(Photo: Getty Images)
Dawn French is soon to return for three mini-episodes of The Vicar of Dibley, the beloved British sitcom in which she plays kind and lively clergywoman Geraldine Granger. To whet your appetite, here are some things you might not know about the actress, comedian, and writer who’s well known for her enduring creative partnership with Jennifer Saunders.
1. When she and Saunders met at London's Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in the late ‘70s, they didn't exactly hit it off.
“I was horribly loud mouthed and she was sort of snooty,” French told the Daily Express, adding that she thought Saunders “was the product of a lot of gymkhanas.”
2. French has admitted to feeling jealous when Saunders enjoyed solo success with the cult ‘90s sitcom Absolutely Fabulous.
"It can be hard when a friend, especially one you’ve never done any work separately from, suddenly has a huge success without you," French told The Big Issue. "Ab Fab was such a massive hit. Until then Jennifer and I had been utterly linked in everything we did. I was made very aware that, in comedy terms, she was a completely individual, separate person. With her own powers. That really shocked me. Not only was she able to do it without me, she could do it really well. So that was really annoying.”
French added: “But however jealous I was, I love her and I was proud of her. I dealt with it by being open and honest about my jealousy. I sent her a bunch of flowers when she won a BAFTA saying ‘Congratulations you c**t.'"
3. She once starred in a Kate Bush music video.
French appears in the sci-fi themed video for 1986's "Experiment VI," which was deemed "too violent" to be shown in the U.K. before 9pm. Look out, too, for an appearance by Hugh Laurie in the atmospheric clip, which follows a group of scientists working on a secret military plan to create a sound that is so horrific it can kill people.
4. Former Doctor Who star Tom Baker has tipped her as a future Timelord.
"I would have thought Dawn French would have been a good Doctor Who, because she's got such a wry sense of humor and also has a way with her that faintly [suggests] she's got secrets," he told GQ in 2017.
5. She’s admitted that when she was first offered The Vicar of Dibley, she had “all kinds of misgivings.”
“I hadn’t done a sitcom before and I thought you had to invent a character," French told Radio Times. "I said to Richard [Curtis, co-creator], ‘I need to make her not me. Maybe she should have an accent, maybe I should look very different…’ But Richard said, ‘You need to wear Geraldine like a good-fitting jacket, bring her really close to you’. The opposite of playing a character.”
6. She and fellow comedy legend Sir Lenny Henry – whom French was married to from 1984 until 2010 – faced disgusting racist abuse during their relationship.
"I never thought, ‘Oh, look at me in a mixed-race relationship!’ I fell in love with a man and he happened to be Black and we adopted a mixed-race daughter. I only realized it was an issue when there was hatred from utter t***s," she told The Times in 2017. "I had to attend to it when people tried to burn our house down and left s**t on the door. But although that was hugely disappointing and shocking, you have to get past it."
7. She’s now married to charity executive Mark Bignell, whom she wed in 2013.
Though French’s husband popped the question in the beautiful city of Venice, she revealed during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show that his proposal wasn’t quite as romantic as it could have been…
8. She has her own flagpole at her home in Cornwall, southwest England.
In 2017, a photo of a rainbow flag she flew in solidarity with the LGBTQ community went semi-viral. She tweeted at the time: "So, husband gets me a flagpole for big b'day. I receive many flags. Here's the first one up....#allarewelcome"
9. In 2001, she and Saunders turned down OBE (Officer of the British Empire) awards from Queen Elizabeth II.
According to Sky News, Saunders said several years later: "If I felt I deserved a damehood I'd accept it. At the time, we felt that we were being paid very well to have a lot of fun. It didn't seem right somehow. We didn't deserve a pat on the back. It felt a bit fake to stand alongside people who devoted their lives to truly worthy causes."
10. French says that she and Saunders never asked Lucasfilm permission to spoof the Star Wars movies.
You can watch French looking back at her Star Wars parody characters – including her playing Yoda as “Skoda” – in this hilarious clip from The Graham Norton Show.
Do you have a favorite Dawn French moment or role?
