Martin Clunes

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Martin Clunes

Martin Clunes
Born Martin Alexander Clunes
28 November 1961 (1961-11-28) (age 46)
Barnet, North London, England
Occupation Actor, Comedian, Director, Musician
Years active 1982-present
Spouse(s) Philippa Braithwaite (1997-present)
Lucy Aston (1990-1997)

Martin Alexander Clunes (born 28 November 1961) is a BAFTA and SAG award-winning English actor and comedian.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Clunes is the son of the classical actor Alec Clunes who died of lung cancer when Martin was eight;[1] while his mother Daphne, later a board member of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, once worked for Orson Welles.[2] Clunes attended kindergarten 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.

His cousin, 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]

[edit] Career

Clunes served his first role in rep at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester.[4] Clunes 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 Mouth. He got his first regular role as one of the sons in the BBC sitcom No Place Like Home,[5] and appeared in the 1992 episode of the TV series Inspector Morse.

To establish himself, he developed a parallel career as a dramatic actor, starring in films and television shows such as An Evening With Gary Lineker, Staggered (Starred and directed), Hunting Venus, William and Mary, The Booze Cruise, Saving Grace, Jeeves and Wooster and the 1997 film The Revengers' Comedies. While 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. In 1998, he starred as Richard Burbage in the Oscar -winning film Shakespeare in Love. Clunes also acted frequently for the radio, including a guest appearance in the BBC Radio 4 series Baldi.

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.[6]. 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)[7]. A regular voice over artist, he is the voice of Kipper on the animated children's series Kipper the Dog. In August 2007 he starred in ITV's The Man Who Lost His Head.[8]

Clunes on the set of Doc Martin in 2007
Clunes on the set of Doc Martin in 2007

On Friday 9th November 2007 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Bournemouth University.[9] In October 2007, Martin filmed a Christmas advert for international welfare charity, Born Free Foundation that he supports. In January 2008, ITV announced its forthcoming sponsorship opportunities for Autumn 2008, which included Martin Clunes: a man and his dog, a documentary that sees Martin Clunes charting the family tree of his dogs[10]. There will be a book to accompany this programme, for which Clunes hopes to take the photographs.[11]

Doc Martin (2004 - ) "...gruff , monosyllabic, well-meaning, but rude..."[12]
His leading role in the ITV comedy drama series Doc Martin from 2004[13] 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.[14] 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."[15]. The final episode of Series 3 succeeded in attracting nearly 10 million viewers or 40% of audience share[16]. There was, however, mixed reaction from fans to Series 3's dénouement[17][18][19]. 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).[20]

A sponsor of numerous charities, he has made a short online film with Stephen Fry about HIV discrimination[21] for the Terrence Higgins Trust.

[edit] Personal life

Clunes has married twice:

  1. The actress Lucy Aston (divorced)
  2. The television producer Philippa Braithwaite.

After having been separated from Aston for some time, Clunes met Braithwaite on the film Staggered. They were engaged in Hawaii while Martin was filming a Holiday programme[22]. They married in 1997 in St Bride's Church[23], honeymooned on the Eastern and Oriental Express, and have a daughter, Emily Kate[24] (1999 -).[25]. After living at 419 Queen’s Quay, Queenhithe Ward, London post his divorce from Lucy Aston,[26] the family lived in a terraced house in Putney and spent weekends in Dorset. After selling their house in Putney and their converted vicarage in Powerstock[27][28] in 2007, they now live in a 135 acre[29] farm with stables in Beaminster, Dorset.[30]. The family keeps Shetland Ponies, horses, chickens, two English Cocker Spaniels, called Mary and Tina, a Labrador Retriever called Arthur and a cat, called Maisie[31][32]. Philippa Clunes had a part share, with David Cliff, in "Waltzing Beau", a racing hurdler[33], which fell in Wincanton, Christmas 2007[34].

[edit] References

  1. ^ Chips Off The Old Bloke; He made his name behaving badly - Page1 Sunday Herald - December 15, 2002
  2. ^ Celebrity interview: Martin Clunes - Page3 SouthwestTrains.com
  3. ^ Chips Off The Old Bloke; He made his name behaving badly - Page2 Sunday Herald - December 15, 2002
  4. ^ a b Between The Sheets - No More Mr Nice Guy National Theatre
  5. ^ Martin Clunes Playlist itv.com
  6. ^ Chips Off The Old Bloke; He made his name behaving badly - Page3 Sunday Herald - December 15, 2002.
  7. ^ Dirty Tricks (2000) (TV)
  8. ^ A close encounter with Martin Clunes Sunday Star Times - 29 August 2007
  9. ^ BBC NEWS | England | Dorset | 'Doc Martin' awarded a doctorate
  10. ^ ITV Media – ITV inside out
  11. ^ Memorable Tv: Martin Clunes On Doc Martin
  12. ^ Louisa Glasson, Series 2, Episode 8, played by Caroline Catz
  13. ^ "Doc Martin" (2004) - Episode list
  14. ^ Buffalo Pictures [gb]
  15. ^ The Life of Wylie: Martin Clunes Takes A Break
  16. ^ ITV1's Doc Martin ends series with a ratings high of 9.8 million | Media | guardian.co.uk
  17. ^ Star Letter, Radio Times, [13th] November, 2007.
  18. ^ Doc Martin - Page 56 - TV Programmes - Digital Spy Forums
  19. ^ 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
  20. ^ ^ http://GM.TV Interview with Martin Clunes, November, 2007.
  21. ^ Terrence Higgins Trust - Gloves Off - Video - Stephen Fy and Martin Clunes - The Scale of Mimsy
  22. ^ Telly talk: Clunes enjoys affairs of the heart - Film and tv - Entertainment - Manchester Evening News
  23. ^ 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, England) - HighBeam Research
  24. ^ Chloe Scott-Moncrieff in coversation with ... Martin Clunes.(Interview) Geographical, April, 2005 by Scott-Moncrieff, Chloe
  25. ^ Celebrity interview: Martin Clunes - Page2 SouthwestTrains.com
  26. ^ Time and Place: Martin Clunes The Times - September 16, 2007
  27. ^ WHO'S MOVING ; homes gossip Evening Standard (London); Feb 14, 2007; COMPTON MILLER; p. 3
  28. ^ My Perfect weekend Martin Clunes behaves healthily, exercising his cocker spaniels and eating fish The Daily Telegraph (London); Dec 16, 2006; Sylvia Roger; p. 003
  29. ^ TheStar.com | Television | Martin Clunes hits it big with Doc Martin
  30. ^ Around Dorset: Martin Clunes BBC Dorset - 11 October, 2004
  31. ^ Man Behaving Badly - Martin Clunes heads for New Zealand | the Daily Mail
  32. ^ ^ http://GM.TV Interview with Martin Clunes, November, 2007
  33. ^ Pandora: Clunes and his racy life | Independent, The (London) | Find Articles at BNET.com
  34. ^ Horse Death Watch

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME Clunes, Martin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Clunes, Alexander Martin
SHORT DESCRIPTION Actor
DATE OF BIRTH 1961-11-28
PLACE OF BIRTH Wimbledon, London, England
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
Languages