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Martin Clunes

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Martin Clunes
Clunes on location for Doc Martin in 2007.
Born
Alexander Martin Clunes

(1961-11-28) November 28, 1961 (age 62)
Wimbledon, South West
London, England
EducationRoyal Russell School
The Arts Educational Schools
Occupation(s)Actor, comedian, broadcaster, film director, musician, television personality
Years active1982–present
Spouse(s)Lucy Aston (1990–97, divorced)
Philippa Braithwaite (1997–present)
ChildrenEmily Clunes

Alexander Martin Clunes (born 28 November 1961) is an English actor and comedian. Clunes is perhaps best known for his roles as Gary Strang in Men Behaving Badly, Doctor Martin Ellingham in Doc Martin and the title character in Reggie Perrin.

Early life

Clunes is the son of the classical actor Alec Clunes, who died of lung cancer when Clunes 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 was educated at two independent secondary schools, the Royal Russell School in Croydon and The Arts Educational Schools, in Chiswick, London.[citation needed]

Career

Clunes served his first role in rep at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester,[3] and his first television appearance came in the 1980s Doctor Who story Snakedance as the spoiled Lon.[3] But a sporadic career led to his supplementing his income as a photo model for Gilbert and George, and he can be seen in their 1983 work World.[citation needed]

He got his first regular television role as one of the sons in the BBC sitcom No Place Like Home,[4] and then starred in two series of the sitcom All at No 20.[5]

While Clunes was appearing on stage at the Hampstead Theatre, Harry Enfield came to see him; the acquaintanceship developed into a friendship where Clunes played characters in Enfield's sketch shows.[citation needed] Enfield then recommended Clunes for the role of Gary in the sitcom Men Behaving Badly,[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] He played the part of Group Captain Barker in the 2-part TV mini-series Over Here that same year.

He has since appeared in films and television shows such as An Evening With Gary Lineker,[citation needed] Staggered (starred and directed),[citation needed] 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.

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.[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]

His leading role in the ITV comedy drama series Doc Martin from 2004[8] 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.[9] 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.".[10] The final episode of Series 3 succeeded in attracting nearly 10 million viewers or 40% of audience share.[11] There was, however, mixed reaction from fans to Series 3's dénouement.[12][13][14] 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).[15] The fourth series of Doc Martin was broadcast in 2009 and a fifth series commenced broadcasting in September 2011.

In August 2007 he starred in ITV's The Man Who Lost His Head.[16]

Clunes is a regular voice over artist and is the voice of Kipper in 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.[17] He is also a patron of the Born Free Foundation and has filmed several adverts for the wildlife charity. 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.[18]

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.[19]

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.[20] There will be a book to accompany this programme, for which Clunes hopes to take the photographs.[21]

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 Islands of Britain in which he travelled around several of the country's lesser known islands.

Clunes guest-hosted the comedy panel game show Have I Got News for You in 2010, also in 2010 he presented the ITV series 'Horsepower' about man's relationship over time with the horse. [22]

In 2011, Clunes voiced the mischievous dog Dudley in the short film Me or the Dog, starring Edward Hogg and directed by Abner Pastoll. Clunes has also appeared in some TV advertisements for the Churchill insurance company.

In June 2012, he presented a documentary series on ITV on Tuesday nights about the lemurs of Madagascar.[23]

Personal life

Clunes' first marriage was to the actress Lucy Aston.[citation needed] They divorced in 1997 and Clunes married future Doc Martin television producer Philippa Braithwaite that same year.[24][25] In 1999, Braithwaite gave birth to their daughter, Emily.[26][27] Clunes lives with his family in Beaminster, Dorset.[28] In 2010, Clunes was named president of the Royal International Horse Show.[citation needed] He was also named President of the British Horse Society from 1 June 2011.[29]

Clunes supports Weldmar Hospicecare Trust in Dorset.[30] In January 2011, Clunes also became Patron of Animal Care in Egypt. He holds a degree in zoology from the University of Bradford.[31][clarification needed]

Awards

References

  1. ^ Chips Off The Old Bloke; He made his name behaving badly – Page1 Sunday Herald – 15 December 2002
  2. ^ Celebrity interview: Martin Clunes – Page3 SouthwestTrains.com
  3. ^ a b Between The Sheets – No More Mr Nice Guy National Theatre
  4. ^ Martin Clunes Playlist itv.com
  5. ^ TV.com – All at No 20 cast list
  6. ^ Chips Off The Old Bloke; He made his name behaving badly – Page3 Sunday Herald – 15 December 2002
  7. ^ Dirty Tricks (2000) (TV)
  8. ^ "Doc Martin" (2004) – Episode list
  9. ^ Buffalo Pictures [gb]
  10. ^ The Life of Wylie: Martin Clunes Takes A Break
  11. ^ Holmwood, Leigh (6 November 2007). "Doc Martin goes out with a bang". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  12. ^ Star Letter, Radio Times, [13th] November, 2007.
  13. ^ Doc Martin – Page 56 – TV Programmes – Digital Spy Forums
  14. ^ 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
  15. ^ GMTV interview with Martin Clunes, November 2007.
  16. ^ "A close encounter with Martin Clunes". The Sunday Star-Times. 28 August 2007. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  17. ^ Terrence Higgins Trust – Gloves Off – Video – Stephen Fry and Martin Clunes – The Scale of Mimsy
  18. ^ "Celeb appeal". developments magazine. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
  19. ^ "'Doc Martin' awarded a doctorate". BBC News. 9 November 2007. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  20. ^ ITV Media – ITV inside out
  21. ^ Memorable Tv: Martin Clunes On Doc Martin
  22. ^ http://www.itv.com/presscentre/horsepowerwithmartinclunes/week34/default.html
  23. ^ Martin Clunes' admits work worries - News, Entertainment - Belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  24. ^ Telly talk: Clunes enjoys affairs of the heart – Film and tv – Entertainment – Manchester Evening News
  25. ^ 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
  26. ^ Chloe Scott-Moncrieff in coversation with… Martin Clunes.(Interview) Geographical, April, 2005 by Scott-Moncrieff, Chloe
  27. ^ Celebrity interview: Martin Clunes – Page2 SouthwestTrains.com
  28. ^ Around Dorset: Martin Clunes BBC Dorset – 11 October 2004
  29. ^ Martin Clunes to be next BHS President BHS
  30. ^ Weldmar Hospicecare Trust web site
  31. ^ Animal Care in Egypt web site

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