Jennifer Saunders

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Jennifer Saunders bigraphy, stories - British comedian

Jennifer Saunders : biography

6 July 1958 –

Jennifer Jane Saunders (born 6 July 1958) is an English comedienne, screenwriter, singer and actress. She has won three BAFTAs (including the Bafta Fellowship), an International Emmy Award, a British Comedy Award, a Rose d’Or Light Entertainment Festival Award, two Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Awards, and a People’s Choice Award.

She first found widespread attention in the 1980s when she became a member of The Comic Strip after graduating from the Central School of Speech and Drama. With her comedy partner Dawn French, she wrote and starred in their eponymous sketch show, French & Saunders, for which she and French received a BAFTA fellowship in 2009. She received worldwide acclaim through the early to mid-1990s with her sitcom Absolutely Fabulous writing and playing the lead role of Edina Monsoon.

She has guest starred in the American sitcoms Roseanne and Friends, and won the American People’s Choice Award for voicing the wicked Fairy Godmother in DreamWorks’ animated Shrek 2.

Awards and recognition

Along with Dawn French, Saunders declined an OBE in 2001.Yasmin Alibhai-Brown. — independent.co.uk. Retrieved 11 May 2007. In 2003, she was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy.The Observer. — guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 5 October 2007. Saunders placed 93rd out of E!’s 100 Sexiest British Stars. She also came 18th for Best British Role Models for teenage girls in Britain according to Good Housekeeping magazine. Saunders was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Exeter in July 2007. — news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 6 May 2008. In July 2011 she was awarded an honorary doctorate by Edge Hill University. According to Forbes magazine, Saunders is the 26th most influential female British export. In 2005, she was named the fourth funniest woman in Britain in a poll of 4,000 women.Daniel Saney. — digitalspy.co.uk. Retrieved 4 October 2007. To date, she has been nominated for and received many awards, including:

Won

  • 1991: Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Award for TV Light Entertainment – French & Saunders
  • 1993: BAFTA Television Award for Best Comedy Series for – Absolutely Fabulous (shared with Jon Plowman and Bob Spiers) Bafta web site
  • 1993: Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Award TV for Situation Comedy – Absolutely Fabulous
  • 1994: International Emmy Award for popular arts – Absolutely Fabulous — imdb.com. Retrieved 21 October 2007.
  • 2002: Honorary Rose Award – awarded with Dawn French
  • 2005: People’s Choice Award for Best Movie Villain – Shrek 2
  • 2009: BAFTA Fellowship – awarded with Dawn French presented on Sunday 26 April 2009.
  • 2012: BAFTA Television Award for Best Female Performance In a Comedy Programme – Absolutely Fabulous BAFTA web site

Nominated

  • 1993: BAFTA Television Award for Best Light Entertainment Performance for – Absolutely Fabulous
  • 1993: British Comedy Award for Best Comedy Actress – Absolutely Fabulous
  • 1994: British Comedy Award for Best TV Comedy Actress – Absolutely Fabulous
  • 1995: BAFTA Television Award for Best Comedy Series for – Absolutely Fabulous (shared with Jon Plowman and Bob Spiers) BAFTA web site
  • 1996: BAFTA Television Award for Best Comedy Series for – Absolutely Fabulous (shared with Jon Plowman and Bob Spiers) BAFTA web site
  • 1997: BAFTA Television Award for Best Comedy Series for – Absolutely Fabulous (shared with Jon Plowman, Bob Spiers and Janice Thomas) BAFTA web site

Background

Saunders was born in Sleaford, Lincolnshire on 6 July 1958.Hannah Hamad. — screenonline.org. Retrieved 4 October 2007.Editors at The Times. — timesonline.co.uk. Retrieved 5 October 2007. Her French mother was a biology teacher, and her father served as a pilot in the Royal Air Force (RAF), reached the rank of Air Marshal and later worked for British Aerospace.Decca Aitkenhead. — guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 5 October 2007.Chrissy Iley. — timesonline.co.uk. Retrieved 30 August 2007 Because her father was in the armed forces, Saunders moved to different schools many times. She was educated from the age of five to 18 in boarding schools and then at St Paul’s Girls’ School, an independent school in west London. After school, she worked for a year in Italy as an au pair.Editors at Teletronic. — teletronic.co.uk. Retrieved 4 October 2007.