s, and when she was younger, she had a crush on Marc Bolan. Saunders now owns a home in Holland Park and a 400-year-old farm house with 45 acres of land in Chagford, Devon.

Jen the Au Pair

Childhood and Family:

Jennifer Jane Saunders was born on July 12, 1958, in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, England, to French and English parents. Her father was an RAF Air Marshal and her mother taught English. Jennifer attended boarding school from age 5 to 18 and spent much of her time at Northwich County Grammar School for Girls on Granville Road in Leftwich (now the County High School Leftwich), where her mother was a teacher. After working for a year in Italy, she enrolled at London's Central School for Speech and Drama.

Jennifer, known by family and close friends as Jen, married fellow comedian Adrian Edmondson on May 11, 1985. They welcomed their first daughter, Ella Edmonson, on January 22, 1986. They then had two more girls, Beattie Edmonson (born on June 19, 1987) and Freya Edmonson (born on October 16, 1990). The couple is known for keeping their personal life private. To achieve this goal, they rarely give interviews.

French and Saunders

Career:

While attending the prestigious Central School for Speech and Drama in London, Jennifer Saunders met future comedy partner Dawn French and they performed together in a comedy act after graduation. They honed in on their double-act persona by playing in festivals, local cabarets and in stand-up circuits before successfully auditioning for The Comic Strip, a newly formed comedy troupe founded by Peter Richardson in the early 1980s. Together with other members like Adrian Edmondson (her future husband), Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer and Alexei Sayle, the girls made the transition from theater to television with huge success on “The Comic Strip Presents...” (1982). Starring and writing in a number of episodes, Saunders immediately emerged as a major talent with guaranteed timing and delivery. She followed it up with appearances in a few episodes of “The Young Ones” (1982), “Girls on Top” (1985), “Happy Families” (1985) and several Rita Rudner and Ruby Wax specials.

Saunders made her feature acting debut with a female lead in the hit comedy The Supergrass (1985), the first of “The Comic Strip Presents...” After appearing in the troupe's next film, Eat the Rich (1987), she worked in the English sketch comedy series “French and Saunders” (1987), which they (French and Saunders) created, starred in and wrote. Thanks to the genius writing, brilliant acting performances and hilarious spoofs of world renowned blockbusters and bands, the show became a massive hit and won the duo the 1991 Writers’ Guild of Great Britain for TV- Light Entertainment.

Saunders was a busy performer outside of “French and Saunders” as well. On the wide screen, she turned up in such projects as More Bad News (1987), Mr. Jolly Lives Next Door (1987), The Strike (1987), in which she portrayed Meryl Streep, Kenneth Branagh's A Midwinter's Tale (1995), where she portrayed an American producer, and Muppet Treasure Island (1996), opposite Tim Curry, Kevin Bishop and Billy Connolly. She made her American TV debut in 1988's “Live from London,” which was part of the “HBO Comedy Hour.”

It was in an episode of “French and Saunders” that the audience was charmed with a sketch about an upright daughter and a crazy mother that turned the show into a comedy classic sitcom. When the BBC next asked Saunders to write something, she decided to extend that sketch and make it more outrageous. The result, “Absolutely Fabulous” (1992), which she created, wrote, and starred in as the freewheeling and impossible Edina Monsoon, became one of the most loved, funny and creative TV sitcoms in BBC history and went on to earn huge success in America, where it was aired on Comedy Central. The show ran for five full seasons over the course of about fifteen years and has spawned a two-part movie and three special episodes. For her efforts in “Ab Fab,” as it became known in the States, Saunders was handed a 1993 Writers' Guild of Great Britain for TV - Situation Comedy and a 1993 BAFTA for Best Comedy (Program or Series), shared with Jon Plowman and Bob Spiers.

With “Ab Fab” on hiatuses, Saunders went on to appear in comedic supporting roles and cameos and was seen in the Spice Girls' film Spice World (1997) and as Ross' likely British mother-in-law in two episodes of “Friends” (1998). In 2000, she and French reunited for French & Saunders Live and worked with “Ab Fab” partners Joanna Lumley, Julia Swahala and Jane Horrocks to play out-of-work actresses for the 2000 short Mirrorball, which was directed by husband Edmonson. The comedienne resurfaced in Hollywood cinema in 2004 when she lent her voice for the Fairy Godmother in the highly successful CGI sequel Shrek 2.

More recently, Saunders wrote and starred as Caroline Martin in the sitcom “Jam and Jerusalem,” which debuted in the U.K. in November 2006. She then had the title role of a daytime TV presenter in the BBC comedy series “The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle,” co-written with Tanya Byron. As for her upcoming projects, Saunders will voice Miss Forcible for an animated movie by Henry Selick, Coraline (2008), which is based on Neil Gaiman's short children's novel of the same name. Young actress Dakota Fanning is set to provide her voice for the young bored girl who finds out that a brick wall behind a door in her flat leads to another world.

Awards:

• Writers’ Guild of Great Britain: TV - Situation Comedy, “Absolutely Fabulous,” 1993

• BAFTA: Best Comedy (Program or Series), “Absolutely Fabulous,” 1993 (shared with Jon Plowman and Bob Spiers)

• Writers’ Guild of Great Britain: TV- Light Entertainment, “French and Saunders,” 1991 (shared with Dawn French)