Jennifer Jane Saunders 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.
Known For
Shrek 2
(2004)
Fairy Godmother (voice)
Sing 2
(2021)
Nana (voice)
Coraline
(2009)
April Spink (voice)
Sing
(2016)
Nana (voice)
Death on the Nile
(2022)
Marie Van Schuyler
Minions
(2015)
Reine Elizabeth II (voice)
Isn't It Romantic
(2019)
Natalie's Mother
Patrick
(2018)
Maureen
Muppet Treasure Island
(1996)
Mrs. Bluveridge
Spice World
(1997)
Fashionable Woman
Stick Man
(2015)
Narrator (voice)
Coraline: The Making of 'Coraline'
(2009)
Self
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie
(2016)
Edina Monsoon
Full Filmography
Acting
The Comic Strip
(1981)
Five Go Mad in Dorset
(1982)
Anne
Summer School
(1983)
Liz
The Beat Generation
(1983)
Anne
Five Go Mad on Mescalin
(1983)
Anne
War
(1983)
Various Roles
Bad News Tour
(1983)
Sally
Slags
(1984)
Little Sister
A Fistful of Travellers' Cheques
(1984)
Shona
Eddie Monsoon - a Life?
(1984)
Doreen
Gino: Full Story and Pics
(1984)
Angie
Susie
(1984)
Lorna
Dirty Movie
(1984)
June
The Supergrass
(1985)
Lesley Reynolds
Private Enterprise
(1986)
Debbie
Consuela (or, The New Mrs Saunders)
(1986)
Jessica
Dangerous Brothers Present: World of Danger
(1986)
Eat the Rich
(1987)
Lady Caroline
The Strike
(1988)
Meryl Streep as Mrs Scargill
An Audience With Victoria Wood
(1988)
Herself
More Bad News
(1988)
Sally
Mr Jolly Lives Next Door
(1988)
Monica
The Secret Policeman’s Biggest Ball
(1989)
Herself
French & Saunders LIVE
(1990)
GLC: The Carnage Continues
(1990)
Brigitte Nielsen as Margaret Thatcher, The Ice Maiden
The Tale of Little Pig Robinson
(1990)
Dorcas
Spaghetti Hoops
(1990)
Maria
South Atlantic Raiders: Part 1
(1990)
Cathy
South Atlantic Raiders: Part 2 Argie Bargie!
(1990)
Cathy
Oxford
(1990)
Hannah
Amnesty International's Big 30
(1991)
Self
Wild Turkey
(1992)
Neighbour
Red Nose of Courage
(1992)
Margaret Thatcher
Jealousy
(1993)
Jane/Margory
Prince Cinders
(1993)
Fairy (voice)
French & Saunders: At the Movies
(1993)
Space Virgins from Planet Sex
(1993)
Needle
Demonella
(1993)
The Devil
Dusty
(1994)
Self - Presenter
In the Bleak Midwinter
(1995)
Nancy
How to Be Absolutely Fabulous
(1995)
Self / Edina "Eddy" Monsoon (archive footage)
Absolutely Fabulous: The Last Shout
(1996)
Edina Monsoon
Muppet Treasure Island
(1996)
Mrs. Bluveridge
Spice World
(1997)
Fashionable Woman
Absolutely Fabulous: A Life
(1998)
Edina "Eddy" Monsoon
Four Men in a Car
(1998)
Helen
Fanny & Elvis
(1999)
Roanna
French & Saunders - Live
(2000)
Various roles
Mirrorball
(2000)
Vivienne Keill
Absolutely Fabulous
(2001)
Une spectatrice du défilé
Kirsty: The Life and Songs of Kirsty MacColl
(2001)
Self
The Best of French & Saunders
(2002)
Various
Remember the Secret Policeman's Ball?
(2004)
Self
Shrek 2
(2004)
Fairy Godmother (voice)
L'Entente cordiale
(2006)
Gwendoline McFarlane
French and Saunders: Still Alive
(2008)
Herself
Coraline
(2009)
April Spink (voice)
Coraline: The Making of 'Coraline'
(2009)
Self
The Hunt for Tony Blair
(2011)
Lady Thatcher
French & Saunders: The Ingenue Years
(2011)
Gentlemen Prefer French & Saunders
(2011)
30 Years of Comic Strip
(2012)
The Spice Girls Story: Viva Forever!
(2012)
Self
Five Go to Rehab
(2012)
Anne
The Boy in the Dress
(2014)
Miss Windsor
Stick Man
(2015)
Narrator (voice)
Minions
(2015)
Reine Elizabeth II (voice)
British Sitcom: 60 Years of Laughing at Ourselves
(2016)
Comedy Role (archive footage) (uncredited)
Sing
(2016)
Nana (voice)
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie
(2016)
Edina Monsoon
Comic Relief: Red Nose Day
(2017)
Self
Joanna and Jennifer: Absolutely Champers
(2017)
Herself - Presenter
300 Years of French & Saunders
(2017)
Chuck Steel: Night of the Trampires
(2018)
Dr. Alex Cular
Lady Windermere's Fan
(2018)
The Duchess of Berwick
Patrick
(2018)
Maureen
Grandpa's Great Escape
(2018)
Miss Dandy
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Yet Again
(2019)
Meryl Streep / Cher
Isn't It Romantic
(2019)
Natalie's Mother
Completely Bad News
(2019)
Sally
Sing 2
(2021)
Nana (voice)
French & Saunders: Funny Women
(2021)
Herself
Death on the Nile
(2022)
Marie Van Schuyler
Sumotherhood
(2023)
DI Brookes
Allelujah
(2023)
Sister Gilpin
Dawn French Is a Huge Tw*t
(2023)
Self (uncredited)
imagine... French & Saunders: Pointed, Bitchy, Bitter
(2023)
Self - featured artist
Man and Witch: The Dance of a Thousand Steps
(2024)
The Goose (voice)
Chinatown: A World in the Heart of the City
(2024)
Self (Archive Footage)
200% Wolf
(2024)
(voice)
Writing
The Comic Strip
(1981)
Writer
Slags
(1984)
Writer
Consuela (or, The New Mrs Saunders)
(1986)
Writer
How to Be Absolutely Fabulous
(1995)
Writer
Absolutely Fabulous: The Last Shout
(1996)
Writer
Absolutely Fabulous: A Life
(1998)
Writer
French & Saunders - Live
(2000)
Writer
Mirrorball
(2000)
Writer
Absolutely Fabulous
(2001)
Writer
The Best of French & Saunders
(2002)
Writer
French and Saunders: Still Alive
(2008)
Writer
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie
(2016)
Screenplay
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Yet Again
(2019)
Writer
Crew