Alison Steadman Plessey, an electronics firm. Steadman was educated at Childwall Valley High School for Girls, a state grammar school in the Liverpool suburb of Childwall, followed by East 15 Acting School, to which she secured a place in the autumn of 1966 and where she met Mike Leigh during her second year. Having left the East 15 Acting School in Loughton, Essex, Steadman worked in various regional repertory theatres, starting at Lincoln in 1968, where her first role was that of the seductive schoolgirl Sandy in "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie". She created the role of the monstrous Beverly in
Catherine Steadman Catherine Steadman Catherine Steadman (born February 8, 1987) is an English actress and author, best known for playing Mabel Lane Fox in series 5 (2014) of ITV drama "Downton Abbey". Her debut novel, the psychological thriller, "Something in the Water" was published in June 2018 by Simon & Schuster UK and Penguin Random House USA. Steadman trained at the Oxford School of Drama and made her screen debut playing Julia Bertram in the ITV adaptation of "Mansfield Park" opposite Billie Piper, James D'arcy, Rory Kinnear and Michelle Ryan. Since then she has appeared in television dramas such as the CBC/Showtime