Early career French and Saunders would eventually come to public attention as members of the informal comedy collective
The Comic Strip, part of the
alternative comedy scene in the early 1980s. They answered a 1980 advert in
The Stage newspaper looking for female comedians to perform at The Comic Strip, which had, until that point, only had male performers. By the time French and Saunders became members of The Comic Strip, French was already working as a drama teacher, while Saunders was on
the dole and spending much of her time in bed. In the episodes "
Bad News" and "More Bad News", Saunders plays a trashy rock journalist touring with the fictional
heavy metal band, Bad News. In 1985, Saunders starred in and co-wrote
Girls on Top with French,
Tracey Ullman, and
Ruby Wax, which portrayed four eccentric women sharing a flat in London. Saunders also appeared in
Amnesty International's ''
The Secret Policeman's Biggest Ball'' live benefit in 1989, along with Dawn French and others. Saunders and French followed separate careers as well as irregularly maintaining their comedy sketch show. Saunders' biggest solo success has been
Absolutely Fabulous, based largely on a 14-minute
French & Saunders sketch called "Modern Mother and Daughter". Saunders and French were going to star together, but, just as the studio had been booked, French received a long-awaited phone call confirming an adoption agency had a baby for her to adopt. Saunders has appeared on the American
sitcoms
Roseanne, playing Edina Monsoon in the episode "
Satan, Darling", and
Friends as Andrea Waltham, the step-mother of
Emily,
Ross Geller's fiancée, in the episodes "
The One After Ross Says Rachel" and "
The One with Ross's Wedding". Although they share no scenes, Jennifer's Absolutely Fabulous co-star
June Whitfield also appeared in ''The One With Ross's Wedding Part Two'' as the Walthams' housekeeper. In 1999, she appeared alongside French in
Let Them Eat Cake. The show starred
David Mitchell,
Sally Phillips, and
Sue Johnston, as well as
Dawn French and
Joanna Lumley. In 2007, Saunders and psychologist
Tanya Byron Also in 2007, the final series of
French & Saunders aired. ''A Bucket o' French & Saunders'' featured a compilation of old and new sketches and aired on BBC One in September 2007. It was the third show she had written in a year. Saunders appeared on the "
Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" segment of BBC Two's motoring show
Top Gear, posting a lap time of 1:46.1s, making her the fifth-fastest guest ever in the car that was used at that time. A self-confessed petrolhead, she has a passion for
Alfa Romeos and has so far owned four.
2010s In 2011, Saunders wrote and appeared in "
Uptown Downstairs Abbey", the
Comic Relief parody of the critically acclaimed historical television dramas
Downton Abbey and
Upstairs Downstairs. Playing the
Dowager Countess, she starred alongside Lumley,
Kim Cattrall,
Victoria Wood,
Harry Enfield,
Patrick Barlow,
Dale Winton,
Olivia Colman,
Tim Vine,
Simon Callow,
Michael Gambon, and
Harry Hill. In 2012, Saunders guest-starred in
Dead Boss, a BBC Three comedy set in the fictional Broadmarsh prison where she plays the cruel and work-shy governor, Margaret. The show's creator,
Sharon Horgan, stated that she 'begged' Saunders to take the role, having been a fan of Saunders' previous comedy work. She also wrote the script for the
Spice Girls-based
jukebox musical Viva Forever! In 2013, Saunders starred as
Lady Constance Keeble in the
BBC adaptation of
Blandings by
P. G. Wodehouse. In 2017, Saunders appeared on the
Simpsons episode "
Looking for Mr. Goodbart" as an elderly woman accompanied around by
Bart.
Film Saunders has also appeared in several films, such as
In the Bleak Midwinter (1995),
Muppet Treasure Island (1996),
Fanny & Elvis (1999), and also made
cameo appearances in the
Spice Girls' film
Spice World (1997) and
Absolument fabuleux (2001), a
French film based on
Absolutely Fabulous. In the animated film,
Shrek 2 (2004), she provided the voice of the
Fairy Godmother and sang the songs "The Fairy Godmother Song" and "
Holding Out for a Hero". Her part took only four days to record. Her role won the
People's Choice Award for the best movie villain in 2005. She voiced Miss Spink in the animated film
Coraline, in which her comedy partner Dawn French voiced a character called Miss Forcible. In 2015, she voiced
Queen Elizabeth II in the animated film
Minions, and in 2016, she voiced Miss Nana Noodleman in the animated film
Sing, reprising the role again in
Sing 2. In 2022, she starred in
Death on the Nile as Marie Van Schuyler alongside
Dawn French,
Gal Gadot and
Kenneth Branagh who also directed the film.
Theatre In 2018, Saunders appeared at the Vaudeville Theatre in the production of ''
Lady Windermere's Fan'' as The Duchess of Berwick. In June 2019, she appeared on stage in the production of Noël Coward's play,
Blithe Spirit, as eccentric clairvoyant Madam Arcati. The show first opened at Theatre Royal Bath, and after a short tour of England it later transferred to the Duke of York's Theatre, London in March 2020. Two weeks into its run performances were cancelled due to the pandemic. She reprised the role in autumn 2021 for eight weeks in the West End at The
Harold Pinter Theatre. In 2022, Saunders played the role of Mother Superior in
Sister Act the Musical for six weeks at the
Eventim Apollo Hammersmith, alongside
Beverley Knight as Deloris Van Cartier. In December 2023, Saunders made her pantomime debut as
Captain Hook in
Peter Pan at the
London Palladium alongside
Julian Clary,
Paul Zerdin,
Nigel Havers,
Gary Wilmot,
Rob Madge,
Francis Mayli McCann and Louis Gaunt. In March 2026, it was announced that she would play alongside Dawn French in
Cinderella at the London Palladium. ==Personal life==