An attractive supporting player with cascades of curly brown hair and expressive eyes, Julia Sawalha is best known to American audiences as Saffron, the straight-laced daughter of free spirit Edina Monsoon on the cult hit comedy "Absolutely Fabulous" (1993-95). The daughter of Jordanian character actor Nadim Sawalha, she spent five years attending the Italia Conti Academy before embarking on an acting career. After three seasons appearing in plays based on C.S. Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia", Sawalha landed her first major role, the lead in the British children's series "Press Gang" (ITV, 1989-93). After landing the role of Saffron, Sawalha co-starred in another British sitcom "Second Thoughts", as a rebellious teenager. Her older sister Nadia appeared in several episodes as well.
American audiences may also recall the petite actress in two acclaimed costume dramas, the "Masterpiece Theatre" miniseries "Martin Chuzzlewit" (PBS, 1995), in which she was the wife of an abusive husband, and "Pride and Prejudice" (A&E, 1996), in which she was the flighty, marriage-minded Lydia Bennett. Sawalha has not had much of a big screen career to date. Her debut was in a small part in the little-seen "Buddy's Song" (1991). She was shown to much better comic advantage in Kenneth Branagh's "A Midwinter's Tale/In the Bleak Midwinter" (1995), as a nearsighted, scatterbrained actress playing Ophelia in a rag-tag theatrical production. Sawalha reached her widest audience to date as the voice of the heroine Ginger in the animated "Chicken Run" (2000).
Family
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Father: Nadim Sawalha. Jordanian
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Mother: Bobbie Sawalha. British; met husband when she was working as a production secretary for a radio program
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Sister: Dina Sawalha. older
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Sister: Nadia Sawalha. older; appeared on EastEnders ; formerly married to Justin Mildwater who hanged himself after their separation
Significant Others
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Companion: Dexter Fletcher. had four year relationship; no longer together; co-starred in British series Press Gang
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Companion: Richard Herring. in 1998 invited her to participate in a read-through of a script; remet in 2000 and began dating; separated in 2001
Education
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Italia Conti Academy, London, England, English literature
Milestones
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1978 Educated at Italia Conti Academy
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1991 Feature film debut, Buddy s Song
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1994 Played featured role in TV adaptation of Charles Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit (aired on PBS in 1995)
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1995 Co-starred as Lydia Bennett in BBC/A&E production of Pride and Prejudice (aired in US in 1996)
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1995 Played Lydia Bennet in the British-American miniseries Pride and Prejudice
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1995 Second feature film, Kenneth Branagh s A Midwinter s Tale/In the Bleak Midwinter
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1996 Reprised Saffron for the TV-movie Absolutely Fabulous: The Last Shout (aired in USA in January 1997)
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2000 Voiced the heroine Ginger in the animated Chicken Run
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2001 Co-starred with Peter O Toole in The Final Curtain
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Began acting career in series of stage plays based on C.S. Lewis The Chronicles of Narnia , directed by Ken Hill; spent three seasons with this troupe
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Born and raised in London
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Co-starred in British comedy series Second Thoughts ; Sawalha s sister Nadia appeared in a recurring role in the series
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First starring role in the British children s TV series Press Gang on ITV
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Played Saffron on Absolutely Fabulous (aired in US on Comedy Central in 1994-96)
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Spent holidays with family in Jordan