Elizabeth Corday

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ER character
Elizabeth Corday
Played by Alex Kingston
Duration 1997 - 2004
Date of Birth unknown
Marital Status widow
Occupation Chief of Surgery
Family one child, one stepchild
For the soap opera producer, see Betty Corday.

Dr. Elizabeth Corday was a fictional surgeon on the television series ER. She was played by Alex Kingston from 1997 to 2004.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Contents

[edit] Background

Corday was a British surgeon who moved to Chicago to gain more experience in trauma surgery, arriving in season four. We learn in her first episode that she comes from a whole family of surgeons, and later on we learn that her father is in fact a top surgeon at St. Thomas' Hospital, London. Corday related in Ambush that her grandfather was a surgeon as was her father and since there were no boys in her family, she took over that role. Corday's mother is an astrophysicist with whom she has a rather rocky relationship. Corday felt that her mother didn't spend enough time with her as a girl, she felt that she was "raised by nannies and boarding schools". Though the two do seem to come to some kind of mutual agreement, the relationship is still strained.

Corday faced many problems in adjusting to the American way of life. In her first trauma, she completely baffled the rest of the staff by using lots of English terms usually not used in America - for example, she asked them to "bleep Benton" (page Dr. Peter Benton), order an "FBC" (CBC), and perform a "tube thoracostomy" (chest tube). She also introduced herself as "Miss Corday" and not "Dr Corday" as is customary for British surgeons. She became popular amongst the other staff though, both for her surgical competency (Dr. Donald Anspaugh remarked on several occasions that she was a truly exceptional surgeon, much to the dismay of her rival Benton, who had been pushed out of his long held top spot by the newly arriving Corday) and for her personality - she quickly gained a reputation for being unfazed by status, for instance she greeted an eminent surgeon with "I knew you were old but I didn't know you were so short!"

She became friends with many of the female ER staff, including Carol Hathaway and Anna del Amico; and later on Dr. Abby Lockhart. Despite her arrogant and opinionated exterior, she had a deeply caring side to her - she was there to provide support at critical moments for both staff and patients alike. Despite their long and adversarial history, she supported Dr. Robert Romano through the ordeal with his arm; and similarly she overcame her deep dislike of Dr. Kerry Weaver to be a friend to her following the death of her lover Sandy Lopez.

Because of the strong ties she had made with Chicago, Corday decided to stay on after her fellowship was terminated, even though this meant that she had to repeat her internship in order to get a license to practice in the United States during Season 5. This was a particularly trying time for her - she had to adjust to being at the bottom of the heap after enjoying so long at the top, and on top of that she was supervised initially by Dale Edson - described even by Romano as a weasel. During this time, she made repeated attempts to become romantically involved with Benton, eventually succeeding. He even agreed to take over as her supervisor after a while. She faced further trouble, however, when (at the end of a 36 hour shift) she made a lethal mistake in calculating how much drug to inject into a patient. Fortunately, this didn't faze her, and she used it to campaign for better conditions for junior medical staff.

After completing her internship, Corday was offered the position of Associate Chief of Surgery by her colleague and rival Romano, who announced the appointment without even asking her. She took the job, however, and soon found herself getting caught up in hospital politics. She was, however, well liked and highly successful, and was appointed Chief of Surgery following Romano's death.

[edit] Corday and Greene's marriage

Corday became romantically involved with Dr. Mark Greene during season 6, and in season 7 found out that she was pregnant with his child. They married, and named their daughter Ella.

However, Corday's marriage to Greene was difficult for both parties. Corday was facing struggles at work, after she was sued for allegedly rushing an operation (leading to paralysis of the patient), and her pregnancy was severely compromised when she went into labor whilst on scene at a train wreck. Greene had to cope with the death of his father, as well as facing his own mortality when he was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor.

There was hope of a reprieve though, when Greene found a surgeon in New York who said he could successfully remove the tumor. Corday accompanied him to New York City and was even present in the operating room for the procedure, by his side all the time. The couple later got married (after a series of glitches with the transport for both parties!) and appeared to be very happy. Corday was already highly pregnant at the time of the wedding, and gave birth to baby Ella a short time later.

This happiness was not maintained for very long, however - Greene's daughter Rachel (from his marriage to Jen) had by now grown from a nice child into a troublesome teenager. After falling out with Jen, Rachel moved in with Greene, Corday and baby Ella. Things were not much better for her there, though - she and Corday were constantly arguing, culminating eventually in Ella taking ecstasy that belonged to Rachel. Corday was so furious that she told Rachel to leave the house, and after Mark refused to send Rachel back to Jen, or press charges, Corday moved out instead, taking Ella with her.

At about the same time, Greene learned that the tumor had returned, and that this time it was inoperable. On hearing the news through a third party, Corday decided to move back in with him and Rachel. Greene eventually left Chicago to spend his final days with his daughter in Hawaii. On the walk home after a day of surfing, Mark suffers a seizure and in a panic, Rachel calls Elizabeth, who arrives in Hawaii soon after with Ella. The four spend Mark's last few days bonding and overcoming obstacles. Corday told Rachel after the funeral that it would be ok for her to visit her sister, and later on she did so and the two edged tentatively towards a friendship.

[edit] Aftermath

After Greene's death, Corday returned to England for several months, but she found that she no longer fit in because of her being in the States for so long, suffering bullying at the hands of her British colleagues for her American ways, so she returned to her job at County General, where she became involved with another man, despite her being concerned that it was too soon following Greene's death. Later in the 10th season, Corday was appointed to Chief of Surgery by Kerry Weaver. She quickly overcame her worries and at one point, was dating two men at the same time, a Doctor at County and a teacher. The two eventually run into each other and both break up with Elizabeth.

Shortly before the beginning of the 11th season, the producers announced that Alex Kingston's contract was not being renewed. Kingston has said that it was because she was too old, and was being paid more than many of the other actors on the show. She later retracted those statements. When asked about the comments, Kingston went on to say that she hadn't expected the media to run with them the way she had. She had meant the comments more as a joke than anything else.

In the episode Try Carter Corday was convinced by Dr. John Carter to perform an illegal donation procedure between two HIV positive patients. This resulted in her facing the possibility of her losing her license and being dismissed from the staff. Weaver offered her the position of a clinical instructor with no possibility of tenure. With her career all but over at County, Corday quit her job and moved back to England. Corday's final appearance on the series was in the episode Fear. She was replaced as Chief of Surgery by Dr. Lucien Dubenko.

[edit] External Links

ER
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Former
Characters		 Peter Benton | Jeanie Boulet | John Carter | Deb Chen | Victor Clemente | Elizabeth Corday | Anna Del Amico | Cleo Finch | Michael Gallant | Mark Greene | Carol Hathaway | Lucy Knight | Susan Lewis | Dave Malucci | Robert Romano | Doug Ross
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