Amanda Abbington

An appealing and versatile television actress, Amanda Abbington received her most popular showcase as the mysterious Mary Morstan on "Sherlock" (BBC 1, 2010- ), which co-starred her longtime significant other, actor Martin Freeman. Born Amanda Jane Smith on February 28, 1974 in London, England, she initially wanted to be a dancer, but an injury at the end of her teenaged years spurred her to try her hand at acting. After adopting the stage surname of Abbington, she began making her earliest television appearances in a variety of small roles on the venerable crime drama "The Bill" (ITV, 1984-2010). Abbington soon worked her way up to guest and supporting turns on television, including the TV film "Men Only" (Channel 4, 2001), where she met actor Martin Freeman. The two soon became a couple while working on their respective careers; for Abbington, this included appearances on "Coupling" (BBC 2, 2000-04) for "Sherlock" producer Steven Moffat and the sketch comedy series "Man Stroke Woman" (BBC 3, 2007) with Nick Frost. She was a series regular for two seasons of the comedy-drama "After You've Gone" (BBC 1, 2007-08), but left the show to have a child with Freeman; in 2011, she returned to series regular work on the detective drama "Case Histories" (BBC 1, 2011-13) with Jason Isaacs, and then segued into the popular period series "Mr. Selfridge" (ITV, 2013-16), playing the flinty but romantically long-suffering Miss Mardle. In 2014, Moffatt and co-producer Mark Gatiss approached Abbington to play Mary Morstan on "Sherlock"; as with all things on the series, the role was radically redefined, with Abbington's Morstan a secret agent who hid her past from her fiancé, John Watson (played by Freeman) until a series of double-crosses within her cell led to her death at the hands of a former collaborator. For her work on the series, Abbington received a Critics Choice Television Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress; while working on "Sherlock," Abbington appeared on several other series, including the short-lived crime drama "Cuffs" (BBC 1 2015) and the historical feature "Another Mother's Son" with Jenny Seagrove. In 2016, Abbington announced that she and Freeman had split after a 16-year relationship.