Dawn French once sported quite the different hairstyle in a photo from the set of a forgotten role from early on in her career. The actress and comedian looked stunning in the throwback picture, taken while she was filming the series The Comic Strip Presents… in 1983.
Dawn, who played the character of Susie on the show, could be seen with long brown hair and a parted fringe - rather different from her current silver-grey bob. Then just 26 years old, she starred alongside many other comedians on the show who would go on to become household names - including Jennifer Saunders, Robbie Coltrane and Lily Allen’s father, Keith Allen.
Dawn, now 68, rose to prominence alongside Jennifer, now 67, who she had met in 1978 at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London. The pair found mainstream success together with the sketch show French and Saunders from 1987 and the sitcom The Vicar of Dibley from 1994.
However, Dawn admitted in 2017 that she had experienced a "huge amount of envy" when Jennifer went on to win a BAFTA and an Emmy, as well as international plaudits for Absolutely Fabulous from 1992. "Ab Fab becomes huge, and so I sit and watch Jennifer just collecting many awards and bouquets," she told Glamour on a podcast, according to Stylist.
© TV Times/Future Publishing via G"When I saw that happening it was a huge amount of envy. Right in your belly in a place you don’t want it, and its bile-y and it tastes bad and it’s all consuming." However, she chose to embrace her feelings rather than be ashamed, and was transparent with her "talented" friend about them.
It comes as Dawn opened up about intimacy in an interview with the Radio Times, where she was discussing her role in new BBC comedy Can You Keep A Secret?. Her character Debbie freely talks about her sex life with husband William in front of their mortified son Harry.
© Getty Images"I'm an older person and I might not talk about it much, but I'm certainly still trying to do it," she shared, of her own experience, earlier this month. "Why would it be off the table? It's on the table for ever, I hope, unless something prevents it. Perhaps less on the table, more on a comfy horizontal bed at the correct height, these days!"
Dawn is married to TV producer Mark Bignell, with whom she walked down the aisle in 2013. She was famously previously married to actor and comedian Lenny Henry from 1984 to 2010, and the couple share a 35-year-old daughter Billie together.
