Kara Tointon
| Kara Tointon | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Kara Louise Tointon 5 August 1983 Basildon, Essex, England |
| Residence | London, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Actress, model |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Television |
EastEnders (2005–09) Strictly Come Dancing (2010) The Sound of Music Live (2015) |
| Partner(s) |
James Alexandrou (2006–2007) Joe Swash (2008–2010) Artem Chigvintsev (2010–2014) |
| Relatives | Hannah Tointon (sister) |
Kara Louise Tointon (born 5 August 1983) is an English actress, best known for playing Dawn Swann in BBC soap opera EastEnders, as the 2010 winner of BBC television series Strictly Come Dancing and as Maria in the ITV live production of The Sound of Music Live in December 2015 alongside Julian Ovenden as Captain von Trapp.
Tointon was born to parents Ken and Carol Tointon. Together with her actress sister, Hannah (born 1987), Tointon was brought up in Leigh-on-Sea. Both sisters attended St Michael's School, Leigh, and St Hilda's School, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex. Tointon was diagnosed with dyslexia at age seven. She had speech and drama lessons at school. For about one year when she was a teenager, she dated James Bourne of the bands Busted, Son of Dork, and McBusted.
Tointon's first professional acting experience came when she played the part of Brigitta in The Sound of Music at the Cliffs Pavilion. Her first appearance on television was as an extra in EastEnders in 1994, when she played a school friend of Sonia Fowler. She played the part of student Pauline Young in 2001's first series of Teachers on Channel 4. She also starred in BBC's "Curriculum Bites" as a presenter in 2002.
Almost a month after her last Dream Team episode aired, it was revealed to the press that she would be joining the BBC soap EastEnders as a new character, Dawn Swann. Tointon auditioned for EastEnders at the same time as Tiana Benjamin, Matt Di Angelo, Kellie Shirley and Charlie Clements all auditioned for their respective roles. Tointon left EastEnders, along with co-star Ricky Groves, on 27 August 2009.
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