Acting · Sleaford, Lincolnshire, England, UK · Born July 6, 1958
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.
MovieVirginia Woolf's Night & Day
2026
as Bess Hilbery
MoviePeople's Emergency Briefing
2026
as Herself
MovieThe Magic Faraway Tree
2026
as Grandma
TVThe Claudia Winkleman Show
2026
as Self
MovieBecoming Victoria Wood
2026
as Self
TVToo Much
2025
as Fiona
TVOnly Child
2024
as Sally
MovieAbsolutely Fabulous: Inside Out
2024
as Self / Edina "Eddie" Monsoon
MovieKirsty MacColl at the BBC
2024
as Self (archive footage)
MovieMan and Witch: The Dance of a Thousand Steps
2024
as The Goose (voice)
Movie200% Wolf
2024
as Max (voice)
MovieWe Work for the Dead
2024
as The Mother (voice)
MovieDawn French Is a Huge Twat
2023
as Self (uncredited)
Movieimagine... French & Saunders: Pointed, Bitchy, Bitter
2023
as Self - Featured Artist
MovieSumotherhood
2023
as DI Brookes
MovieAllelujah
2023
as Sister Gilpin
TVFantasy Football League
2022
as Themselves
TVThe Pentaverate
2022
as Maester of Dubrovnik / Saester of Dubrovnik
MovieDeath on the Nile
2022
as Marie Van Schuyler
MovieThe Best Birthday Ever
2022
as Mother (voice)
MovieSing 2
2021
as Nana (voice)
MovieFrench & Saunders: Funny Women
2021
as Self
TVMel Giedroyc: Unforgivable
2021
as Self
TVRichard Osman's House of Games Night
2020
as Self
TVThe Stranger
2020
as Heidi Doyle
MovieCompletely Bad News
2019
as Sally
MovieMamma Mia! Here We Go Yet Again
2019
as Meryl Streep / Cher
TVCelebrity Gogglebox
2019
as Self
TVThere's Something About Movies
2019
as Self - Team Captain
TVMoominvalley
2019
as Mymble
MovieIsn't It Romantic
2019
as Natalie's Mother
MoviePatrick
2018
as Maureen
MovieChuck Steel: Night of the Trampires
2018
as Dr. Alex Cular
MovieLady Windermere's Fan
2018
as The Duchess of Berwick
MovieGrandpa's Great Escape
2018
as Miss Dandy
Movie300 Years of French & Saunders
2017
MovieJoanna and Jennifer: Absolutely Champers
2017
as Self - Presenter
MovieComic Relief: Red Nose Day
2017
as Self
TVLet's Sing and Dance for Comic Relief
2017
as Self - Judge
MovieSing
2016
as Nana (voice)
MovieBritish Sitcom: 60 Years of Laughing at Ourselves
2016
as Comedy Role (archive footage) (uncredited)
We Love Sitcom
2016
MovieAbsolutely Fabulous: The Movie
2016
as Edina Monsoon
TVInsert Name Here
2016
as Self - Panelist
MovieStick Man
2015
as Narrator (voice)
TVJosh
2015
as Judith
MovieMinions
2015
as Reine Elizabeth II (voice)
MovieThe Boy in the Dress
2014
as Miss Windsor
TVGogglebox
2013
as Self
TVThe Last Leg
2013
as Self
TVThe Great Comic Relief Bake Off
2013
as Self - Contestant
TVBlandings
2013
as Lady Constance Keeble
MovieThe Spice Girls Story: Viva Forever!
2012
as Self
MovieFive Go to Rehab
2012
as Anne
Movie30 Years of Comic Strip
2012
TVDead Boss
2012
as Governor Margaret
TVThe Great Sport Relief Bake Off
2012
as Self - Host
TVCelebrity Antiques Road Trip
2011
as Self - Participant
MovieThe Hunt for Tony Blair
2011
as Lady Thatcher
MovieFrench & Saunders: The Ingenue Years
2011
MovieGentlemen Prefer French & Saunders
2011
TVThis Is Jinsy
2010
MovieCoraline: The Making of 'Coraline'
2009
as Self
TVWatch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
2009
as Self - Guest
MovieCoraline
2009
as Miss April Spink / Other Spink (voice)
MovieFrench & Saunders: Still Alive
2008
as Self
TVThe Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle
2007
TVA Bucket O' French and Saunders
2007
TVWould I Lie to You?
2007
as Self
TVThe Graham Norton Show
2007
as Self
TVJam and Jerusalem
2006
as Caroline Martin
MovieL'Entente cordiale
2006
as Gwendoline McFarlane
MovieRemember the Secret Policeman's Ball?
2004
as Self
MovieBottom Mindless Violence
2004
as Helen Mucus / Anita Harris (archive footage) (uncredited)
MovieShrek 2
2004
as Fairy Godmother (voice)
TVTop Gear
2002
as Self - Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car
MovieThe Best of French & Saunders
2002
as Various
Pongwiffy
2002
MovieAbsolutely Fabulous
2001
as Une spectatrice du défilé
MovieKirsty: The Life and Songs of Kirsty MacColl
2001
as Self
MovieMirrorball
2000
as Vivienne Keill
MovieFrench & Saunders - Live
2000
as Various roles
MovieFanny & Elvis
1999
as Roanna
MovieIt’s Lulu
1999
as Self
TVThe Magician's House
1999
as The Rat (voice)
TVLet Them Eat Cake
1999
MovieAbsolutely Fabulous: A Life
1998
as Edina "Eddy" Monsoon
MovieFour Men in a Car
1998
as Helen
TVParkinson
1998
as Self
MovieSpice World
1997
as Fashionable Woman
MovieAbsolutely Fabulous: The Last Shout
1996
as Edina Monsoon
MovieMuppet Treasure Island
1996
as Mrs. Bluveridge
MovieIn the Bleak Midwinter
1995
as Nancy
MovieHow to Be Absolutely Fabulous
1995
as Self / Edina "Eddy" Monsoon (archive footage)
MovieFrench and Saunders' Christmas Carol
1994
as Various Roles
TVFriends
1994
as Andrea Waltham
MovieDusty
1994
as Self - Presenter
MoviePrince Cinders
1993
as Fairy (voice)
MovieJealousy
1993
as Jane/Margory
MovieDemonella
1993
as The Devil
MovieSpace Virgins from Planet Sex
1993
as Needle
MovieFrench & Saunders: At the Movies
1993
MovieWild Turkey
1992
as Neighbour
TVAbsolutely Fabulous
1992
as Edina Monsoon
MovieRed Nose of Courage
1992
as Margaret Thatcher
MovieAmnesty International's Big 30
1991
as Self
MovieThe Tale of Little Pig Robinson
1990
as Dorcas
TVHave I Got News for You
1990
as Self
TVRita Rudner
1990
MovieFrench & Saunders LIVE
1990
MovieSpaghetti Hoops
1990
as Maria
MovieOxford
1990
as Hannah
MovieSouth Atlantic Raiders: Part 1
1990
as Cathy
MovieSouth Atlantic Raiders: Part 2 Argie Bargie!
1990
as Cathy
MovieGLC: The Carnage Continues
1990
as Brigitte Nielsen as Margaret Thatcher, The Ice Maiden
TVThe Simpsons
1989
as Phoebe Pratt (voice)
MovieThe Secret Policeman’s Biggest Ball
1989
as Self
MovieEmployees From Hell
1989
MovieCommunicators From Hell
1989
MovieCustomer Service From Hell
1989
MovieColleagues From Hell
1989
MovieFrench And Saunders - Christmas Special '88
1988
as Various Characters
MovieAn Audience With Victoria Wood
1988
as Self
TVRoseanne
1988
as Edina Monsoon
MovieThe Storyteller: Sapsorrow
1988
as Badsister 1
TVThe Storyteller
1988
as Badsister 1
MovieMr Jolly Lives Next Door
1988
as Monica
MovieMore Bad News
1988
as Sally
MovieThe Strike
1988
as Meryl Streep as Mrs Scargill
Comic Relief
1988
MovieEat the Rich
1987
as Lady Caroline
TVGoing Live!
1987
as Self
TVFrench & Saunders
1987
as Various Characters
The Silurian Disruption
1987
as Silurian #2
TVOmnibus Presents Comic Relief
1986
MovieComedians Do It On Stage
1986
as Self
MoviePrivate Enterprise
1986
as Debbie
MovieConsuela (or, The New Mrs Saunders)
1986
as Jessica
MovieDangerous Brothers Present: World of Danger
1986
TVThe Dangerous Brothers
1986
MovieThe Supergrass
1985
as Lesley Reynolds
TVGirls On Top
1985
as Jennifer
MovieHappy Families
1985
as Granny / Cassie / Madeleine / Joyce / Roxanne Fuddle
TVHappy Families
1985
as Granny Fuddle
MovieSlags
1984
as Little Sister
MovieEddie Monsoon - a Life?
1984
as Doreen
MovieGino: Full Story and Pics
1984
as Angie
MovieA Fistful of Travellers' Cheques
1984
as Shona
MovieSusie
1984
as Lorna
MovieDirty Movie
1984
as June
MovieFive Go Mad on Mescalin
1983
as Anne
MovieSummer School
1983
as Liz
MovieBad News
1983
as Sally
MovieThe Beat Generation
1983
as Anne
MovieWar
1983
as Various Roles
TVThe Young Ones
1982
as Sue
MovieFive Go Mad in Dorset
1982
as Anne
TVThe Comic Strip Presents...
1982
as Anne
TVWogan
1982
as Self
MovieThe Comic Strip
1981
TVAn Audience with...
1978
as Self
TVThe Secret Policeman's Ball
1976
as Self
Film '72
1971
as Self
TVOmnibus
1967
TVHave I Got a Bit More News for You
as Self - Presenter
