Dawn French has been supported as she opened up on dealing with death. The 68-year-old comedian and actress appeared at Hay Festival 2026 to launch her new novel, Enough as she opened up on the loss of her dad, Denys.
She heartbreakingly shared with the audience: “Grief is such a slippery old snake, isn’t it? I mean, I went straight to college within weeks of my dad dying. And my mum insisted on that. My mum was a massively strong, incredible woman and she refused to let me remain at home to look after her. I mean, actually, I was sort of feeling sorry for myself as much as for her. But she didn’t want any of that. She wanted us to carry on as normal and do the best that we could. So I went to college sort of dripping with grief and pretending to be cheerful.”
“The minute he met me and knew my story, he sort of stepped up as like a surrogate dad to me,” the Vicar of Dibley star added. “That was a brilliant thing that happened.”
Opening up more about her grief, Dawn continued: “As I say, I think I went through all kinds of stages. But as you grow older, you understand more about mental health, or ill health rather. You forgive and you understand.
“And it’s a massively important thing to do to free yourself from the horror of it, to understand it’s not your fault and to understand how somebody comes to this decision. Because the dad that I knew was a cheerful, kind, selfless, loving, funny dad.”
Dawn’s dad, Denys, took his own life in September 1977 at the age of 45, when the comedian and actress was just 19 years old.
“When I was 19 I was furious, angry and confused and full of grief, and as I’ve grown older, I’ve tried to understand mentally ill health, which I do understand, then you forgive.
“And also, I’ve really thought, this subject is something we need to talk about and not put all the shame and all that taboo stuff. Back in the day, this was illegal and sinful… I’m the living proof that you can get through something like this and you need to talk about it to understand it.”
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