| Dawn French | |
|---|---|
 French at the 2005 Make Poverty History march. | |
| Birth name | Dawn Roma French |
| Born | 11 October 1957 Holyhead, Wales, UK |
| Medium | Actress, writer, comedienne |
| Nationality | British |
| Years active | 1981–present |
| Influences | John Cleese |
| Spouse |
(divorced);
Mark Bignell (m. 2013) |
| Notable works and roles | Various in French & Saunders Geraldine Granger in The Vicar of Dibley Various in Murder Most Horrid |
| BAFTA Awards | |
| Fellowship with Jennifer Saunders | |
Dawn Roma French (born 11 October 1957) is a British comedian and actress.
French studied acting at the London Central School of Speech and Drama, and met Jennifer Saunders there in 1977. French and Saunders became famous when they appeared on a comedy series called The Comic Strip. They wrote the famous comedy series French & Saunders which was first on BBC TV in 1987. She has been nominated for seven BAFTA Awards and also won a Fellowship BAFTA along with Saunders.
French is also well known for appearing as Geraldine Granger in British sitcom The Vicar of Dibley. In her career in movie, French played "The Fat Lady" picture in the movie Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and voiced the beaver in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
French is known for her larger figure. She tries to promote the idea that "big" can be beautiful. As a result, she has her own line of clothes, Sixteen47 Archived 2012-06-20 at the Wayback Machine. The name is from the statistic that 47% of British females are at least a size 16. The clothes are made to look good on larger women.