Michelle Suzanne Dockery (born 15 December 1981) is an English television and film actress. She is best known for her leading performance as Lady Mary Crawley in the ITV television period drama series Downton Abbey (2010–2015), for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and three consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

Dockery made her professional stage debut in His Dark Materials in 2004. For her role as Eliza Doolittle in the 2007 London revival of Pygmalion, she was nominated for the Evening Standard Award. For her role in the 2009 play Burnt by the Sun, she earned an Olivier Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Dockery has appeared in the films Hanna (2011), Anna Karenina (2012), Non-Stop (2014), and The Gentlemen (2019). On television, Dockery has also played lead roles on the drama series Good Behavior and the Netflix miniseries Godless, for which she received her fourth Emmy nomination, and the drama miniseries Defending Jacob (2020). She played Kate Woodcroft in Netflix's anthology drama miniseries Anatomy of a Scandal (2022).

Early life
Dockery is the daughter of Lorraine, a care home assistant from Stepney, England, and Michael Dockery an environmental chemist from Athlone, Ireland. She grew up in Romford in London and she still has traces of an Estuary accent.

Dockery has two older sisters, Louise and Joanne. She was educated first at Chadwell Heath Academy, and later at the Finch Stage School.

After her A Levels, she enrolled at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, where she was awarded the gold medal for Drama at her graduation in 2004.