Alex Kingston Biography

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Alexandra Elizabeth "Alex" Kingston (born 11 March 1963 Kingston's paternal great-great-grandmother was Jewish. Kingston's uncle, her mother's younger brother, is actor Walter Renneisen. Her sisters are Susie, who is mentally and physically disabled as a result of being deprived of oxygen at birth, and Nicola, a former actress who appeared in the 1996 British TV production of The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders, which Alex starred in.

Kingston was inspired to pursue acting by one of her teachers at Rosebery School for Girls. 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. She later completed a three-year programme at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and went on to join the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Career

Kingston has appeared in a number of British-produced television dramas, including Grange Hill, Crocodile Shoes, The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders, The Knock and a guest role on The Bill.

Kingston's film credits include The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989), A Pin for the Butterfly (1994), The Infiltrator (1995), Croupier (1998), Essex Boys (2000), Boudica (Warrior Queen in the USA) (2003) in which she played the eponymous Boudica, Sweet Land (2005) and Crashing (2007).

In September 1997, Kingston gained North American television fame after being cast on the long-running medical drama ER. Her first appearance was in the premiere of the fourth season which was the award-winning live episode "Ambush". She portrayed Elizabeth Corday, a surgeon arriving from Britain. Kingston played this role for just over seven seasons until leaving in October 2004, in season 11: episode 4 called "Fear". In spring 2009, Kingston returned to ER during its 15th and final season for two episodes which were season 15: episode 12 called "Dream Runner" and season 15: episode 22 which was the two-hour series finale called "And in the End...".

In November 2005, Kingston guest-starred in the long-running mystery drama Without a Trace in season 4: episode 6 called "Viuda Negra" (Spanish for "black widow"). The episode was directed by Kingston's former ER cast mate Paul McCrane. She played Lucy Costin, one of two wealthy vacationers from the U.S. whose husband is kidnapped by a Mexican street gang on the last night of their honeymoon.

In 2006, Kingston starred as Nurse Ratched, opposite Christian Slater as Randle Patrick McMurphy, in the Garrick Theatre's West End production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Kingston revealed that she was turned down for a role on ABC's Desperate Housewives, as Lynette Scavo, for being too curvy. In the same article, she admitted to considering and nearly attempting suicide after her separation from her ex-husband Ralph Fiennes.

In 2008, Kingston guest-starred in the fourth series of the long-running science fiction television programme Doctor Who in the two-part story "Silence in the Library"/"Forest of the Dead" as River Song. She reprised the role in several episodes of the 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 series. Kingston says she thought her role was simply a one-off, but was delighted that she would be a returning character as she has now appeared in fifteen episodes and counting.

In September 2008, Kingston took the part of Mrs Bennet in ITV's acclaimed four-part production Lost in Austen which is based on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. In October that same year, Kingston appeared in the police procedural drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation in season 9: episode 3 called "Art Imitates Life" where she portrayed Patricia Alwick, a psychiatrist and grief counsellor who helps the team cope with the recent death of CSI member Warrick Brown.

In February 2009, Kingston portrayed Miranda Pond, a defence attorney in two episodes of the legal drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. This guest spot reunited Kingston with her former cast mate from ER, Mariska Hargitay. Hargitay had a recurring role during the fourth season of ER. In June, Kingston starred as the lead character Ellie Lagden, one of four former convicts in the BBC One drama series Hope Springs until its cancellation in July. In September that year, she had a recurring role in FlashForward, playing Inspector Fiona Banks.

In 2010, Kingston returned to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in season 12: episode 7 entitled "Trophy", which reunited Kingston with her former ER castmate Maria Bello.

In 2011, Kingston was a cast member on British supernatural series Marchlands, portraying the character of Helen Maynard. She also guest-starred in the Grey's Anatomy spin-off Private Practice as Marla Tompkins, a psychiatrist who writes book reviews for newspapers. Kingston appeared in Friedrich Schiller's Luise Miller at the Donmar Warehouse in London.

In early 2013, Kingston appeared in Arrow, playing Dinah Lance, the mother of Laurel and Sarah Lance.

In July 2013 she played Lady Macbeth opposite Kenneth Branagh in Macbeth at Manchester International Festival. Her performance was broadcast to cinemas on 20 July as part of National Theatre Live. She will reprise the performance, again opposite Branagh, when the production plays at the Park Avenue Armory in June 2014. It will mark her New York stage debut.

Personal life

Kingston met English actor Ralph Fiennes while they were both students at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. They were together for ten years before marrying in 1993. In 1995, Fiennes began an affair with his Hamlet co-star, Francesca Annis, and left Kingston the following year; they were divorced in 1997.

At the end of 1998, Kingston married her second husband, German writer and freelance journalist Florian Haertel, having met the previous year on a blind date arranged by friends; they have a daughter together, Salome Violetta Haertel, born 28 March 2001. Kingston and Haertel are now separated. As of 2011, Kingston continues to reside in the US.

Ancestry

Kingston appeared on the BBC genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are? in September 2012, investigating the lives of her great-grandfather Will Keevil and her four-times great-grandmother, Elizabeth Braham.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1980	The Wildcats of St. Trinian's	Schoolgirl	Uncredited
	Grange Hill	Jill Harcourt	TV series (3 episodes)
1987	A Killing on the Exchange	Ellen	TV mini-series (2 episodes)
1988	The Bill	Various	TV series (4 episodes: 1988"1995)
1989	Hannay	Kirsten Larssen	TV series (1 episode: "The Terrors of the Earth")
	The Play on One	Daniella	TV series (1 episode: "These Foolish Things")
	The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover	Adela
1992	Covington Cross	Helen	TV series (1 episode: "Cedric Hits the Road")
1993	Foreign Affairs	Actress	TV film
	Soldier Soldier	Ursula Kröhling	TV series (1 episode: "Camouflage")
1994	Woman of the Wolf	Woman	Voice only, TV film
	A Pin for the Butterfly
	Crocodile Shoes	Caroline Carrison	TV series (5 episodes)
1995	Carrington	Frances Partidge
	The Infiltrator	Anna
1996	The Knock	Katherine Roberts	TV series (13 episodes)
	The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders	Moll Flanders	TV serial (4 episodes)
	Saint-Ex	Chic Party Guest
1997	Weapons of Mass Distraction	Verity Graham	TV film
1997-2004, 2009	ER	Dr. Elizabeth Corday	TV series (Series regular: 160 episodes)
1998	Croupier	Jani de Villiers
1999	This Space Between Us	Peternelle
2000	Essex Boys	Lisa Locke
2003	Boudica	Boudica	Warrior Queen in the U.S.A.
2005	The Poseidon Adventure	Suzanne Harrison	TV film
	Sweet Land	Brownie
	Without a Trace	Lucy Costin	TV series (1 episode: "Viuda Negra")
2006	Alpha Dog	Tiffany Hartunian
2007	Crashing	Diane Freed
2008	Freezing	Serena Wilson	TV series (1 episode: "Episode No. 1.3")
	Lost in Austen	Mrs. Bennett	TV mini-series (4 episodes)
	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Dr. Patricia Alwick	TV series (1 episode: "Art Imitates Life")
2008 - present	Doctor Who	River Song	TV series
2009	Sordid Things	Eve Manchester
	Hope Springs	Ellie Lagden	TV series: Lead role (8 episodes)
	FlashForward	Inspector Fiona Banks	TV series (3 episodes)
	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Miranda Pond	TV series (4 episodes)
2010	Ben Hur	Ruth	TV series (2 episodes)
	Callers	Sheila	Post-production
2011	Like Crazy	Jackie
	Private Practice	Marla Tompkins	(TV series, 2 episoes)
	Marchlands	Helen Maynard	TV series (5 episodes)
	Teaching awards 2011	As herself
2012	Upstairs Downstairs	Dr Blanche Mottershead	TV series (6 episodes)
	NCIS	Miranda Pennebaker	TV series, season 10 episode 8: Gone
	Who Do You Think You Are?	Herself	TV series, season 9 episode 6: Alex Kingston
2013	Arrow	Dinah Drake Lance	TV series
2014	Bukowski	Katharina Bukowski

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	For	Win
1996	BAFTA TV Award	Best Actress in The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders
1998	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in ER
1999	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in ER
2001	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in ER
2001	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in ER
2008	Doctor Who Magazine Award	Best Guest Actress
2009	TV Land Icon Award	ER
2010	Doctor Who Magazine Award	Best Supporting Actress
2012	SFX	Best Actress for Doctor Who