Absolutely Fabulous - Menopause - 02:05 am Tuesday, June 9 on U&W

Jennifer Saunders (Actor) .. Edina Monsoon

Born: July 06, 1958 in Sleaford, Lincolnshire

Best Known For: Absolutely Fabulous.

Early-life: Born Jennifer Jane Saunders on July 6, 1958, in Sleaford, Lincolnshire. Her father was in the RAF and she briefly spent time on the same forces camp as her future comedy partner Dawn French, but the pair never met as children. Instead, they got to know each other while attending London's Central School of Speech and Drama in 1977, where they were both on a teaching training course. They later teamed up with Adrian Edmondson, Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer, Alexei Sayle and Peter Richardson to create the The Comic Strip Presents series.

Career: Appearances in The Young Ones, Girls on Top and Happy Families followed, but it was the sketch show French and Saunders that propelled her to fame. One short skit in the series became the basis for Absolutely Fabulous. The sitcom's phenomenal global success opened new doors, and helped land Jennifer roles in the movies In the Bleak Midwinter, Spice World and Fanny and Elvis. She also voiced a not-so-good fairy godmother in hit animation Shrek 2 and stars in the BBC's Blandings. As well as the film and TV work, she has long been an active participant in the charity Comic Relief, alongside her on-screen partner Dawn French, and regularly takes part in the telethon events. We've also seen her reunited with her old pal in Jam & Jerusalem, which she wrote.

Quote: 'It seems you can take a picture on your mobile and it can be on the front page of a celebrity mag the next day. It's a kind of madness.'

Trivia: Married fellow Comic Strip star Adrian Edmondson in 1985. They have three daughters - Beattie, Ella and Freya. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009 and is now in remission. Her autobiography, Bonkers: My Life in Laughs, was published in 2013.

Joanna Lumley (Actor) .. Patsy Stone

Born: May 01, 1946 in Srinagar, Kashmir

Best Known For: Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous.

Early-life: Joanna Lamond Lumley was born on May 1, 1946, in Srinagar, Kashmir. As a child she lived with her family in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore, where her father was a major in the Ghurkas. She came to England aged nine to attend boarding school in Kent, and later a convent school in Hastings. At 16 she auditioned for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, but was turned down and decided to become a model instead, despite initially being told she was 'too fat and too ugly'.

Career: Lumley's first film was 1969's Some Girls Do, followed by Bond movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Her most notable early role was as Ken Barlow's girlfriend Elaine in Coronation Street. Lumley became famous thanks to The New Avengers in 1976. After Sapphire and Steel in the late 1970s, she turned her attention to the theatre and had a stint as a Times columnist. In 1992, Jennifer Saunders cast her as Patsy in sitcom Absolutely Fabulous. Since then, she has appeared in numerous TV dramas and films, including Maybe Baby, James and the Giant Peach, Jam & Jerusalem, Sensitive Skin, The Making of a Lady and The Wolf of Wall Street.

Quote: 'I can't see any difference in having your hair dyed, your teeth fixed, your nose done, or your face smoothed out or lifted.'

Trivia: Lumley received an OBE in 1995.

June Whitfield (Actor) .. Mrs June 'Gran' 'Mother' Monsoon

Born: November 11, 1925 in London

Best Known For: Terry and June, and Absolutely Fabulous.

Early-life: Born June Rosemary Whitfield in Streatham, London, on November 11, 1925. Her mother had hoped to become an actress, but was forbidden to do so by her father. Instead, she appeared in amateur dramatics and encouraged June to enter showbusiness by enrolling her in dance classes at the age of three. Her father was a company director. After the Second World War she moved to Huddersfield with her parents and trained to be a secretary before attending RADA, after which she landed her first professional role on the London stage.

Career: Whitfield became one of BBC Radio's most beloved stars - 22 million people regularly tuned in to her show Take It From Here during the 1950s - but is probably best known for her TV appearances, and has starred alongside Frankie Howerd, Peter Sellers and Tony Hancock. Among her many comedy programmes during the first half of her career were Steptoe and Son, Hancock's Half Hour and The Benny Hill Show. Her long professional relationship with Terry Scott resulted in such series as Happy Ever After and Terry and June. She has also appeared in several Carry On films. Since then Whitfield has won acclaim in Absolutely Fabulous, The Last of the Blonde Bombshells, Jude and Mirrorball.

Quote: 'I was never a great beauty. I think I amused more than I aroused. But at least that meant I didn't feel the pressures that many glamorous actresses do when they reach a certain age. Playing mums and grans never bothered me.'

Trivia: She was awarded an OBE in 1985, and a CBE in 1998.

Julia Sawalha (Actor) .. Saffron Monsoon

Born: September 09, 1968 in London

Best Known For: Playing Saffy in Absolutely Fabulous.

Early-life: Born in 1969 in London, the daughter of Roberta and Nadim Sawalha. She was named after her grandmother, a Jordanian businesswoman. She is of Jordanian, British, and French Huguenot ancestry. She was born into an acting family: her father Nadim is a well-known stage and screen actor and sister Nadia a presenter and actress. Julia became interested in acting at a young age, and landed her first break when she was chosen to star on the children's TV series Press Gang.

Career: She moved into comedy with a starring role in Absolutely Fabulous in 1992, and followed up this near-iconic role with parts in Martin Chuzzlewit, Kenneth Branagh's movie In the Bleak Midwinter and Lydia Bennet in the 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. In 2000, she had the major vocal role in Nick Park's animated caper Chicken Run, and she landed another significant part when she became the female lead in Jonathan Creek. Since then, she has favoured classic roles, winning rave reviews in Cranford and Lark Rise to Candleford.

Quote: On her sister: 'We have such respect for each other. If I ring her up in tears, she will give me the toughest advice, then she'll have me laughing in seconds.'

Trivia: She voiced a main character in the video game Fable II.

Jane Horrocks (Actor) .. Bubble/Katy Grin

Born: January 18, 1964 in Rossendale Valley, Lancashire

Best Known For: Her stunning turn in Little Voice.

Early-life: Born Barbara Jane Horrocks on January 18, 1964, in Rossendale Valley, Lancashire, the youngest child of a salesman and a hospital worker. She has two older brothers. At 10 she started singing and impersonating famous stars. On leaving school in Rawtenstall, near Burnley, she went to a technical college in Oldham. After being turned down by various drama schools, she eventually made it to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (Rada), where her classmates included Imogen Stubbs and Ralph Fiennes. She made ends meet one Easter by dressing up as Snoopy in Harrods, but ended up getting glandular fever.

Career: After graduating, Horrocks spent a year with the Royal Shakespeare Company, but left to make the film Life is Sweet with acclaimed director Mike Leigh. Her TV debut came in 1987's Road, by Jim Cartwright. He heard her impersonating Edith Piaf, Judy Garland and Shirley Bassey and was so impressed he wrote The Rise and Fall of Little Voice for her, which was turned into the 1998 movie Little Voice. Other projects include The Witches, Absolutely Fabulous, Hunting Venus and Chicken Run. She also had a one-off sketch show, Never Mind the Horrocks, in 1996, sang on Robbie Williams' Swing When You're Winning album and has released her own album. Other work includes Gracie!, The Road to Coronation Street, Trollied, True Love and Sunshine on Leith.

Quote: 'If you're still acting when you're old, there's something wrong with you.'

Trivia: She's recorded a collection of songs inspired by her youth, including punk classics.

Ruby Wax (Actor) .. Beth De Woodi

Born: April 19, 1953 in Evanston, Illnois

Best Known For: Her over-the-top presenting style.

Early-life: Born Ruby Wachs in 1953 in Illinois. Her Jewish parents had fled Austria for America in 1939 because of the Nazi threat. She endured a difficult childhood thanks to her rigid upbringing and her mother's depression, something Ruby began suffering with from the age of 10. She studied psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, but was distracted by acting. After coming to Britain, she signed up to study at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

Career: Wax's big break came as a dramatic actress at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, where she began a long-standing professional partnership with Alan Rickman, who went on to direct many of her stand-up shows. In 1978, she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, but it was the 1985 comedy series Girls on Top which made her a household name. Wax went on to become a regular presenter on TV, and was renowned for her aggressive interviewing style. Other projects have included the Sky1 series Cirque de Celebrite and Comic Relief Does The Apprentice. Ruby's 2010 stand-up tour, Losing It, was inspired by her battle with depression.

Quote: 'There are probably as many depressed plumbers as comedians. I had builders in my house and there was someone with an issue on every floor.'

Trivia: Away from showbiz, Wax returned to her psychology roots by completing an MSc in psychotherapy and a course in neuroscience. She occasionally runs management workshops on the subject for business leaders.

Tilly Blackwood (Actor) .. Lady Candida De Denison-Bender

Mo Gaffney (Actor) .. Bo

Harriet Thorpe (Actor) .. Fleur

Helen Lederer (Actor) .. Catriona

Antony Cotton (Actor) .. Damon

Born: August 05, 1975 in Bury

Best Known For: Playing Sean Tully in Coronation Street.

Early-life: Born Antony Dunn in Bury on August 5, 1975 to Paul and Enid. He has an older brother, Andrew. Antony attended Oldham Theatre Workshop for 10 years and his first big break came in 1999 when he was cast as Alexander Perry in Channel 4's Queer as Folk.

Career: Cotton went on to have guest roles in The Bill and Absolutely Fabulous before landing the role of Sean Tully in Coronation Street in 2003, a part he continues to play. Away from Weatherfield, Cotton won the second series of Soapstar Superstar, briefly fronted his own teatime chat show on ITV, finished fourth on I'm a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! in 2011 and won Let's Dance for Comic Relief in 2013.

Quote: 'Drama has two faces the happy and the sad face and that is always what Corrie has done brilliantly - the humour and the pathos - if you can make someone laugh as an actor then you can make them cry.'

Trivia: Cotton won a British Soap Award in 2007 and a National Television Award in 2007 for his work on Coronation Street.

Celia Imrie (Actor) .. Claudia Bing

Born: July 15, 1952 in Guildford, Surrey

Best Known For: Her association with Victoria Wood.

Early-life: Born Celia Diana Savile Imrie in Guildford, Surrey, on July 15, 1952. Her father, David, a radiographer from Glasgow, didn't live to see his daughter's success, although she believes he would have been very proud. Her Scottish blood has come in handy in playing numerous Celts on the big and small screen, although her original dream was to be a dancer. Unfortunately, a growth spurt in her teens meant she became too tall for ballet. She worked as a cleaner before landing starring roles.

Career: Imrie's first professional jobs in showbusiness were in the chorus of various pantomimes. Her film and TV debuts came in 1974 in House of Whipcord and Upstairs, Downstairs. She continued to gain small roles in various productions, but her big break occurred when Victoria Wood offered her roles in As Seen on TV in 1985. Since then, she's continued to occasionally work with Wood and won a prestigious Olivier Award in 2006 for her role in Acorn Antiques: The Musical. Her other credits include Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Highlander, Gormenghast, Bridget Jones' Diary, Star Wars: Episode One, Doctor Zhivago, Frankenstein, Calendar Girls, Nanny McPhee and St Trinian's (and its sequel). On TV she has also appeared in Kingdom, After You've Gone, Cranford, and the acclaimed one-off drama The Road to Coronation Street.

Quote: On stripping off for Calendar Girls: 'I am very happy now that at my time of life I have learned to laugh at my bosom. In years gone by I could never have done all this.'

Trivia: In 2013, Imrie received an honorary doctorate by the University of Winchester.

Twiggy (Actor) .. Herself

Born: September 09, 1949 in London

Best Known For: Being one of the first supermodels.

Early-life: Born Lesley Hornby in Neasden, London, on September 9, 1949, the third daughter of a carpenter. At school, her slight frame gained her the nickname Twiggy. At 15, she got a job in a hair salon, where she was spotted by Justin de Villeneuve, who took the first modelling photos of her on Wimbledon Common in 1965. Many experts believed she was too short to make it as a model, but a hairdressing competition gave her the exposure she needed to launch her career.

Career: Twiggy was named Daily Express Face of 1966, which helped her gain more work. A contract with Mary Quant made her a household name and she continued to model until the end of the decade. She also launched her singing and acting careers. Film, TV and theatre work included Mrs Warren's Profession, My One and Only, The Boyfriend, The Blues Brothers, Pygmalion and Madame Sousatzka. She had a short-lived spell presenting ITV's This Morning and her own series, Twiggy's People in 2001. Since 2005, she has modelled for Marks & Spencer. She continues to act, record music, champion anti-fur causes and is a prominent supporter for research into breast cancer.

Quote: 'Most models of my time used modelling as a stepping stone to an acting career or ballet.'

Trivia: Her autobiography, Twiggy in Black and White, was published in 1998.

Leigh Lawson (Actor) .. Himself

Dale Winton (Actor) .. Himself

Born: May 22, 1955 in Nottingham

Best Known For: Being the face of the National Lottery.

Early-life: Dale Jonathan Winton was born on May 22, 1955, in Nottingham. He attended Aldenham School in Hertfordshire. He grew up with his mother, Sixties pin-up Sheree Winton, whom he adored and whose suicide days after his 21st birthday devastated him. His father, Gary, was a furniture dealer. The couple divorced when Dale was 10.

Career: As a music-mad, chubby teenager growing up in Edgware, north London, Winton dreamed of being a DJ, and went on to work for United Biscuits factory radio and Radio Trent. His showbusiness career stalled until he was picked to present telly quiz Supermarket Sweep when he was 37. Since then, he's hosted his own prime-time chat show, Dale's All Stars, Celebrity Fit Club and the National Lottery. He also appeared in one of the most offbeat shows of 2003, Dale's Wedding, a spoof documentary in which he 'tied the knot' with Nell McAndrew. His BBC Lottery series, In It to Win It, has also been a huge success. Away from TV, Dale presented Pick of the Pops on Radio 2 between 2000 and 2010.

Quote: 'I'm a totally manufactured product, and I present myself to my public in a way I think makes me most palatable.'

Trivia: In 1999, Winton made a cameo appearance in the BBC sitcom Gimme Gimme Gimme.

Christine Gernon (Director)

Absolutely Fabulous: Menopause

02:05 am - 03:00 am, Tuesday, June 9 on U&W (25)

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Menopause
Season 4, Episode 6

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