Jenny Eclair - Education and Career

Education and Career

Eclair was born as Jenny Clare Hargreaves to English parents in Kuala Lumpur, Malaya where her father, Derek Hargreaves, who served as a major in the British Army, serving in the Royal Marines, Parachute Regiment, Green Howards, Trucial Oman Scouts, and BRIXMIS, had been posted in 1952. Eclair returned to England when she was two years old, and she started her education at Queen Mary school (now King Edward VII and Queen Mary School) in Lytham St Annes. She studied at the Manchester Polytechnic School of Theatre and joined a cabaret group variously referred to as Kathy Lacreme and the Rum Babas, and Cathy La Crème and the Rum Babies.

After moving to London her first job was at Camberwell Arts College as a life model which she did for about 2 terms. Then she saw an advert in 'The Stage' looking for novelty acts, and she found work doing punk poems. In 1989, when she was named the Time Out Cabaret Award winner, she said it "was nice because its the first time I've ever won without having to run 100 metres balancing an egg on a spoon."

She was in The Bill and appeared in the early 1990s Channel 4 comedy series Packet of Three with Frank Skinner, as well as the follow-up series Packing Them In. In 1995 she became the first female solo winner of the Edinburgh Festival's Perrier Comedy Award. In 1997 she played 'Josie' in the stage play 'Steaming'. 2001 saw her first novel 'Camberwell Beauty'. In 2005 she appeared in the singing contest, Comic Relief Does Fame Academy..

She helped develop and regularly appeared in the show Grumpy Old Women and a variety of successful spin-offs. She has also hosted her own show on the London radio station LBC radio and starred in various stage productions. On 18 March 2007, she was voted 39th on Channel Four's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups.