Alison Steadman is best Known for Abigail's Party and Gavin & Stacey.
She was born on August 26, 1946, in Liverpool, where she was raised with two older sisters by her mother Marjorie and father George, who worked for an electronics firm. Alison wanted to be an actress from the age of nine and later trained at the East 15 acting school.
Success did not come quickly and she worked as a secretary for the Liverpool Probation Service before making her professional debut on stage in 1968 alongside Vanessa Redgrave in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
Alison met director Mike Leigh while in theatre and they worked extensively together. She made her TV debut in his Hard Labour in 1973, and also worked for him on Nuts in May, Abigail's Party, Life Is Sweet, Secrets and Lies, The Short and Curlies and Topsy-Turvy – most of which were huge critical successes.
She also had a regular role in Z Cars, made her movie debut in 1983's Champions and appeared in A Private Function, Clockwise, The Singing Detective, Shirley Valentine and Pride and Prejudice. She's maintained a stage career and earned new fans with her role in Gavin & Stacey.
Alison married Mike Leigh in 1973, but they separated in 1995 and divorced in 2001. They had two children, Toby and Leo. She now lives with actor Michael Elwyn.
"I didn't become an actress because I wanted to tell people what colour my knickers were. I wanted to entertain people," she once said.
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