Biography

Alison Glennie is the daughter of British civil servants and spent her early life on Kingston Hill, Surrey. She began her career in the Arts as a child actor, after an agent spotted her in the audience at a production of Peter Pan in London. Her first featured film role was in Escape from the Sea (1968), for the Children's Film Foundation,1968. During those early years, she appeared in many commercials, including Smiths Crisps and Bisto gravy. Having gained a place at Arts Educational School in London, she joined the cast of Sleeping Beauty, dancing as a garland girl for two seasons with the London Festival Ballet Company.

She played Lavinia in the BBC television series of A Little Princess (1973) a popular children's book written by Frances Hodgson Burnett. As Kate in Horse in the House (1977) for Thames TV, she shared the set with a thoroughbred stallion called Orbit. Alison became a full time drama student in her teens at Arts Educational, Barbican, London. Episodes of Power (1981) , BBC, and Cribb (1980) , Granada, led to the series Kessler (1981) , which was a sequel to the long running Secret Army. She was cast to play Kessler's neo-Nazi daughter Ingrid. She has worked at Greenwich theatre, Chichester Festival theatre and performed at many regional venues across Britain, while on national theatre tours.

In 1993 she relocated to Ireland with her Irish husband, the musician Robert McKahey. She has lived by the sea in West Cork for thirty years. As a cross-disciplinary artist and arts facilitator, she incorporates the mediums of film, photography, visual arts and drama into her workshops. Alison has also devised and directed several inclusive short films, which feature actors with Down syndrome. The comedy heist On the Pigs Back screened at several film festivals.

Working as a voice artist for RTE Radio 1 she found particularly enjoyable; reading many titles for the Book on One and playing Elizabeth R in The Battle of Kinsale radio drama. After a long absence, she was given the opportunity to return to the stage as Queen Gertrude, in a production of Hamlet at the Cork Opera House. Her short film Point of Departure: A Lament, documents a site specific performance art work that Alison created to commemorate An Gorta Mor.

Her most recent film acting role sees her play Muriel in the murder-mystery Coast Road (2022) for Hard Bargain Pictures, shot entirely on location along the beautiful Wild Atlantic Way in County Cork, Ireland.

- IMDb mini biography by: Alison Glennie