Born: 11th March 1963 (as Alexandra Elizabeth Kingston)
Episodes Broadcast: 2008, 2010-2013, 2015

Hailing from Epsom, Surrey, Alex Kingston became interested in performance after watching a play starring her uncle, the noted German thespian Walter Renneisen. She was also encouraged to act by one of her English teachers, and she was soon regularly involved in school productions. Kingston joined the Surrey County Youth Theatre, where she worked alongside Sean Pertwee, the son of Third Doctor actor Jon Pertwee. In 1980, she made her television debut in three episodes of Grange Hill, while also appearing as an uncredited extra in the movie The Wildcats Of St Trinian's. Kingston then attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where she began a relationship with fellow student Ralph Fiennes. After graduation, she could be seen in shows like Henry's Leg, A Killing On The Exchange and The Bill, while she earned her first film credit on 1989's The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover. Kingston also joined Fiennes as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Covington Cross, Crocodile Shoes and The Knock numbered amongst Kingston's television appearances during the early Nineties, while a handful of movie roles included Carrington with Emma Thompson and Jonathan Pryce. She and Fiennes were married in 1993. In 1996, Kingston attracted notice for her starring role in The Fortunes And Misfortunes Of Moll Flanders. One impressed viewer was Steven Spielberg, who invited Kingston to join the cast of ER, the trailblazing American medical drama he produced. The offer coincided with her 1997 divorce from Fiennes as a result of his infidelity, and a change of scenery in Hollywood held enormous appeal. ER helped propel Kingston's career to new heights; in 1998, she had a role in the Clive Owen crime film Croupier, while she also married writer Florian Haertel.

Kingston appeared on ER for most of eight seasons

Kingston and Haertel had a daughter, Salome, who was born in 2001. Soon thereafter, however, the situation on ER soured. Having appeared on the show for most of eight seasons, Kingston was dropped in 2004 -- apparently because, at age forty-one, she was now deemed too old to be of interest to viewers. She thereafter divided her time between Hollywood and the United Kingdom, with credits during the rest of the decade including episodes of Lost In Austen, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Hope Springs and Flashforward, as well as movies such as the ensemble drama Alpha Dog. Despite the circumstances of her departure, Kingston also returned to ER for two episodes during its final season in 2009.

Meanwhile, in 2008, Kingston was cast as the enigmatic Professor River Song in Silence In The Library / Forest Of The Dead, opposite David Tennant's Tenth Doctor. Since the serial ended with her character's demise, Kingston thought little about returning to Doctor Who. However, the writer was Steven Moffat, who was in the process of taking over from Russell T Davies as the programme's showrunner. He had big plans for River Song, and Kingston found herself back on the show in 2010 for The Time Of Angels / Flesh And Stone, with Matt Smith now playing the Eleventh Doctor. Ten further episodes followed, during which River was variously revealed to be the Doctor's murderer, the Doctor's wife, the possessor of Time Lord abilities, and the daughter of companions Amy Pond and Rory Williams. During the same period, she also had roles in shows like Marchlands, Arrow, Chasing Shadows, and the revival of Upstairs Downstairs.

Kingston and Haertel were divorced in 2013, the same year that she made her last appearance opposite Smith with The Name Of The Doctor. However, Moffat then surprised Kingston with one further story for River Song: the 2015 Christmas special The Husbands Of River Song paired her with the Twelfth Doctor, Peter Capaldi, and served as a swansong for her character. But she was not prepared to relinquish River Song altogether. During 2015, Kingston embarked on a lengthy association with audio producers Big Finish Productions, initially starring in the first season of The Diary Of River Song. Her work with Big Finish even gave her the opportunity to work with her daughter on multiple occasions. Meanwhile, 2015 also saw Kingston marry for a third time, to producer Jonathan Stamp.

During the late 2010s, Kingston took a prominent role in A Discovery Of Witches, while also appearing in shows like Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life, Shoot The Messenger and The Widow. In 2021, she collaborated with Jacqueline Rayner on a River Song novel called Doctor Who: The Ruby's Curse for BBC Books, and reprised the character for pre-recorded elements of the Time Fracture interactive experience. Television during the decade included an episode of Dodger, starring the Ninth Doctor, Christopher Eccleston.