BIG AND BEAUTIFUL; NORTHBB HBBIG H WALIANS - PART 12 TOP 30 ...................: gs great role model French simply Bubbly actress and g ssable part of the comedy scene an unmis.

Byline: MARTIN WILLIAMS 

SOME may argue Dawn French was in-and-out of North Wales quicker than the aircraft flown by her father's RAF colleagues, but that didn't stop readers voting her a place in our top 30 list.

The comedienne and actress was born in Holyhead's former Y Gors maternity hospital in 1957, while her father Denys was a corporal technician stationed at nearby RAF Valley.

She soon left the area to attend boarding school in Plymouth, before travelling around the country with her family to various schools.

The RAF partly funded her private education, but it was her father who taught her the most important aspects of life - to be kind and loving.

Her confidence and self-belief stems from him, as he told her how beautiful she was each day after seeing how many men disregarded her because of her size as a teenager.

She said: "He taught me to value myself. He told me that I was beautiful and the most precious thing in his life."

French later attended the Central London School of Speech and Drama, where she met comedy partner and best friend Jennifer Saunders.

Ironically, both French and Saunders came from RAF backgrounds. They had grown up on the same base, even having had the same best friend, although they never met.

At first, as far as Saunders was concerned, French was an upstart, and the hatred was reciprocated.

However, they soon became bosom buddies and shared a flat whilst at college, where they were influenced to do comedy by their flatmates as part of their projects.

Their chemistry was soon to bubble over and resulted in The Comic Strip - part of the alternative comedy scene in the early 1980s.

Here French met her future husband Lenny Henry, with whom she has an adopted daughter Billie.

A successful television series French and Saunders followed in 1987, and the pair have enjoyed a long and distinguished career ever since, still appearing together now and again in cameo TV appearances and for different charities, notably Comic Relief.

The pair began solo careers before the turn of the century.

French's first post-Saunders project was Murder Most Horrid, a dark comedy satire of murder mysteries, but a minor hit. se Then came her biggest role to date, as Geraldine Granger in the award-winning Vicar of Dibley, created by Richard Curtis. sgd wn This was the most popular comedy show of 1999; regularly reaching 14.37 million viewers and becoming second mos watched programme of Christmas Day that same year.

y The show has won numerous British awards over the years, and most recently won an International Emmy. hy Since finishing The Vicar of Dibley, she starred in the BBC sitcom Wild West, in which she plays a woman living in Corn wall who is a lesbian more through lack o choice than any specific natural urge, Jam en nfm wnt-and Jerusalem, and even appeared as the Fat Lady in Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban As a particularly large woman she is known for her efforts to promote the notion that big can be beautiful. As part of this she has her own line of clothes, Sixteen 47, deriving its name from the statistic that 47% of the British female population are at least a size 16.

It aimed to produce clothes that larger woman can look beautiful in. For her large size and admitted chocoholism, she was chosen as the face of the confection, Terry's Chocolate Orange using the slogan "they're not Terry's, they're mine."

In 2001 she and Saunders declined an Order of the British Empire, and in 2003, she was selected in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy history.

Despite her short-lived stay in North Wales, Dawn French's popularity as a star of the silver screen and champion of the larger lady has won her many fans in this region.

Among them was Delyth Pritchard, from Rhosneigr.

She said: "I guess people could argue she has never really championed Wales, but to be fair she must have so few memories, if any, because she moved away when she was so young.

"But at the end of the day she was born here and I'm claiming her for us! She is one of the most talented and wonderful women on our television screens and a great role model, particularly for women concerned about their size."

Bethany McCourt, from Bangor, added: "Dawn French is big, bubbly and beautiful. I'd vote for her every day of the week.

"She's really funny and French and Saunders is one of my all-time favourite TV shows."

Billy Roberts, from Wrexham, is another big fan of the comedienne.

"I just think she's such a lovely, lovely woman, always smiling and down to earth, he said.

"But deep down she must be so determined and driven. She's had hit after hit and enjoyed a career that's lasted decades. I think a lot of that is to do with her personality as much as her talent.

"Most so-called comedians last five minutes because they take people for granted and are affected by fame. That's never happened to Dawn French - good luck to her, I hope she wins."

DAWN FRENCH Born on October 11, 1957, Dawn French spent her early years in Holyhead, as her dad was based at RAF Valley.

She later attended boarding school in Plymouth, before studying in New York.

French then moved back to the UK before enrolling in the Central London School of Speech and Drama, where she trained to be a teacher.

More importantly, it was where she met the other half of what was to become one of the most popular female comedy acts in Britain - Jennifer Saunders.

Though much of her television work has been alongside Saunders, both later branched out into solo projects.

Whilst Saunders concentrated on her critically acclaimed sitcom, Absolutely Fabulous, French has starred in the hit Richard Curtis comedy drama, The Vicar of Dibley, and more recently Wild West and Jam and Jerusalem.

However, despite her glittering career, the 51-year-old lists some of her celebrity kisses as highlights of her colourful life.

Since her famous Comic Relief 'charity snog' with actor Hugh Grant, French has managed to get some of the world's sexiest men to kiss her (all in the name of fun, of course!).

Her other conquests include actors Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp and George Clooney.

However, her biggest crush has always been comedian husband Lenny Henry.

She now lives in Berkshire with Henry and their adopted daughter Billie, and continues to make people laugh with her small screen antics.

THE LIST Holyhead comedienne Dawn French Colwyn Bay actor Timothy Dalton Prestatyn Countdown star Carol Vorderman Holywell actor Jonathan Pryce Trelogan singer David Lloyd Blaenau tenor Trebor Jones Flint striker Ian Rush Menai Bridge rugby star Robin McBryde Rhyl actress Nerys Hughes Dyserth singer Mike Peters Wrexham ace Mark Hughes Glyndyfrdwy freedom fighter Owain Glyndwe r Penmachno translator William Morgan Denbigh explorer HM Stanley Hawarden PM William Gladstone Llanystumdwy PM David Lloyd-George Anglesey rocker Lemmy Pant Glas opera star Bryn Terfel Llanrwst's David Jones (Cymru Cuba) Holyhead politician Glenys Kinnock Tremadog's Lawrence of Arabia Colwyn Bay comedian Terry Jones Abergele golfer Becky Brewerton Corwen inventor David Edwards Hughes Ruthin actor Rhys Ifans Ruthin racing driver Tom Pryce Pantymwyn Coldplay star Jonny Buckland Coedpoeth rower Tom James AM Dafydd Elis-Thomas Conwy Titanic hero Harold Godfrey Lowe

CAPTION(S):

Dawn with fellow ca a ast of BBC's Jam & Jerusalem series. Right, the comedy duo French and Saunders Dawn French in the TV series the Vicar of Dibley (main) and as Sophia Loren (right)