| Martin Clunes | |
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 Martin Clunes |
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| Born | Alexander Martin Clunes November 28, 1961 Wimbledon, South West London, UK |
| Occupation | Actor, comedian, director, musician and presenter |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Spouse(s) | Lucy Aston (1990–97) Philippa Braithwaite (1997–present) |
Alexander Martin Clunes (born 28 November 1961) is a BAFTA and SAG award-winning English actor and comedian. Clunes is perhaps best known for his roles as Gary Strang in Men Behaving Badly and Doctor Martin Ellingham in Doc Martin.
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Early life
Clunes is the son and second child of the classical actor Alec Clunes who died of lung cancer when Martin was eight and a half years old; he has an older sister, Amanda.[1] His mother Daphne, later a board member of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, once worked for Orson Welles.[2] Clunes attended nursery with screenwriter Peter Morgan, and was educated at two independent secondary schools, the Royal Russell School in Croydon and The Arts Educational Schools, in Chiswick, London.
The late actor Jeremy Brett who portrayed Sherlock Holmes in the long running ITV show The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, encouraged Clunes in his acting career.[3] Martin Clunes' mother was Jeremy Brett's first cousin.
Career
Clunes served his first role in rep at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester,[4] and his first television appearance came in the 1980s Doctor Who story Snakedance as the spoiled Lon.[4] But a sporadic career led to him supplementing his income as a photo model for Gilbert and George, and he can be seen in their 1983 work World.
He got his first regular television role as one of the sons in the BBC sitcom No Place Like Home,[5] and then starred in two series of the sitcom All at No. 20.[6]
While Clunes was appearing on stage at the Hampstead Theatre, Harry Enfield came to see him which developed into a friendship where Clunes played characters in Enfield's sketch shows. Enfield then recommended Clunes for the role of Gary in the sitcom Men Behaving Badly, written for Enfield by Simon Nye, bringing Clunes his best-known role to date and for which he won a BAFTA television award in 1996.
Establishing himself, he has since appeared in films and television shows such as An Evening With Gary Lineker, Staggered (starred and directed), Hunting Venus, The Booze Cruise, Saving Grace, and Jeeves and Wooster. In 1998, he was featured in Sweet Revenge and appeared as Richard Burbage in the Oscar-winning film Shakespeare in Love. Clunes has also acted frequently for the radio, including a guest appearance in the BBC Radio 4 series Baldi.
Clunes is a friend of rock singer Gary Numan who appeared in his movie Hunting Venus. Afterwards Clunes made a guest appearance live on stage with Numan and played bass to the hit single "Cars".
In 2001, he played Captain Stickles in the BBC adaptation of R. D. Blackmore's Lorna Doone.
In 2002 he played serial killer John George Haigh in A Is for Acid, and took the lead in ITV's production of Goodbye Mr Chips.[7]
Clunes was one of the eponymous leads in the 2004 ITV romantic comedy-drama William and Mary, which ran for three series, with Julie Graham. Clunes had worked with Julie Graham previously on Dirty Tricks (2000)[8].
His leading role in the ITV comedy drama series Doc Martin from 2004[9] marked a successful change of direction for Clunes. In 2005, his portrayal of the ornery vascular surgeon turned cranky general practitioner won him a nomination for Most Popular Actor in the National Television Awards. The show is produced for ITV by Buffalo Pictures Ltd.[10] the production company he runs in partnership with his wife, Philippa Braithwaite. At the media launch for the third series of Doc Martin in September 2007, Clunes announced that as ITV had not yet commissioned a fourth series, that he planned to take a year's break from work to relax and rediscover his passion for acting, move to the far side of the camera and plans to grow his hair again as he "misses his locks."[11]. The final episode of Series 3 succeeded in attracting nearly 10 million viewers or 40% of audience share.[12] There was, however, mixed reaction from fans to Series 3's dénouement.[13][14][15] In an interview in November 2007 on ITV's GMTV, he promised that there would be a fourth series but not for another year (2009).[16]
In August 2007 he starred in ITV's The Man Who Lost His Head.[17]
In January 2008, ITV announced its forthcoming sponsorship opportunities for Autumn 2008, which included Martin Clunes: a man and his dogs, a documentary that sees Martin Clunes charting the family tree of his dogs.[18] There will be a book to accompany this programme, for which Clunes hopes to take the photographs.[19]
From 24 April 2009, Clunes starred on BBC One television in the title role of Reggie Perrin, a re-make of classic 1970s British situation comedy The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin. In the same year he appeared in a 3 part ITV series Martin Clunes' Islands of Britain in which he travelled around several of the country's lesser known islands.
Clunes is a regular voice over artist and is the voice of Kipper on the animated children's series Kipper the Dog.
A sponsor of numerous charities, he has made a short online film with Stephen Fry about HIV discrimination for the Terrence Higgins Trust.[20] He also, in October 2007, filmed a Christmas advert for the Born Free Foundation. He has been involved in Comic Relief which funds Survival International and African Initiatives, two organisations working with the Maasai on indigenous land rights issues.[21]
Clunes also appeared in a television dramatisation of Fungus the Bogeyman playing Jessica White's father.
On 9 November 2007 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Bournemouth University.[22]
Personal life
Clunes first marriage was to the actress Lucy Aston. They later divorced, and Clunes married television producer Philippa Braithwaite.[23] Braithwaite and Clunes married in 1997.[24] In 1999, Braithwaite gave birth to a daughter, Emily.[25][26] Clunes lives with his family in Beaminster, Dorset.[27]
Awards
- 1995 - British Comedy Awards, Top TV Comedy Actor : Men Behaving Badly - Gary Strang
- 1996 - BAFTA Awards, Best Comedy Performance : Men Behaving Badly - Gary Strang
- 1999 - Screen Actors Guild Awards, Outstanding Performance by a Cast : Shakespeare in Love - Richard Burbage
References
- ^ Chips Off The Old Bloke; He made his name behaving badly - Page1 Sunday Herald - 15 December 2002
- ^ Celebrity interview: Martin Clunes - Page3 SouthwestTrains.com
- ^ Chips Off The Old Bloke; He made his name behaving badly - Page2 Sunday Herald - 15 December 2002
- ^ a b Between The Sheets - No More Mr Nice Guy National Theatre
- ^ Martin Clunes Playlist itv.com
- ^ TV.com - All at No.20 cast list
- ^ Chips Off The Old Bloke; He made his name behaving badly - Page3 Sunday Herald - 15 December 2002
- ^ Dirty Tricks (2000) (TV)
- ^ "Doc Martin" (2004) - Episode list
- ^ Buffalo Pictures [gb]
- ^ The Life of Wylie: Martin Clunes Takes A Break
- ^ ITV1's Doc Martin ends series with a ratings high of 9.8 million | Media | guardian.co.uk
- ^ Star Letter, Radio Times, [13th] November, 2007.
- ^ Doc Martin - Page 56 - TV Programmes - Digital Spy Forums
- ^ Amazon.co.uk: Reviews for Doc Martin - Series 3 - Complete: Joe Absolom, Lucy Punch, Carol Catz, Stephanie Cole, Martin Clunes, Ian McNeice, Minkie Spiro, Ben Bolt: DVD
- ^ GMTV interview with Martin Clunes, November 2007.
- ^ A close encounter with Martin Clunes Sunday Star Times - 29 August 2007
- ^ ITV Media – ITV inside out
- ^ Memorable Tv: Martin Clunes On Doc Martin
- ^ Terrence Higgins Trust - Gloves Off - Video - Stephen Fry and Martin Clunes - The Scale of Mimsy
- ^ "Celeb appeal". developments magazine. http://www.developments.org.uk/articles/celeb-appeal/. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
- ^ BBC NEWS | England | Dorset | 'Doc Martin' awarded a doctorate
- ^ Telly talk: Clunes enjoys affairs of the heart - Film and tv - Entertainment - Manchester Evening News
- ^ In a taxi with Martin Clunes; The former onscreen lad is now a doting dad - and his schedule is still as hectic. - The Evening Standard (London, UK) - HighBeam Research
- ^ Chloe Scott-Moncrieff in coversation with… Martin Clunes.(Interview) Geographical, April, 2005 by Scott-Moncrieff, Chloe
- ^ Celebrity interview: Martin Clunes - Page2 SouthwestTrains.com
- ^ Around Dorset: Martin Clunes BBC Dorset - 11 October 2004
External links
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