Alexandra Elizabeth "Alex" Kingston is an English actress.
She is known for her roles as Dr. Elizabeth Corday on the NBC medical drama ER and as
River Song in the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who.
Early life and education Kingston was born and raised in Epsom, Surrey,
the eldest of three daughters of an English butcher, Anthony Kingston, and his German
wife, Margarethe.
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, in which Kingston starred.
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, A Pin for
the Butterfly, The Infiltrator, Croupier, Essex Boys, Boudica in which she played the
eponymous Boudica, Sweet Land and Crashing.
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" where she portrayed British surgeon, Elizabeth Corday.
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".
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,
who 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 Professor Dinah Lance, the mother
of Laurel and Sara Lance.
In July 2013 Kingston 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.
In September 2014, Kingston starred as Ruth Hattersley, an analyst working for the Missing
Persons Bureau on the ITV mini-series drama Chasing Shadows.
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.
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 Awards and nominations
References
External links Alex Kingston at the Internet Movie Database