Jennifer Saunders
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| Jennifer Saunders | |
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| Birth name | Jennifer Jane Saunders |
| Born | July 12, 1958 (age 48) Sleaford, Lincolnshire, England |
| Notable roles | Various in French & Saunders (1987–2005) Eddie Monsoon in Absolutely Fabulous (1992–2004) |
Jennifer Jane Saunders (born 6 July 1958) is an English comedian, actress, and comedy writer. Along with her longtime comedy partner Dawn French, she is known for appearing in their sketch show French & Saunders and for writing and starring in the popular British sitcom Absolutely Fabulous in which she played Eddie Monsoon.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early years
She was born in Sleaford, Lincolnshire in 1958 and educated at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. It was at London's Central School of Speech and Drama, in 1977, that she met her future comedy partner, Dawn French, and as far as Saunders was concerned, French was a cocky little upstart. The animosity was mutual; French considered Saunders snooty and aloof [1]. French had already been to drama classes, whereas Saunders had enrolled on the course only under pressure from her mother, who hoped that as her daughter had failed to get into university, she might salvage a future as a drama teacher. The two performed together after graduation, working the festival, cabaret, and stand-up circuits. They were a central part of the alternative comedy scene in the early 1980s.
Dawn's and Jennifer's double-act personae had been created and honed on stage, playing the London clubs and fringe cabaret venues in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Subsequent acting appearances as part of The Comic Strip Presents troupe, and in the sitcoms Girls on Top and Happy Families had added further strings to their bows. The women had a firm idea on the type of show they wanted to make and wrote the sketches themselves, which resulted in a quirky mixture of satire, slapstick, sparky impressionism, and other kinds of skits from a female perspective, the sum total successfully managing to bridge the gap between the new wave and the mainstream. For the first four series they were joined by the spoof middle-of-the-road comedy cabaret duo, Raw Sex, (Rowland Rivron and Simon Brint), who also supported in the sketches.
[edit] French, Saunders, and Absolutely Fabulous
She and French created French & Saunders, a popular sketch comedy show for the BBC, which still runs sporadically to this day.
Both comedians are able to play a seemingly endless array of roles in parodies ranging from Fellini to Baywatch, to The White Stripes. The shows are still only available on video in heavily edited "best of" compilations.
Saunders' biggest solo success, Absolutely Fabulous, was in fact based largely on a French & Saunders sketch called "Modern Mother and Daughter". Saunders came to international attention for Absolutely Fabulous, which she created, wrote, and starred in as the irresponsible and impossible Edina Monsoon. The show ran for five full seasons over the course of about fifteen years, and there have also been one two-part movie and two special episodes.
[edit] The Comic Strip
Both Saunders and French were also founding and ongoing members of the informal comedy collective The Comic Strip, along with many of the comedians who were to become their generation's most well-known comedy performers including Peter Richardson, Rik Mayall, and Robbie Coltrane, as well as Saunders' future husband Adrian Edmondson.
Saunders' first exposure to a wider audience occurred when comedy producer Martin Lewis recorded a Comic Strip record album in Spring 1981 and featured skits by French & Saunders. The album was released on Springtime!/Island Records in September 1981. The album was the first recording to feature Saunders and presented her and comedic partner Dawn French to an audience outside London.
The Comic Strip was a completely different half hour film each week. One week featured a parody of spaghetti westerns, another, a black and white film about a hopelessly goofy boy trying to host a hip party for a cool beat poet, who's a friend of the family.
In the episodes "Bad News" and "More Bad News," Saunders plays a trashy rock journalist touring with the fictional heavy metal band, Bad News. The character of Edina Monsoon found her name from a character called, Eddie Monsoon, created by Edmondson for the episode, "Eddie Monsoon - A Life?," in which Eddie Monsoon was a failed comedian; the name is borrowed, but there is no other resemblance. Eddie Monsoon is a play on the surname Edmondson.
Saunders starred with Edmondson in a Comic Strip film called, The Supergrass, a little-known parody of slick '80s police dramas directed by Peter Richardson. Saunders also appeared twice as guest in The Young Ones, in which Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson were two of the main stars.
In 1985, Saunders appeared as all four Fuddle sisters in the six episode BBC situation comedy, Happy Families, written by Ben Elton (cowriter of The Young Ones) and starring Edmonson as her brother Guy Fuddle, who needs to reunite the family for the sake of their dying grandmother, also played by Saunders. Dawn French, Stephen Fry, and Chris Langham also appeared.
[edit] Additional roles
There are three additional roles Saunders appeared:
- She appeared in the Amnesty International The Secret Policeman's Biggest Ball live benefit in 1989, along with Dawn French and others. She co-directed the show with one of her comedy heroes John Cleese.
- She has also appeared on the US television shows Roseanne and Friends and in the Spice Girls' movie Spiceworld. In Friends she played the step-mother of Emily, Ross' fiance. Her character, Andrea Waltham, is not so excited about the wedding. She and her husband are trying to get as much money out of the in-laws as possible. The Spice Girls returned the favour by appearing on French and Saunders, and Emma Bunton (formerly Baby Spice) had a recurring role as herself on the fifth season of Absolutely Fabulous.
- She played the Fairy Godmother in Shrek 2 (2004); in the film she performed the song "Holding Out for a Hero" (among others).
[edit] Currently
Saunders is currently working on two new series, Jam and Jerusalem, about a Women's Institute, and The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle about a neurotic talk show host. Jam and Jerusalem started airing on BBC1 on 24 November 2006, and is now airing on BBC America in the United States as Clatterford, and The Vivienne Vyle Show was filmed as a pilot, and is currently being filmed for a full series due in 2007 on BBC Two. Saunders is also currently getting ready for the French and Saunders Farewell Tour as well a six-part series marking the twentieth anniversary of the sketch comedy series.[2]
Saunders is married to fellow comedian Adrian Edmondson, with whom she has three daughters: Ella (b. 22 January 1986), Beatrice (b. 19 June 1987), and Freya (b. 16 October 1990).
[edit] Recognition
- In 2003, she was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy.
- Saunders came 87 out of a possible 100 for E! 100 Sexiest British Stars and came 18th for Best British Role Models for teenage girls in Britain according to Good Housekeeping magazine.
[edit] Awards
- Writers Guild of Great Britain Award for Scripting (1991). (French and Saunders)
- Writers Guild of Great Britain Award for Scripting (1993). (French and Saunders)
- Honorary Rose Award (2002), (with Dawn French).
- People's Choice Award for Favorite Movie Villain (2005). (Shrek 2)
[edit] Filmography
- Girls On Top television series (1985)
- Eat the Rich (1987)
- French and Saunders television series (1987-????)
- Absolutely Fabulous television series (1992-2004)
- Muppet Treasure Island (1996)
- Spiceworld (movie) (1997)
- Friends (playing Andrea Waltham) (1998)
- Fanny and Elvis (1999)
- Shrek 2 (2004)
- Let Them Eat Cake (1999)
- Queen of the East (2001)
- L'Entente cordiale (2006)
- Jam & Jerusalem television series (2006)
- The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle (2007)
[edit] Bibliography
- Absolutely Fabulous: Continuity by Jennifer Saunders
- Absolutely Fabulous (scripts from the show) by Jennifer Saunders
- Absolutely Fabulous 2 (more scripts from the show) by Jennifer Saunders
- A Feast of French and Saunders by Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French
[edit] References
- ^ "What are you looking at?", The Guardian, 19 June 2004.
- ^ [1]. NYTimes.com
