This is what we found on Wikipedia regarding the Dawn French:

Dawn Roma French (born 11 October 1957) 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 for starring in the BBC comedy anthology series Murder Most Horrid (1991–1999) and the BBC sitcom The Vicar of Dibley (1994–2007). French has been nominated for seven British Academy Television Awards and won a BAFTA Fellowship with Saunders in 2009.