Alison Steadman is the mother of two children. Director Mike Leigh and Alison Steadman had two sons, Toby Leigh (b. 1978) and Leo Leigh (b. 1981).
Alison Steadman was educated at the state grammar school Childwall Valley High School for Girls, in the Liverpool suburb of Childwall. She also attended East 15 Acting School in Loughton, Essex.
Alison Steadman began her career on the stage at Lincoln in 1968, taking on her first role as the schoolgirl Sandy in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
Alison Steadman has also made a name for herself in the television industry. Her television work includes Fat Friends, Grumpy Old Women, Stressed Eric, Let Them Eat Cake, The Singing Detective, No Bananas, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years, The Missing Postman, and Pride and Prejudice.
In December 2009, Alison Steadman starred in Mike Stott’s My Mad Grandad on BBC Radio 4. In 2012, Alison Steadman played Ginny Fox, a parody of Virginia Woolf, in the sitcom Gloomsbury.