Quick Facts
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Biography
Karen Dunbar (born 1 April, 1971) is a Scottish comedian, actress, and writer. Born in Ayr and raised in Glasgow, Dunbar rose to prominence when she appeared in the BBC Scotland sketch comedy series Chewin' the Fat (1999-2002), and was subsequently given her own show by the channel The Karen Dunbar Show (2003-2006).
Early life
Dunbar was born in Ayr and moved to Glasgow at an early age. She attended Ayr Academy, a secondary school in Ayr.
Career
Dunbar began her career as a DJ and karaoke host before she attended The Comedy Unit’s open auditions in 1997 where she was cast in the BBC Scotland comedy sketch show Chewin' the Fat. She was subsequently given her own show by the channel, The Karen Dunbar Show, which received two coveted Golden Rose nominations for Best Comedy Show and Karen herself two personal nominations for Best Comedy Performance.
Karen has presented BBC Radio Scotland series such as Karen Dunbar’s Beautiful Sunday and Karen’s Summer Supplement, as well as being Team Captain on the quiz show Step Back in Time.
In Christmas 2007, Dunbar made her first appearance in pantomime, at the King's Theatre in Glasgow, playing Nanny Begood in Sleeping Beauty. Further pantomime roles include the dual role of the Good Fairy and the Wicked Stepmother in Cinderella (2008–09) and Widow Twankey in Aladdin (2009–10). She appeared as a critic on Britain's Got More Talent on 27 May 2008. She played the fairy godmother in Cinderella (2012–13) and appeared in the 2013-14 season as a new character, the Slave of the Ring, in Aladdin.
As a comedy actress, she has also tackled serious roles, most notably to date her performance in the poetic monologue A Drunk Woman Looks at the Thistle adapted by Denise Mina from Hugh MacDiarmid's poem of the same name.
In 2009, Dunbar starred in a six-part series of the Scottish comedy Happy Hollidays. Sheplayed the role of Arme Gonnerssen in M.I. High in 2009, and In 2014 she was lead compère at the XX Commonwealth Games opening ceremony.
In October 2017 Dunbar appeared in BBC Scotland's River City for a special one-off appearance. She played the part of Francesca Simpson, estranged wife of Pete Galloway (played by Andy Gray).
In 2019, Dunbar appeared in the tours Calendar Girls and Still Game Live: The Final Farewell.
Personal life
Dunbar is a lesbian. She featured on The Scotsman's "Pink List" of LGBT people contributing to Scotland's cultural life in 2014 and was awarded the Role Model of the Year award at the Icon Awards which celebrate Scotland's LGBTI community in 2015. She spoke about her experiences of homophobia and the acceptance she found in Glasgow's LGBT community in a BBC documentary, I Belong to Glasgow, screened in 2014. She spoke in 2016 about her plans to marry her female partner.
