21 Facts About Alex Kingston

Alexandra Elizabeth Kingston was born on 11 March 1963 and is an English actress.

Active from the early 1980s, Kingston became noted for her television work in both Britain and the US in the 1990s, including her regular role as Dr Elizabeth Corday in the NBC medical drama ER and her title role in the ITV miniseries The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders, which earned her a BAFTA nomination for Best Actress.

Alex Kingston was born and brought up in Epsom, Surrey, to Anthony Alex Kingston, an English butcher and his German wife, Margarethe.

Alex Kingston was inspired to pursue acting by one of her teachers at Rosebery School for Girls.

Alex Kingston auditioned and performed in the Surrey County Youth Theatre production of Tom Jones as Mrs Fitzpatrick, alongside Sean Pertwee as Captain Fitzpatrick, and Thwackum played by Tom Davison.

Alex Kingston later completed a three-year programme at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and went on to join the Royal Shakespeare Company.

In 1980, Alex Kingston made her television debut in three episodes of the children's drama series Grange Hill, while appearing as an uncredited extra in the film The Wildcats of St Trinian's.

Alex Kingston received a nomination for Best Actress for her performance at the following year's British Academy Television Awards.

In September 1997, Alex Kingston gained North American television fame after being cast as a main character in the long-running medical drama ER.

Alex Kingston made her first appearance as British surgeon Elizabeth Corday in the premiere of the fourth season, the Emmy Award-winning live episode "Ambush".

In November 2005, Alex Kingston guest starred as a vacationer whose husband gets kidnapped by a Mexican street gang in an episode of the CBS crime drama Without a Trace, titled "Viuda Negra" and directed by her former ER co-star Paul McCrane.

Alex Kingston then revealed that she auditioned for the role of Lynette Scavo on ABC's Desperate Housewives but was turned away for being too curvy.

Alex Kingston thought it was simply a one-off guest role but was delighted to find out that she would be a returning character after the story's writer, Steven Moffat, succeeded Russell T Davies as the Doctor Who showrunner.

Alex Kingston reprised the role in thirteen episodes between 2010 and 2015, appearing on screen opposite two more incarnations of the Doctor played by Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi.

Alex Kingston has portrayed the role in a number of audio dramas from Big Finish Productions, including her solo series The Diary of River Song.

In September 2008, Alex Kingston took the part of Mrs Bennet in ITV's acclaimed four-part drama Lost in Austen, based on Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice.

Alex Kingston starred in the first season of The CW's superhero drama series Arrow as Professor Dinah Lance, the mother of Laurel and Sara Lance, and later reprised the role in a few episodes over the next three seasons.

Alex Kingston met English actor Ralph Fiennes while they were both students at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

In 1995, Fiennes began an affair with his Hamlet co-star Francesca Annis and left Alex Kingston the following year; they were divorced in 1997.

In 2015, Alex Kingston married Jonathan Stamp, a television producer, in an Italian ceremony.

Alex Kingston has lived in the United States, and moved back to the UK in 2019.