Early life

Laura Elizabeth Carmichael was born in Southampton, Hampshire, England, the daughter of Sarah, a radiographer, and Andy Carmichael, a software consultant. She has two sisters: Amy, who works for a software start-up company, and Olivia, a charity fundraiser with the NHS.

One of her paternal great-grandfathers was aviator Norman Blackburn. Carmichael was educated at Shirley Junior School, The Mountbatten School, and Peter Symonds College. She trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, graduating in 2007.

Career

Film and television

Between 2010 and 2015 Carmichael played Lady Edith Crawley in Downton Abbey, a part which brought her worldwide recognition.

Other television roles include parts in The Heart of Thomas Hardy, and End of Our Street.

In 2011 she appeared in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and she played Henriette in the 2014 film of Madame Bovary.

Carmichael plays Seph in the comedy film Burn, Burn, Burn, which was released in October 2015.

She is set to star in A United Kingdom as Muriel Williams, and Marcella as Maddy Stevenson, both during 2016.

Theatre

Carmichael made her West End debut in Uncle Vanya opposite Anna Friel and Samuel West in October 2012.

She played Arabella in The Fitzrovia Radio Hour at The Underglobe Theatre in early 2013.

In early 2016, Carmichael will play Madam in Jamie Lloyd's production of The Maids at the Trafalgar Studios in London's West End.

Carmichael has also appeared in Plenty at the Sheffield Crucible Theatre, and played Laura in Reasons for Living as part of the Scratch Festival at Battersea Arts Centre. In late 2009 she played Miranda in a touring production of Shakespeare's The Tempest.

Personal life

Laura Carmichael lives in Camden, north London. She is close friends with Michelle Dockery, who played her sister Mary in Downton Abbey.

Prior to landing the role of Lady Edith in early 2010, Carmichael had worked as a secretary in a doctor's surgery.

Carmichael is currently dating her former co-star Michael C. Fox who played the footman Andy on Downton Abbey.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2009	House at the End of Our Street	Yvonne
2010	The Heart of Thomas Hardy	Hardy's maid
2010-2015	Downton Abbey	Lady Edith Crawley	TV series (52 episodes)
2011	Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy	Sal
2014	Madame Bovary	Henrietta
2015	Burn, Burn, Burn	Seph
2016	A United Kingdom	Muriel Williams
2016	Marcella	Maddy Stevenson

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2009	Reasons for Living	Laura	BAC
2009	The Tempest	Miranda/Ariel	UK tour
2011	Plenty	Louise/Dorcas	Sheffield Crucible Theatre
2012	Uncle Vanya	Sonya	Vaudeville Theatre
2013	The Fitzrovia Radio Hour	Arabella	Underglobe Theatre
2016	The Maids	Madam	Trafalgar Studios

[ Source: Wikipedia ]