Sarah French
Acting
Biography
Sarah lived in Deptford, South East London and attended St Joseph's Primary school in East Greenwich from the age of 8. She often took the lead roles in school productions and her mum ensured she was well kitted out for her roles. At the age of 10 the deputy head of St Joseph's encouraged her to apply for The Sylvia Young School of Dance & Drama, as he was the teacher who ran the school plays. At the end of year 5 Sarah left St Joseph's to join Sylvia Young in September of 1993. Shortly after graduating, Sarah joined the company of the acclaimed production of Sunday in the Park With George playing Celeste 1 at the Menier Chocolate Factory, which also transferred to the Wyndham's Theatre in the West End. Previous theatre work includes the Sondheim 75th Gala at Drury Lane. Her TV credits include the regular character of Alison Peters in EastEnders, Samantha and Julie in Little Britain, Jess in Casualty, Keeley Porter in Hope and Glory (series 1,2 and 3), herself in The Fame Game, Annabell in Anything's Possible, Sarah in Chalk, Zara in The Biz, Chelsea Fenton in Club Dad and Rebecca Wade in I Hate This House. Sarah also played the lead role of Anna in the feature film Ashes and Sand.
Known For
The everyday lives of working-class residents of Albert Square, a traditional Victorian square of terrace houses surrounding a park in the East End of London's Walford borough.
EastEnders
Drama series about the staff and patients at Holby City Hospital's emergency department, charting the ups and downs in their personal and professional lives.
Casualty
The Biz was a BBC children's television drama series about a group of teenagers at a fictional stage school. The series was written by Chris Ellis and Sarah-Louise Hawkins. The directors were David Andrews and Nigel Douglas. It ran for three series, from 1994 to 1996. Set at Markov's School of Dance and Drama, it was a portmanteau show in which different students took centre stage from week to week. It showed training, auditions and performances. Paul Nicholls, in one of his early roles, played up-and-coming star Tim Marshall. The role reflected his own later life as Tim had to deal with attention from the press and the public. The series has also been airing on ABC in Australia.
The Biz
Ian George, the head of an exclusive school, is asked to take a look at Hope Park Comprehensive School, which is in special measures, and asked to confirm its closure. The outgoing head breaks down during his farewell speech and delivers an emotional rant against the students, telling them how worthless they are. After meeting staff and pupils, George believes there is some hope for the school. The show was inspired by a real head teacher named William Atkinson.
Hope and Glory
A British television sitcom set in a comprehensive school named Galfast High. Two series written by Steven Moffat were broadcast on BBC1 in 1997. Like his earlier sitcom Joking Apart, it was produced by Andre Ptaszynski. The series focuses upon deputy headteacher Eric Slatt, permanently stressed over the chaos he creates both by himself and some of his eccentric staff. His wife Janet and new English teacher Suzy Travis attempt to help him solve the problems.
Chalk
This is a British movie set in Brighton. It shows teenage angst and female gang behaviour. The leader of the gang is Hayley (Lara Belmont) and the other gang members are Jo (Beccy Armory), Anna (Sarah French-Ellis) and Lauren (Jessica Harris). They roam the streets of Brighton stalking single men, seducing and then robbing them. Hayley meets a policeman, Daniel (Nick Moran), and becomes fixated on him. She dreams of becoming his girlfriend/lover. Daniel has a shoe fetish and lets himself be seduced by Hayley. The end result is not what he envisages.