# Alex Kingston

Alexandra Elizabeth Kingston (born 11 March 1963) 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 (1997–2004) and her title role in the ITV miniseries The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders (1996), which earned her a BAFTA nomination for Best Actress.
Kingston's later credits include the recurring role of River Song in the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who (2008–2015), Mrs. Bennet in the ITV period-drama fantasy Lost in Austen (2008), Dinah Lance in The CW's superhero fiction drama series Arrow (2013–2016), and Sarah Bishop in A Discovery of Witches (2018–2022).

## Early life

Kingston was born and brought up in Epsom, Surrey, to Anthony Kingston, an English butcher and his German wife, Margarethe (née Renneisen). Kingston's paternal great-great-grandmother was Jewish, an ancestry Kingston explored on the series Who Do You Think You Are? Kingston's uncle, her mother's younger brother, is actor Walter Renneisen. Her younger 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
### 1980–2007: Early career and breakthrough with ER

In 1980, Kingston made her television debut in three episodes of the children's drama series Grange Hill, while also appearing as an uncredited extra in the film The Wildcats of St Trinian's. From the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, she performed on stage in twenty different theatrical productions, working extensively with the Birmingham Repertory Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Her classic Shakespearean roles included Calpurnia in Julius Caesar (1987), Cordelia in King Lear (1990), Hero in Much Ado About Nothing (1990–1991), Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1992) and Desdemona in Othello (1993).
Around the same time, she could be seen playing small parts in television shows like A Killing on the Exchange (1987), Hannay (1989), Covington Cross (1992), Soldier Soldier (1993) and Crocodile Shoes (1994), and also had various guest roles in ITV's long-running police procedural The Bill (1988–1995). In film, she appeared in The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989) with Helen Mirren, The Infiltrator (1995) with Oliver Platt and Carrington (1995) with Emma Thompson, where she played writer Frances Partridge.
In April 1996, she got her first regular television role as customs officer Katherine Roberts in the ITV crime drama The Knock, appearing in all thirteen episodes of the second series. In December, she played the lead role opposite Daniel Craig in The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders, an ITV adaptation of Daniel Defoe's novel Moll Flanders. She received a nomination for Best Actress for her performance at the following year's British Academy Television Awards.
In September 1997, Kingston gained North American television fame after being cast as a main character in the long-running medical drama ER. She made her first appearance as British surgeon Elizabeth Corday in the premiere of the fourth season, the Emmy Award-winning live episode "Ambush". Having appeared in the show for just over seven seasons, she left it in October 2004, in the eleventh-season episode "Fear", after her contract was not renewed. Being 41 at the time, she criticised the move as ageism, stating that "apparently, I, according to the producers and the writers, am part of the old fogies who are no longer interesting." Despite that, she said that she was "very proud of the work [she had] done over the past eight years" and "grateful for the professional associations and friendships [she had] made through ER".
The ER role helped propel Kingston's career to new heights, which led to a number of big-screen appearances in films like the Clive Owen neo-noir drama Croupier (1998) and independent period drama Sweet Land (2005), as well as the crime dramas Essex Boys (2000) and Alpha Dog (2006). In 2003, she battled Romans as the warrior queen of Britain in ITV's biopic Boudica, which was also released in the USA on PBS under the title Warrior Queen and marked the screen debut of Emily Blunt.
In November 2005, 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. The following year, she returned to the stage after ten years in the West End production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, starring as Nurse Ratched opposite Christian Slater as Randle McMurphy. She then revealed that she auditioned for the role of Lynette Scavo on ABC's Desperate Housewives but was turned away for being too curvy.

### 2008–2015: Doctor Who and further television and stage work

In 2008, Kingston guest starred as Professor River Song in the fourth series of the BBC's long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who, in the two-part story "Silence in the Library" / "Forest of the Dead", starring David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. She 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. She 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. Kingston has also portrayed the role in a number of audio dramas from Big Finish Productions, including her solo series The Diary of River Song (2015–2023).
In September 2008, 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. In October, she appeared in the episode "Art Imitates Life" of the police procedural drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as psychiatrist and grief counsellor Patricia Alwick, who helped the team cope with the recent death of one of their members.
In both 2009 and 2010, Kingston had recurring roles as MI6 agent Fiona Banks in the ABC science fiction drama FlashForward and defence attorney Miranda Pond in the NBC legal drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, in which she reunited with her former ER castmates, Mariska Hargitay and Maria Bello. In spring 2009, Kingston returned to ER itself during its fifteenth and final season for two episodes, "Dream Runner" and the two-hour series finale, "And in the End...". In June, she starred as the lead character Ellie Lagden, one of four former convicts, in the BBC One eight-part drama series Hope Springs.
In the early 2010s, Kingston played a housewife in the five-part supernatural drama Marchlands (2011), an archaeologist in the second series of the revived Upstairs Downstairs (2012) and an analyst working for a missing persons unit in the four-part crime drama Chasing Shadows (2014). In the US, she appeared in the romantic film Like Crazy (2011) and the Grey's Anatomy spin-off series Private Practice (2011), in the guest role of a psychiatrist writing book reviews. She also starred in the first season of The CW's superhero drama series Arrow (2013) 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. On stage, she participated in the Donmar Warehouse production of Friedrich Schiller's play Luise Miller (2011), directed by Michael Grandage.
In July 2013, she played Lady Macbeth opposite Kenneth Branagh in the Manchester International Festival's production of Macbeth, which was broadcast live in cinemas worldwide as part of the National Theatre Live programme. Following a nomination for Best Actress at the Manchester Theatre Awards, she reprised her role with Branagh at the Park Avenue Armory in June 2014, making her New York stage debut. Earlier in April, Branagh and Kingston took other classic Shakespearean lead roles in the two-and-a-half-hour adaptation of Antony and Cleopatra, broadcast on BBC Radio 3 as part of its celebration of the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare's birth.

### 2016–present: Recent work

During the late 2010s, she took a prominent role as Sarah Bishop in Sky's fantasy drama A Discovery of Witches (2018–2022), while also appearing in shows like Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life (2016), Shoot the Messenger (2016) and The Widow (2019). In 2021, she wrote a River Song novel called Doctor Who: The Ruby's Curse for BBC Books, and reprised the role for pre-recorded elements of the interactive theatrical experience Time Fracture. The following year, she starred as British Prime Minister candidate Audrey Gratz in the Netflix spy miniseries Treason and as the villainous Lucifer in the Oliver Twist-inspired children's television series Dodger, also starring the Ninth Doctor actor, Christopher Eccleston.
In January 2023, she returned to the Royal Shakespeare Company for the first time since the early nineties in the role of Prospero in The Tempest.

## 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. In a 2006 interview, she admitted to considering and nearly attempting suicide after her separation from Fiennes.
At the end of 1998, Kingston married Florian Haertel, a German writer and freelance journalist, having met him the previous year on a blind date arranged by friends; they had a daughter, Salome Violetta Haertel, born 28 March 2001. Kingston and Haertel separated in 2009. On 30 October 2009, Haertel sued Kingston for dissolution of the marriage, and the divorce was finalised in 2013.
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.
In 2015, Kingston married Jonathan Stamp, a television producer, in an Italian ceremony.
Kingston has lived in the United States, and moved back to the UK in 2019.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1980 | The Wildcats of St. Trinian's | Schoolgirl | Uncredited |
| 1989 | The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover | Adele | |
| 1994 | A Pin for the Butterfly | Mrs. Solomon | |
| 1995 | Carrington | Frances Partridge | |
| 1996 | Saint-Ex | Chic Party Guest | |
| 1998 | Croupier | Jani de Villiers | |
| 1999 | This Space Between Us | Peternelle | |
| 2000 | Essex Boys | Lisa Locke | |
| 2005 | Sweet Land | Brownie | |
| 2005 | The Poseidon Adventure | Suzanne Harrison | |
| 2006 | Alpha Dog | Tiffany Hartunian | |
| 2007 | Crashing | Diane Freed | |
| 2009 | Sordid Things | Eve Manchester | |
| 2011 | Like Crazy | Jackie | |
| 2011 | Ghost Phone: Phone Calls from the Dead | Sheila | |
| 2013 | Bukowski | Katharina Bukowski | Unreleased |
| 2016 | Happily Ever After | Ria | |
| 2018 | Deadpan | Tamara | Short film |
| 2024 | The Killer's Game | Sharon Rabinowitz | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1980 | Grange Hill | Jill Harcourt | 3 episodes |
| 1986 | Henry's Leg | Noreen | Miniseries |
| 1987 | A Killing on the Exchange | Ellen | Miniseries |
| 1988–1995 | The Bill | Dr. Howard / Lisa / Maggie Fisher | 4 episodes |
| 1989 | Hannay | Kirsten Larssen | Episode: "The Terrors of the Earth" |
| 1989 | The Play on One | Daniella | Episode: "These Foolish Things" |
| 1992 | Covington Cross | Helen | Episode: "Cedric Hits the Road" |
| 1993 | Foreign Affairs | Actress | TV film |
| 1993 | Soldier Soldier | Ursula Kröhling | Episode: "Camouflage" |
| 1994 | Woman of the Wolf | Woman (voice) | TV film |
| 1994 | Crocodile Shoes | Caroline Carrison | 5 episodes |
| 1995 | The Infiltrator | Anna | TV film |
| 1996 | The Knock | Katherine Roberts | 13 episodes |
| 1996 | Last of the Czars | Alexandra (voice) | 3 episodes |
| 1996 | The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders | Moll Flanders | Miniseries |
| 1997 | Weapons of Mass Distraction | Verity Graham | TV film |
| 1997–2009 | ER | Dr. Elizabeth Corday | 160 episodes |
| 2003 | Boudica | Boudica | TV film; a.k.a. Warrior Queen |
| 2005 | The Poseidon Adventure | Suzanne Harrison | TV film |
| 2005 | Without a Trace | Lucy Costin | Episode: "Viuda Negra" |
| 2008 | Freezing | Serena Wilson | Episode #1.3 |
| 2008 | Lost in Austen | Mrs. Bennet | Miniseries |
| 2008 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Patricia Alwick | Episode: "Art Imitates Life" |
| 2008, 2010–2013, 2015 | Doctor Who | River Song | 15 episodes |
| 2009 | Hope Springs | Ellie Lagden | 8 episodes |
| 2009–2010 | FlashForward | Fiona Banks | 3 episodes |
| 2009–2010 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Miranda Pond | 4 episodes |
| 2010 | Ben Hur | Ruth | Miniseries |
| 2011 | Private Practice | Dr. Marla Thomkins | 2 episodes |
| 2011 | Marchlands | Helen Maynard | Miniseries |
| 2012 | Upstairs Downstairs | Dr. Blanche Mottershead | 5 episodes |
| 2012 | Who Do You Think You Are? | Herself | Episode: "Alex Kingston" |
| 2012 | NCIS | Miranda Pennebaker | Episode: "Gone" |
| 2013–2016 | Arrow | Dinah Lance | 7 episodes |
| 2014 | Chasing Shadows | Ruth Hattersley | Miniseries |
| 2015 | American Odyssey | Jennifer Wachtel | 2 episodes |
| 2016, 2021 | Blue Bloods | Commander Sloane Thompson | 2 episodes |
| 2016 | Transformers: Rescue Bots | Quickshadow (voice) | 5 episodes |
| 2016 | Shoot the Messenger | Mary Foster | 8 episodes |
| 2016 | Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life | Naomi Shropshire | Miniseries |
| 2016 | Crushed | Cricket Stella | Unaired Hulu pilot |
| 2017 | Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero | Vlurgen (voice) | Episode: "Mr. Rippen" |
| 2018–2022 | A Discovery of Witches | Sarah Bishop | 20 episodes |
| 2019 | The Widow | Judith Gray | 8 episodes |
| 2022 | Dodger | Lucifer | 2 episodes |
| 2022 | Treason | Audrey Gratz | 5 episodes |
| 2024 | Douglas Is Cancelled | Sheila | Main role |

### Radio

| Year | Title | Role | Production | Notes |
| 1992 | Père Goriot | Delphine / Victorine | BBC Radio 4 | Four-part dramatisation |
| 1994 | John Dollar | Charlotte | BBC Radio 3 | Self-adapted by author Marianne Wiggins |
| 2006 | Rebecca | Narrator | BBC Radio 2 | Abridged eight-part version |
| 2007 | Murder She Thought | Narrator | BBC Radio 4 | Story: "Dear George" by Cathy Ace |
| 2014 | Antony and Cleopatra | Cleopatra | BBC Radio 3 | Two-and-a-half-hour adaptation starring Kenneth Branagh |
| 2021 | Nuremberg | Madeleine Jacob [fr] | BBC Radio 4 | Story: "He Pointed to the Sky" by Jonathan Myerson |

### Audio

| Year | Title | Role | Production | Notes |
| 2007 | Mary Stuart | Mary Stuart | L.A. Theatre Works | Recorded before an audience at the Skirball Cultural Center |
| 2010 | Tartuffe | Elmire | L.A. Theatre Works | Recorded at The Invisible Studios, West Hollywood |
| 2012 | The Angel's Kiss: A Melody Malone Mystery | Narrator | AudioGO | |
| 2015–2023 | The Diary of River Song | River Song | Big Finish Productions | Series 1–12 |
| 2016 | Five Short Stories by Women | Narrator | L.A. Theatre Works | Story: "Once Upon a Time" |
| 2016–2017 | Doom Coalition | River Song | Big Finish Productions | 5 stories |
| 2017 | Seven | Inez McCormack | L.A. Theatre Works | Recorded before an audience at the James Bridges Theater |
| 2020 | Peter Pan | Narrator | Penguin Audio | |
| 2019 | The Eighth of March | River Song | Big Finish Productions | Story: "Emancipation" |
| 2019 | Ravenous | River Song | Big Finish Productions | Story: "Companion Piece" |
| 2019 | UNIT: The New Series | River Song | Big Finish Productions | Story: "The Power of River Song" |
| 2019 | Transference | Sam Ross | Big Finish Productions | Non-Doctor Who eight-part psychological thriller |
| 2019 | The Legacy of Time | River Song | Big Finish Productions | Story: "Lies in Ruins" |
| 2019 | The Other Queen | Narrator | Simon & Schuster Audio | |
| 2020 | The Lives of Captain Jack | River Song | Big Finish Productions | Story: "R&J" |
| 2020 | Arkham County | Henrietta | Audible | Original seven-hour drama with Stanley Tucci in the lead role |
| 2020 | The Tenth Doctor and River Song | River Song | Big Finish Productions | 3 stories |
| 2021 | A Narrow Door | Narrator | Orion Books | |
| 2021 | Doctor Who: The Ruby's Curse | Narrator | AudioGO | Also writer |
| 2021 | Dalek Universe | River Song | Big Finish Productions | Story: "The First Son" |
| 2022 | Peladon | River Song | Big Finish Productions | Story: "The Poison of Peladon" |
| 2022 | Marple: Twelve New Mysteries | Narrator | HarperAudio | Story: "Evil in Small Places" |

### Video games

| Year | Title | Role |
| 2012 | Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock | River Song (voice) |

## Stage work

| Year | Title | Role | Venue |
| — | The Idiot | Nastasya Filippovna | Contact Theatre |
| 1986 | The Alchemist | Dol Common | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1987 | Julius Caesar | Culpurnia | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1987 | Travelling Players | Mad Ophelia | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1988 | Saved | Pam | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1988 | French Without Tears | Diana Lake | Leicester Haymarket Theatre |
| 1988 | The Tutor | Fraulien Muller | Old Vic Theatre |
| 1989 | 'Tis A Pity She's A Whore | Hippolita | Dukes Playhouse |
| 1989 | The Country Wife | Marjorie Pinchwife | Dukes Playhouse |
| 1990–1991 | King Lear | Cordelia | Royal Shakespeare Company |
| 1990–1991 | Much Ado About Nothing | Hero | Royal Shakespeare Company |
| 1990–1991 | Love's Labours Lost | Jaquenetta | Royal Shakespeare Company |
| 1991 | Curse of the Starving Class | Emma | Royal Shakespeare Company |
| 1991–1992 | The Bright and Bold Design | Grace Rhys | Royal Shakespeare Company |
| 1992 | Bad Blood | Dolores | Gate Theatre |
| 1992 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Titania / Hippolyta | Crucible Theatre |
| 1993 | Othello | Desdemona | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 1994 | Darwin's Flood | Emma Darwin | Bush Theatre |
| 1995 | Morning and Evening | Cecilie / Johanne | Hampstead Theatre |
| 1996 | The Lady From The Sea | Ellida Wangel | Bridewell Theatre |
| 2006 | One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest | Nurse Rachet | Garrick Theatre |
| 2011 | Luise Miller | Lady Milford | Donmar Warehouse |
| 2013 | Macbeth | Lady Macbeth | Manchester International Festival |
| 2014 | Macbeth | Lady Macbeth | Park Avenue Armory |
| 2019 | Admissions | Sherri Rosen-Mason | Trafalgar Theatre |
| 2019 | An Enemy of the People | Dr. Stockmann | Nottingham Playhouse |
| 2021 | Doctor Who: Time Fracture | River Song | Immersive LDN |
| 2022 | The Fall | Dr. Greta Portius | Riverside Studios |
| 2023 | The Tempest | Prospero | Royal Shakespeare Company |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
| 1997 | British Academy Television Awards | Best Actress | The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders | Nominated |
| 1998 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (shared with the cast) | ER | Won |
| 1999 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (shared with the cast) | ER | Won |
| 2000 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (shared with the cast) | ER | Nominated |
| 2001 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (shared with the cast) | ER | Nominated |
| 2008 | Doctor Who Magazine Awards | Best Guest Actress | Doctor Who (episodes: "Silence in the Library" / "Forest of the Dead") | Won |
| 2009 | TV Land Awards | Icon Award | ER | Won |
| 2010 | Airlock Alpha Portal Awards | Best Special Guest | Doctor Who (episode: "Time of Angels") | Won |
| 2010 | Doctor Who Magazine Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Doctor Who | Won |
| 2011 | Airlock Alpha Portal Awards | Best Special Guest | Doctor Who (episode: "Day of the Moon") | Nominated |
| 2012 | SFX Awards | Best Actress | Doctor Who | Won |
| 2012 | Airlock Alpha Portal Awards | Best Special Guest | Doctor Who (episode: "Let's Kill Hitler") | Nominated |
| 2013 | Anglophenia's Fan Favorites Women's Tournament | Woman of the Year | — | Won |
| 2013 | Manchester Theatre Awards | Best Actress | Macbeth | Nominated |
| 2015 | Saturn Awards | Best Guest Performance in a Television Series | Doctor Who (episode: "The Husbands of River Song") | Nominated |