Alison King

Alison King
Born (1973-03-03) 3 March 1973
Leicester, England
Nationality English
Education Groby Community College
Occupation Actress
Years active 1995–present
Employer Sky 1 (1998–2007)
ITV (2006–16)
Agent Cam Agency
Television Lynda Block in Dream Team (1998–03, 2005–07)
Carla Connor in Coronation Street (2006–16)
Children 1
Parent(s) Alex and June King

Alison Rosamund King (born 3 March 1973) is an English actress. She has had major television roles as Lynda Block in the Sky One drama series Dream Team, and as Carla Connor in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street (2006–16). She won Best Actress at the 2012 British Soap Awards.

Early life and education

Alison King was born at Leicester Royal Infirmary to Alex and June King, who were both nurses at the hospital. She was their fourth child and third daughter. She was raised in the family home first in Ratby Lane, Markfield, Leicestershire where she went to Markfield Mercenfeld Primary School and was taught by Tracey Lee, mother of Sammy Lee, and Gillian Sykes, then in Kirby Muxloe. She attended South Charnwood High School, where she first took an interest in acting. She continued to act while attending Groby Community College, where a teacher would offer drama and dance classes to students in their free time. Alison was raised as a Christadelphian and attended the Christadelphian Church at Westleigh, Leicester, where she was baptised as a teenager. At the age of 18, King moved to Newquay, Cornwall, where she worked at Fat Willys Surf Shack. When she was 22, she enrolled at the North Cheshire Theatre School. During her time there she got her first television role, playing Helen, a hair salon crimper, in two episodes of Brookside. Before the conclusion of her three-year diploma, she was cast in the major role of Lynda Block in Sky One's Dream Team.[1][2]

Career

Alison King appeared on Dream Team as Lynda Block for three years before the character was sent to prison. She reprised the role some years later.[2] During her break from working on Dream Team, she worked on several projects abroad including a role as an extra in the American feature film Shanghai Knights — appearing in a scene alongside Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson — supporting major roles such as BBC comedy-drama Help, video film Submerged (2005) and feature film Final Contract: Death on Delivery. She made a guest appearance in the final episode of Mile High, playing the wife of Captain Nigel Croker's, and was featured in Coupling in the episode "The Man with Two Legs", as Chrissy with whom Jeff Murdock becomes infatuated on his morning train ride. She played one of the prominent roles for two independent films, Save Angel Hope (2006) and Back in Business (2007).[1]

In 2006, she was cast as Carla Connor in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street. She made her first appearance in the role in the episode broadcast on 1 December 2006.[1] She had previously appeared in the soap in 2004 as an unrelated character named Mrs Fanshaw. Her one-episode role was part of a larger storyline to "sex up" Ryan Thomas's character, builder Jason Grimshaw.[3] She went on maternity leave in 2009. In 2010 she was involved in the death of Tony Gordon storyline, in which she had to be kidnapped in the Underworld factory. For these scenes, she had to be tied to a chair with her hands tied behind her back and have her mouth gagged with gaffer tape.[4] Of filming the scenes, she said "My wrist was sore at the end! It was a different experience anyway, acting for two weeks with your hands tied behind your back on a chair."[4]

In May 2015, it was announced she would be taking an extended break from Coronation Street to pursue other projects.[5][6][7] However in January 2016, it was confirmed that the departure would be permanent.

She has also made appearances in a series of recurring television adverts for Daz.[1] In 2000, she appeared in an episode of Cold Feet as "Girlpower", a seductive internet avatar. King also appeared in the second episode of the fourth series of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet in 2004.

Personal life

In 2014, it was reported that King had requested extra security from ITV bosses after it emerged she had a female stalker. Despite formal requests to stay away after being found lurking outside of her house, the woman approached her at a public event, Southport Flower Show, resulting in a distressed King fleeing the event earlier than intended.[8][9][10][11]

She had a five-year relationship with former Coronation Street actor Philip Middlemiss (who played Des Barnes).[12]

In 2006, King became engaged to fellow actor Jim Alexander who co-starred in several series of Dream Team with her, as well as the Daz adverts. However, the pair split in early 2007. She briefly dated fellow soap star Louis Emerick following the split.

She dated Adam Huckett, a Coronation Street sound technician from April 2007. She gave birth to their daughter, Daisy Mae, on 11 February 2009. King has also stated that she wishes to have more children in the future. [13][14] She became engaged to Huckett in September 2011 while on a trip to Paris, however, on 16 October 2012 it was reported that the engagement was off as they had split up.

King is a keen football fan and a supporter of English Premier League football side Liverpool F.C.[15]

.[8][9][10][11]

Year Work Award Category Result
2011 Coronation Street British Soap Awards Sexiest Female Nominated
2012 National Television Awards Best Serial Drama Performance Nominated[16]
British Soap Awards Best Actress Won[17]
British Soap Awards Best Dramatic Performance Nominated
TV Quick Awards Best Soap Actress Nominated
2014 Royal Television Society North West Awards Best Performance in a Continuing Drama Won
2015 British Soap Awards Best Actress Nominated
TV Choice Awards Best Soap Actress Won
Inside Soap Awards Best Actress Won
2016 National Television Awards Best Serial Drama Performance Nominated

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Staff (15 February 2007). "You can't imagine how nerve-wracking it was – filming in the Rovers", Leicester Mercury (archived at AccessMyLibrary). Retrieved 20 December 2008.
  2. 1 2 "Alison King CV", Creative Artist Management. Retrieved 20 December 2008.
  3. ↑ Green, Kris (16 February 2004). "Soap bosses 'sex up' Jason Grimshaw", Digital Spy. Retrieved 20 December 2008.
  4. 1 2 Alison King (Carla Connor, Corrie) – Coronation Street Interview – Soaps. Digital Spy (25 May 2010).
  5. ↑ "Reveal Magazine - Celebrity, fashion, debates and real life - Reveal".
  6. ↑ Mark Jefferies (1 May 2015). "Coronation Street's Alison King QUITS: Carla Connor actress set to leave after nine years on the cobbles". mirror.
  7. ↑ "Alison King quits Coronation Street after nine years". Mail Online. 2 May 2015.
  8. 1 2 Sun, The. "Corrie Carla’s female stalker terror". The Sun. Laura Armstrong. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  9. 1 2 Fay Strang (26 August 2014). "Coronation Street’s Alison King ‘pleads for extra security amid stalker hell’". mirror.
  10. 1 2 "‘Coronation Street' Star Alison King ‘Asks Bosses For Extra Security' After Stalker Hell". The Huffington Post UK. 26 August 2014.
  11. 1 2 http://www.express.co.uk/news/showbiz/503482/Coronation-Street-s-Alison-King-asks-bosses-for-extra-security-due-to-female-stalker
  12. ↑ Mahoney, John (11 November 2006). "I'm the WAG of Weatherfield", Daily Star (archived at AccessMyLibrary). Retrieved 20 December 2006.
  13. ↑ retrieved on 26 Feb 2009. Itv.com (27 May 2011).
  14. ↑ Corrie star King expecting first child – Coronation Street News – Showbiz. Digital Spy (10 August 2008).
  15. ↑ "Reveal Magazine - Celebrity, fashion, debates and real life - Reveal".
  16. ↑ The British Soap Awards 2012 nominations are announced to be shown on ITV1 in May – Mirror Online. Mirror.co.uk (5 April 2012).
  17. ↑ British Soap Awards 2012: Full viewer and panel shortlist revealed – Soaps News. Digital Spy (5 April 2012).

External links

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