Alison King

Alison Rosamund King (born 3 March 1973) is an English actress and model.

She is known for her roles as Lynda Block in the Sky One drama series Dream Team (1998–2003, 2005–2007), and Carla Connor in the long-running ITV soap opera Coronation Street (2006–present).

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.

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.

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 as a prostitute alongside Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson — supporting major roles such as BBC comedy-drama, Help, as well as video film, Submerged (2005) and feature film, Final Contract: Death on Delivery, both action films.

She said of working on Submerged: "The first one was with Steven Seagal, which was filmed in Bulgaria. He's a member of the American military and I'm Dimita – the best field op in the business. I'm an action girl with a high pony-tail doing lots of stunts. The stunt guy had worked with Angelina Jolie on Tomb Raider and he showed me how to hang upside down from things, how to jump down into dams and how to strangle people with my knees. It was great fun."

She said of Final Contract: "In that one I was armed with a crossbow and chasing round in speedboats and fighting".

Her work in Submerged was complimented as an impression of Angelina Jolie.

King 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 appeared in Holby City as the distressed wife of a hospital patient, and made a brief appearance as a receptionist in the film, Fat Slags.

She played prominent roles for two independent films, Save Angel Hope (2006) and Back in Business (2007).

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.

She went on maternity leave in 2009.

King's role in the soap involved high-profile storylines.

In 2010, she was involved in the death of Tony Gordon storyline, in which she had to be kidnapped in the Underworld factory.

In 2011, King's character was raped by her boyfriend, Frank Foster.

This storyline had a massive public impact and saw a high rise in reported rapes across the United Kingdom.

King spoke of how there was an 800% increase in calls to support organisations after the storyline had aired, and that people had contacted her about their real-life experiences, some of whom she has kept in communication with.

She won Best Actress at the 2012 British Soap Awards.

Alison King was born at the Leicester Royal Infirmary.

She is the youngest of three daughters and a son born to nurses Alex and June King.

She grew up in Markfield, Leicestershire where 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.

At the age of 18, King moved to Newquay, Cornwall, where she worked at Fat Willys Surf Shack.

She surfed in her spare time, and spent four years as a dental nurse.

When she was 22, she enrolled at the North Cheshire Theatre School.

King was raised as a Christadelphian.

During her time at theatre school, King landed 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.

She appeared on the show for three years and left when the character was sent to prison.

She reprised the role some years later.

Her performance in the rape storyline led to a Best Actress award at the 2012 British Soap Awards.

In July 2013, King spoke of her future on Coronation Street, saying "I don't know whether I'll be here forever - I'd love to have a go at different things, like an action drama or love story. But as long as I'm happy in the role and the producers will have me, I'll be staying put for now."

In May 2015, it was announced she would be taking an extended break from Coronation Street to pursue other projects.

However, in January 2016, it was confirmed that the departure would be permanent.

She spoke to RadioTimes of her reason to leave: "I've probably only ever done about 20 pick-ups or drop-offs in all the time my daughter's been at school, which is quite sad. And creatively, I miss being other people. It's what I went to drama school for. I love playing diverse characters and meeting new people. And, truthfully, I also want to be able to get my voiceover career going again. There's all sorts of things that I used to do, which I can't do while I'm on Coronation Street. So, those are the reasons, really."

In 2018, King appeared in four episodes of the Sky One programme, Sick Note as Superintendent Henchy which marked her first appearance in a Sky One production since the end of Dream Team.