Martin Jarvis

CHELTENHAM ACTOR

Martin Jarvis was born August 4, 1941 in Cheltenham, son of Denys Harry and Margot Lillian Jarvis. He trained at RADA and worked with the National Youth Theatre from 1960-62. By 1960 he had his professional debut and then got his big break as Jon Forsyte in The Forsyte Saga in 1967, and within a very short time Jarvis was a household name. It seemed that his career would be put off due to a throat condition which altered his voice, but with work and rest he was again healthy and made a very strong return to acting. Since then he has appeared in countless TV films and series. Martin Jarvis’s leading roles in West End and Royal National Theatre productions include plays by Ayckbourn, Frayn, Nichols, Pinter, Shakespeare, Shaw and Wilde. Jarvis met his future wife, Rosalind Ayres, while they were in Hamlet together, she played Ophelia. They married in 1974.

Screen credits include leading roles in the British/Australian mini-series Bootleg, Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Lorna Doone, Michael Frayn's Make and Break, Ike - The War Years (with Robert Duvall) and The Bunker (with Anthony Hopkins.) He has appeared as a guest star in Inspector Morse, Frost, Lovejoy, Casualty, Murder Most Horrid, Dr Who - plus Space Above and Beyond, several episodes of Murder She Wrote and Walker Texas Ranger in the US. His films include Buster and Titanic. He has voiced various characters in animated series such as Billy and Mandy and The Life and Times of Juniper Lee as well as animated films, such as Flushed Away and Eragon.

Martin Jarvis in 'Emily's Ghost'

Martin Jarvis has also narrated and produced a series of audiobook versions of classic texts such as Dickens' David Copperfield . His BBC Worldwide recordings of Just William and A Night to Remember are bestsellers. He is also the author of two books: an autobiography Acting Strangely and a compelling account of his award-winning time on Broadway in 2001: Broadway, Jeeves - The Diary of a Theatrical Adventure. In 2000 he was awarded the OBE. In September 2006 Martin Jarvis directed Teri Garr, Michael York and Alfred Molina in an acclaimed production of Pack of Lies for BBC Radio 4. He and Fiona Shaw starred for five years in the popular BBC series Our Brave Boys.