Popular English actress Alexandra Elizabeth Kingston is best known for playing Dr. Elizabeth Corday in the American television series “ER.” She appeared in the crime dramas Law & Order: SVU and NCIS and portrayed the title character in “The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders.” She also played the lesbian archaeologist Dr. Blanche Mottershead in “Upstairs Downstairs,” a precursor to the English drama “Downton Abbey.” Once she played Professor River Song in the immensely renowned British television series “Doctor Who,” her celebrity soared to new heights. Her character quickly gained popularity with viewers despite being only intended for a few episodes, forcing the show’s creators to expand her role. She made a triumphant comeback as River Song in the special episode “The Husbands of River Song,” which also featured Peter Capaldi’s, Twelve Doctors. Moreover, she is the third of the five actors to appear regularly in the American superhero series “Arrow.” After four years of marriage, she and British actor Ralph Fiennes divorced. She has received various accolades for her auxiliary performances in numerous television programs.
Early Childhood & Life
The oldest of Anthony and Margarethe Kingston’s three daughters, Alexandra Elizabeth Kingston was born on March 11, 1963, in Epsom, Surrey. Her maternal uncle, the actor Walter Renneisen, is linked to her.
At the Rosebery School for Girls, where she attended school, one of her teachers suggested that she attempt acting. She pursued a three-year program at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art after appearing in “Tom Jones” at the Surrey County Youth Theatre (RADA). She first met Ralph Fiennes at RADA, where they later became engaged. She subsequently joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, where she performed in numerous plays.
Career of Alex Kingston
At the age of 15, Alex Kingston began her career in television by portraying a bully in the English TV series “Grange Hill.”
She bagged her major part as the lead character in miniseries, ‘The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders’ in 1996.
In 1997, she gained international recognition for her performance as Dr. Elizabeth Corday in the popular television series “ER.” She distinguished herself with her distinctive red curly hair and aristocratic British accent, returning to the role for more than seven seasons. After season 11, the show’s creators did not, however, extend her contract.
She made a cameo appearance in the mystery drama “Without a Trace” in 2005, and in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in 2006, she played Nurse Ratched.
In the 2008 television series “Lost in Austen,” which is based on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, she was given the role of Mrs. Bennet.
She portrayed Miranda Pond, the defense attorney, in the 2009 legal drama “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.” She assumed the role of Ellie Lagden, the series’ protagonist, in the same year’s BBC One drama “Hope Springs.” She portrayed Fiona Banks, a recurrent character, in the American drama series “FlashForward.”
In 2010, Kingston made a comeback on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” where she was reunited with Maria Bello, who she had previously worked with on “ER.”
In 2011, she portrayed Helen Maynard in the English supernatural television series “Marchlands.” She also made a cameo appearance in “Private Practice” as the psychiatrist Marla Tompkins, who evaluates books for newspapers.
She joined the cast of the BBC genealogy program “Who Do You Think You Are?” in September 2012, tracing the lives of her four-times great-grandmother Elizabeth Braham and her great-grandfather Will Keevil.
She played Professor Dinah Lance, the mother of Laurel and Sara Lance, in the American television series “Arrow.”
In 2013, Alex Kingston appeared in “Macbeth” at the Manchester International Festival alongside Kenneth Branagh. 2014 saw her make her New York debut at the Park Avenue Armory in the same role.
In the 2014 English drama “Chasing Shadows,” she went on to play Ruth Hattersley, an analyst with the Missing People Bureau.
Bigger Works of Alex Kingston
Alex Kingston has been in a number of American and British TV shows, but she is most known for her work on ER and Doctor Who. She portrayed the part of a surgeon in “ER,” but she portrays a professor in “Doctor Who.”
Personal Legacy & Life
Alex Kingston and British actor Ralph Fiennes were engaged for around ten years before getting married in 1993. However, the relationship between Ralph Fiennes and Francesca Annis ended in 1997, a few years after it had begun.
She wed Florian Haertel, a freelance writer, in 1998 after going on a blind date set up by her friends. They are the parents of Salome Violetta Haertel, a girl born in 2001. Then in 2010, the pair broke up.
In 2015, she wed television producer Jonathan Stamp, her third husband, in a lavish Italian ceremony. She now resides in the USA with her family.
Alex Kingston’s Net Worth
Trivia
Alex Kingston acknowledged in 2006 that she had once considered and come close to attempting suicide as a result of her breakup with her husband Ralph Fiennes.
Salome Violetta Haertel’s daughter played her on-screen daughter “Ella Green” in an episode of “ER.”
Due to her curvy physique, she was turned down for the role of Lynette Scavo on ABC’s “Desperate Housewives.”