Jennifer Saunders
Biography
Jennifer Jane Saunders (born 6 July 1958) is an English comedienne, screenwriter, singer and actress. She has won two BAFTAs, 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 Peoples Choice Award. She first came into widespread attention in the 1980s and early 1990s when she became a member of The Comic Strip after graduating from the Central School of Speech and Drama. Along with her comedy partner Dawn French, she writes and stars in their eponymous sketch show, French & Saunders, and has received international acclaim for writing and playing the lead role of Edina Monsoon in the BBC sitcom Absolutely Fabulous. In her other work, 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. More recently, she wrote and starred in Jam & Jerusalem and The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle.
Also Known As
Movie Appearances
Shrek 2
as Fairy Godmother (voice)
2004
Muppet Treasure Island
as Mrs. Bluveridge
1996
L'Entente cordiale
as Gwendoline McFarlane
2006
Allelujah
as Sister Gilpin
2023
Sumotherhood
as DI Brookes
2023
In the Bleak Midwinter
as Nancy
1995
Coraline
as Miss April Spink / Other Spink (voice)
2009
Remember the Secret Policeman's Ball?
as Self
2004
Kirsty: The Life and Songs of Kirsty MacColl
as Self
2001
Sing 2
as Nana (voice)
2021
Absolutely Fabulous
as Une spectatrice du défilé
2001
We Work for the Dead
as The Mother (voice)
2024
The Hunt for Tony Blair
as Lady Thatcher
2011
French and Saunders: Still Alive
as Self
2008
The Secret Policeman’s Biggest Ball
as Self
1989
The Supergrass
as Lesley Reynolds
1985
An Audience With Victoria Wood
as Self
1988
Comic Relief: Red Nose Day
as Self
2017
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Yet Again
as Meryl Streep / Cher
2019
The Best of French & Saunders
as Various
2002
TV Appearances
French & Saunders
as Various Characters
1987
Let Them Eat Cake
1999
Going Live!
as Self
1987
Friends
as Andrea Waltham
1994
Girls On Top
as Jennifer
1985
Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable
as Self
2021
The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle
2007
The Secret Policeman's Ball
as Self
1976
The Young Ones
as Sue
1982
Absolutely Fabulous
as Edina Monsoon
1992
The Magician's House
as The Rat (voice)
1999
Omnibus Presents Comic Relief
1986