48-566: Hackney Empire is a theatre on Mare Street , in Hackney in the London Borough of Hackney . Originally designed by Frank Matcham it was built in 1901 as a music hall , and expanded in 2001. Described by The Guardian as "the most beautiful theatre in London" it is an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation. Hackney Empire is a grade II* listed building . The theatre
96-587: A charity single to raise money for Comic Relief. It was a cover version of The Beatles song " Help! ", and was released on the London Records label , entering the UK Singles Chart on 25 February 1989 and reaching a high of #3. It remained in the chart for nine weeks. French, Saunders and Burke returned for Comic Relief in 1997 as "The Sugar Lumps," along with Llewella Gideon and Lulu , to parody The Spice Girls , with whom they performed
144-530: A celebrity guest judge on the second series of RuPaul's Drag Race UK , where she judged the final five contestants, Lawrence Chaney , Bimini Bon-Boulash , Tayce , Ellie Diamond and A'Whora , on their comedy stand-up routines. In 1996, French appeared in The Adventures of Pinocchio as "The Baker's Wife" alongside Martin Landau and star Jonathan Taylor Thomas . French played The Fat Lady in
192-399: A different character each week, whether it was the murderer, victim, or both. French's biggest solo television role to date has been as the title figure in the long-running BBC comedy The Vicar of Dibley , which Richard Curtis created for her. The show began in 1994. She stars as Geraldine Granger, a vicar of a small fictional village called Dibley. An audience of 12.3 million watched
240-909: A flat in London. French has co-written and starred in her and Saunders' comedy series, French & Saunders , which debuted in 1987. On their show, the duo have spoofed many celebrities such as Madonna , Cher , Catherine Zeta-Jones and the Spice Girls . They have also parodied films such as The Lord of the Rings , Star Wars and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets . After 20 years being on television together, their sketch series A Bucket o' French & Saunders , began airing on 8 September 2007. French and Saunders have also followed separate careers. During French's time starring in Murder Most Horrid , from 1991 to 1999, she played
288-559: A flat while at college and were influenced to do comedy by their flatmates as part of their projects for college. After talking in depth for the first time, they came to be friends. While at college, French broke up with her fiancé, a former Royal Navy officer. After French and Saunders graduated from the Royal Central School, they decided to form a double-act called the Menopause Sisters. Saunders has described
336-403: A history of severe depression and made two suicide attempts, but managed to conceal his illness from Dawn and Gary. When French was 19, her father died by suicide. In 1977, French began studying drama at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama , where she met her future comedy partner, Jennifer Saunders . Both came from RAF backgrounds. They had grown up on the same camps, even having had
384-455: A mansion overlooking Readymoney Cove. The Grade II-listed building dates back to the 19th century. In May 2021 it was announced that French had sold her Fowey property, having moved to an 1868 Gothic revival property in Calstock . In September 2014, French was named as the new Chancellor of Falmouth University . French is a supporter of Plymouth Argyle . French and Saunders won
432-581: A question about how she and Henry would feel if Billie wanted to find out about her birth mother, French commented, "Whatever she wants to do when she's 18, we'll support her. What I do worry about is anyone else making the decision for her." During the 2010 general election campaign, French was cited as a supporter of the Labour Party . She supported Keir Starmer during the 2020 Labour leadership election . On 6 April 2010, French and Henry announced they were separating after 25 years of marriage. It
480-401: A self-contained story and, in addition to French and Saunders, showcased Comic Strip performers Peter Richardson , Rik Mayall , Nigel Planer , Robbie Coltrane and Adrian Edmondson . She acted in 27 of the 37 episodes and wrote two of them. One episode featured a parody of spaghetti westerns and another a black and white film about a hopelessly goofy boy. Some of French's first exposure to
528-512: A sidekick called ‘Duckie’. The pair, in the main advert, go on a journey to fill Duckie with ‘some festive cheer’ while showing off the M&;S Food Christmas range for 2022. French has also written a best-selling epistolary autobiography, which she has titled Dear Fatty . French was paid a £ 1.5 million advance for the book, which was released in 2008. On an appearance on The Paul O'Grady Show on 6 October 2008, French said that "Fatty"
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#1732772927080576-537: A special guest on Michael Bublé 's Home For Christmas in December 2011. In July 2012, she was a judge in ITV's Superstar live shows. In March 2013, it was announced that French would replace Brian McFadden on the judging panel of Nine Network 's Australia's Got Talent alongside Kyle Sandilands , Geri Halliwell (who replaced Dannii Minogue ) and Timomatic who is the additional fourth judge. French departed
624-628: A venue for comedy. Comedians who have performed at the venue include Frankie Boyle , Jack Whitehall , Jo Brand , Russell Brand , John Cleese , Jackie Clune , Greg Davies , Felix Dexter , Ben Elton , Harry Enfield , Craig Ferguson , Dawn French , Jeremy Hardy , Lily Savage , Lenny Henry , Bill Hicks , Harry Hill , Mark Linn-Baker , Paul Merton , Jennifer Saunders , Arthur Smith , Mark Steel , and Tim Vine . Hackney Empire's artistic programme includes: theatre, opera, comedy, dance and music. Hackney Empire collaborate and partner with regional and international companies and artists including
672-484: A version of " Who Do You Think You Are ?". French met comedian Lenny Henry on the alternative comedy circuit. The couple married on 20 October 1984 in Covent Garden , London. They adopted a daughter, Billie. French has stated that Billie has always known that she was adopted, but once took out an injunction when a biographer came close to revealing the identity of Billie's biological mother. When faced with
720-615: A wider audience occurred when comedy producer Martin Lewis recorded a Comic Strip record album in 1981 which featured sketches by French & Saunders. The album was released on Springtime!/Island Records in September 1981 and presented French and Jennifer Saunders to an audience outside London. In 1985, French starred with Saunders, Tracey Ullman , Ruby Wax and Joan Greenwood in Girls on Top , which portrayed four eccentric women sharing
768-529: Is a British actress, comedian, and writer. She is known for writing and starring on the BBC sketch comedy series French and Saunders (1987–2007) with her best friend and comedy partner Jennifer Saunders , and playing the lead role of Geraldine Granger in the BBC sitcom The Vicar of Dibley (1994–2020). French has been nominated for seven BAFTA TV Awards and won a BAFTA Fellowship with Saunders in 2009. French
816-522: Is her nickname for Jennifer Saunders, as a joke about her own size. French said that she became great friends with Saunders well before they started working together, which was "over 30 years ago". The book consists of letters to the different people who have been in her life. In 2017, Me. You. A Diary , French's second non-fiction book, was released. She has also written four novels – A Tiny Bit Marvellous (2010), Oh Dear Silvia (2012), According to Yes (2015) and Because of You (2020). Because of You
864-673: Is now. She also appeared in the BBC sitcom Wild West , with Catherine Tate , in which she played a woman living in Cornwall who is a lesbian, more through lack of choice than any specific natural urge. This series did not meet with as much success as her earlier roles and it ended in 2004 after two years. French played a major role in Jam & Jerusalem as a woman called Rosie who has dissociative identity disorder and with it an alter ego called "Margaret". She co-starred alongside Sue Johnston , Jennifer Saunders (who also created and wrote
912-546: The Churchill Insurance Company . In 2019, French provided her voice for numerous Station idents for Greatest Hits Radio . This was produced in partnership with Bespoke Music. In 2021, French was chosen to play the voice of a fairy lady for the Christmas food advertisements for leading retailer Marks and Spencers alongside Tom Holland voicing the company's mascot Percy Pig (who came to life for
960-648: The Royal Shakespeare Company , English Touring Opera , Scottish Opera and the BBC Concert Orchestra . In 2001, the Empire closed for a £17m refurbishment project designed by Tim Ronalds Architects with Carr and Angier acting as theatre consultants. It was reopened in 2004. The restoration included the addition of a 60-seat orchestra pit to make the Empire suitable for opera performances by companies such as English Touring Opera ,
1008-423: The 1960s. In 1984, Mecca found the building too expensive to maintain as a bingo hall, and it was offered to Cartoon Archetypical Slogan Theatre (CAST), a satirical touring theatre group, headed by Claire and Roland Muldoon , as a London base. They also mounted successful variety nights headlined by a new breed of alternative comedy acts, such as Ben Elton , Dawn French , and Jennifer Saunders . The theatre
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#17327729270801056-747: The 2006 episode " Sleeping Murder ". She appeared as Caroline Arless in the BBC television drama Lark Rise to Candleford in 2008. Talking about her role, she has stated, "I'm quite a vibrant character. She's quite extreme, in that she drinks too much, laughs too much and sings too much. But she loves her family very much; it's just that she goes over the top sometimes." In late 2010, French starred in Roger & Val Have Just Got In with actor Alfred Molina , which aired for two series. French appeared in Little Crackers , short comedy films which were broadcast over Christmas in 2010. French appeared as
1104-895: The Duchesse de Crackentorp at the Royal Opera House , Covent Garden , London, in The Daughter of the Regiment ( La fille du régiment ) by Gaetano Donizetti starring Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Flórez . French returned to Covent Garden and La Fille du règiment in the 2010 revival. In December 2022, French began appearing in Jack and the Beanstalk at the London Palladium . In 2014, French toured an autobiographical one woman show 30 Million Minutes in
1152-580: The Hackney Empire was a music hall. ATV bought the theatre to use as studios in the mid-1950s and shows such as Take Your Pick and Oh, Boy! were broadcast live. Certain episodes of Opportunity Knocks were also filmed at the theatre. Some scenes from Emergency – Ward 10 were also filmed there. From 1963 to 1984, the theatre was used by the Mecca Organisation as a bingo hall; wrestling matches also occurred there during
1200-439: The Hackney Empire. It has produced pantomimes since 1988, providing free tickets to local Housing Associations, Community Groups, local refuges and young carers. Alongside its main-stage programme, Hackney Empire provides performing arts activities for local young people. Its Creative Futures programme works with over 4,000 young people annually, aged 14 – 25, and run a Community Choir that over 80 regular members. The theatre
1248-657: The UK and Oceania. The title is based on the amount of minutes she had been alive at the time of producing the show. In 2022, she toured the UK with a further show titled Dawn French is a Huge Twat . In late 2022 it was announced that she would continue touring the UK with the same show in Autumn 2023, with further shows taking place in Australia in 2024. French was chosen as the face of Terry's Chocolate Orange , from 1997 until August 2007. She has also been in advertisements for
1296-572: The United States. Although the main series ended in 2007, the show has returned for numerous short special episodes since, the latest four of which aired in December 2020. In 1995, she appeared as a talk-show host in a Comic Relief sketch called Dawn , written by Victoria Wood . The sketch also featured Wood herself, Celia Imrie , Lill Roughley , Anne Reid , Philip Lowrie , Robert Kingswell, Bryan Burdon, Duncan Preston , Jim Broadbent , and Lynda Bellingham . In 2002, French appeared in
1344-737: The Witch and the Wardrobe . In 2010, French lent her voice to the role of Angie the Elephant in the English dub of the German-British environmental animated film Animals United . She has also taken roles in the theatre. French has appeared in plays such as A Midsummer Night's Dream , My Brilliant Divorce, and Smaller, the latter of which she played a schoolteacher caring for her disabled mother. January 2007 saw French performing as
1392-633: The act, which involved wearing tampons in their ears, as "cringeworthy". The manager of the club recalled, "They didn't seem to give a damn. There was no star quality about them at all." French and Saunders came to public attention as members of the Comic Strip , part of the alternative comedy scene in the early 1980s. French has had an extensive career on television, debuting on Channel 4 's The Comic Strip Presents series in an episode called "Five Go Mad in Dorset" in 1982. Each episode presented
1440-462: The addition of a flytower with provision for counterweight flying and a reduction of the stage rake from 1 in 24 to 1 in 30. Among other new facilities were a studio theatre and educational and hospitality facilities, and greatly improved dressing rooms. Additionally, the Marie Lloyd public house was incorporated into the new extension. In addition to Muldoon, the comedian Griff Rhys Jones led
1488-536: The comedy/drama mini-series Ted and Alice . In the series, set in the Lake District , French played a tourist information officer who falls in love with an alien. She appeared once in the Saunders led sitcom Absolutely Fabulous as TV interviewer Kathy in 1992, a parody of Lorraine Kelly , she reprised that role for Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie in 2016 as a more established veteran journalist as Kelly
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1536-629: The film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban , replacing Elizabeth Spriggs , who played the character in the first film of the series. French's then-husband, Lenny Henry , provided the voice of the Shrunken Head in the same film, though they shared no screen time. In 2005, French provided the voice for the character Mrs. Beaver in Disney and Walden Media's film adaptation of C. S. Lewis ' The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion,
1584-409: The final full-length episode to see her character's marriage ceremony. She appeared on The Vicar of Dibley with Damian Lewis in a mini-episode made for Comic Relief in 2013. She was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Comedy Performance in the last episode of The Vicar of Dibley . Repeats of the show on BBC One still attract millions of viewers and it also retains a following amongst PBS viewers in
1632-471: The first time in 29 years). In the main advert French as the fairy drops her magic wand onto a box covered in Percy pig wrappings, the lid opens and Percy pops out of the box. Throughout the rest of the advertisement she shows Percy all of the items which the retailer was selling for Christmas food. She later reprised the role for the 2022 M&S Christmas advert, playing alongside Jennifer Saunders voicing
1680-531: The production also transferred to the Belasco Theatre in New York City . In 1996, mime /choreographer Lindsay Kemp premiered Variété' , his first British production in over 20 years, there and Slava's Snowshow , featuring the famous Russian clown Slava Polunin , played the theatre several times. Hackney Empire was a leading centre in the alternative comedy boom of the 1980s, and remains
1728-500: The restoration appeal, with a large donation coming from local businessman Alan Sugar . The theatre received another grant of £400,000 from Arts Council England in 2019 to make building improvements and increase community outreach. The John Bishop Show was presented and recorded at the Hackney Empire and aired on BBC One from 30 May 2015 to 18 July 2015. Since 2014, the British Soap Awards have also been filmed at
1776-427: The same best friend, although never meeting. Saunders recalled her first perception of French was that she was a "cocky little upstart"; French considered Saunders to be snooty and aloof. The comic duo originally did not like each other as French wanted to become a drama teacher whereas Saunders loathed the idea and thus disliked French for being enthusiastic and confident about the course. French and Saunders shared
1824-587: The series) and Joanna Lumley . She made a guest appearance in Little Britain as Vicky Pollard 's mother. French also appeared in a special version of Little Britain Live which featured several celebrity guests and was shown by the BBC as part of Comic Relief . She played the part of a lesbian barmaid in a sketch with Daffyd Thomas . In 2006, French appeared in Agatha Christie's Marple in
1872-542: The show after one series and was replaced by Kelly Osbourne . From 2016 until 2019, French starred in three series of Delicious on Sky 1 , co-starring as a talented cook who is having an affair with her celebrity chef ex-husband ( Iain Glen ) who has remarried and started a successful hotel business with his new wife ( Emilia Fox ) in Cornwall . In 2020, she appeared in the six-part series The Trouble with Maggie Cole alongside Mark Heap . In 2021, French appeared as
1920-590: The three remaining stars of the group. The nearest station is Hackney Central on London Overground North London line . Mare Street Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.133 via cp1102 cp1102, Varnish XID 536109976 Upstream caches: cp1102 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 05:48:47 GMT Dawn French Dawn Roma French (born 11 October 1957)
1968-552: Was a member of Downton house. After finishing her schooling, she spent a year studying at the Spence School in New York on a debating scholarship that she won while at school. French has said that her self-confidence and self-belief stem from her father, who told her how beautiful she was each day. She stated, "He taught me to value myself. He told me that I was beautiful and the most precious thing in his life." Denys had
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2016-562: Was born on 11 October 1957 in Holyhead , Wales, to English parents Felicity Roma ( née O'Brien; 1934 – 2012) and Denys Vernon French (5 August 1932 – 11 September 1977), who married in their home town of Plymouth in 1953. French has an older brother, Gary. Her father served in the Royal Air Force , stationed at RAF Valley and later RAF Leconfield , where Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother went to tea at French's home when French
2064-623: Was built as a music hall in 1901, designed by the architect Frank Matcham . Architecture scholar Nicholas Pevsner described the "splendid Hackney Empire, with its ornate terracotta exterior and sumptuous seventy-seven galleried auditorium" as a key example of Victorian and Edwardian architecture. There is a statue of Thalia , the Greek muse of comedy, on the roof of the theatre: this was removed in 1979, but later reinstalled. Charlie Chaplin , W. C. Fields , Stanley Holloway , Stan Laurel , Marie Lloyd and Julie Andrews all performed there, when
2112-420: Was closed to the public from March 2020 to August 2021. In December 2021, the venue celebrated its 120th birthday with a performance of Jack and the Beanstalk . On 11 June 2022, the theatre was the setting for "The British Soap Awards" televised live on ITV. On 6 September 2023, the theatre hosted a news conference to announce a new album by The Rolling Stones , Hackney Diamonds . Jimmy Fallon interviewed
2160-784: Was longlisted for the 2021 Women's Prize for Fiction . Her third non-fiction book, The Twat Files , tied in to her second stand-up show Dawn French is a Huge Twat , was published in October 2023. In 1986, she appeared in Kate Bush 's music video " Experiment IV " alongside Hugh Laurie , Richard Vernon and Peter Vaughan . French has appeared in the videos for Alison Moyet 's songs " Love Letters " (which also featured Saunders) in 1987 and " Whispering Your Name " in 1994. She also appeared in two Comic Relief music videos. In 1989 she joined Jennifer Saunders and Kathy Burke to form Lananeeneenoonoo and, along with Bananarama , they created
2208-473: Was reported that the separation was amicable. They had decided to separate in October the previous year but left announcing it until some months later, as they were still in discussion over the separation. Their divorce was finalised later that year. French began dating charity executive Mark Bignell in 2011. On 22 April 2013, it was reported that they had just married. The couple resided in Fowey , Cornwall, in
2256-490: Was threatened with demolition, and in 1986, actor-manager Roland Muldoon mounted a campaign to acquire the freehold and to re-open the Hackney Empire as a permanent performance space; allowing the theatre to return to theatrical use for its 85th anniversary. Ralph Fiennes played Hamlet to Francesca Annis ' Gertrude in Jonathan Kent 's Almeida Theatre Company production of Hamlet , 28 February – 30 March 1995;
2304-531: Was three years old. RAF archive footage of this event was included in French's comedy tour/video Thirty Million Minutes . The RAF partly funded French's private education. When her father was stationed at RAF Faldingworth , French attended Caistor Grammar School for one year. She later attended boarding school at St Dunstan's Abbey School for Girls in Plymouth (since absorbed by Plymouth College ), where she
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