Martin Kemp

For the art historian, see Martin Kemp (art historian).
Martin Kemp

Kemp performing in Liverpool, October 2009
Born Martin John Kemp
10 October 1961
Islington, London, England
Education Central Foundation Boys' School
Occupation Actor, director, musician, television presenter
Years active 1972–present
Television EastEnders (1998–2002)
Spouse(s) Shirlie Holliman (m. 1988)
Children 2
Relatives Gary Kemp (brother)

Musical career

Genres
Instruments Vocals, bass guitar, synthesizer
Years active 1979–present
Labels
Associated acts Spandau Ballet

Martin John Kemp (born 10 October 1961) is an English actor, musician, and occasional television presenter, best known as the bassist in the new wave band Spandau Ballet, as well as for his portrayal as Steve Owen from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. He is the brother of Gary Kemp, who is also a member of Spandau Ballet and has also had an acting career. He also finished third in the summer series of Celebrity Big Brother 2012.

Early life

Martin Kemp was born to Frank and Eileen Kemp at their house in Islington, north London,[1] and attended Rotherfield Junior School. At the age of 7 he began to attend the Anna Scher Children's Theatre drama club[2] with his brother, Gary, and appeared in many TV shows, including Jackanory, The Tomorrow People, and Dixon of Dock Green.[3] In his last year with Anna Scher he won a role in The Glittering Prizes, appearing alongside Tom Conti and Nigel Havers.[4] Kemp grew up in north London, and attended Central Foundation Boys' School in Cowper Street, Islington. Along with other famous ex-pupils, a large photo of him adorns a wall of fame at the school. After leaving school at 16, he began an apprenticeship in a print factory,[5] but soon became disenchanted.[5]

Spandau Ballet

See also: Spandau Ballet

Kemp's life changed when Steve Dagger, the manager of his brother Gary's band The Gentry, suggested he should replace the band's bass player.[6] He learned to play bass in three months and performed for the first time with The Gentry at a college party.[6] Eventually the band was renamed “Spandau Ballet" and Kemp left his printing job to concentrate on the band full-time.[7] Spandau Ballet went on to have a great deal of success in the New Romantic Era, with four of their albums reaching the UK album chart top ten. True also gave the band their first UK number one album and single with the album's title track. Kemp also performed with the band on the popular 1984 famine relief project song "Do They Know It's Christmas", written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure.

In early 2009, newspaper reports claimed that Spandau Ballet was set to re-form later that year,[8][9][10] and this was confirmed by the band at a press conference held on board HMS Belfast on 25 March 2009.[11] The band also announced a world tour, beginning with dates in the UK and Ireland in October 2009.

Later career

Kemp and his brother Gary returned to acting in 1990, both of them appearing in the British film The Krays in which they played the notorious gangster twins, Ronald and Reginald Kray. Their performances received a great deal of critical acclaim.[12][13][14] Since The Krays, Martin Kemp has been in the public eye more than his brother. He moved to Los Angeles in the early 1990s and made appearances in television series such as The Outer Limits and Highlander: The Series. He also appeared in several Hollywood films such as Waxwork II: Lost in Time (1992) and Embrace of the Vampire (1994).

In 1995, he moved back to the United Kingdom and took a break from acting for a short while after recovering from two benign brain tumours.[15] He then resumed his acting career in 1998 when he made guest appearance in the ITV police drama series The Bill. He went on to become popular for his role as villain Steve Owen in the BBC's top soap opera, EastEnders from December 1998. His character was involved in some of the soap's highest rated storylines such as the Saskia Duncan murder and "Who Shot Phil?". By the time he left the series in 2002, he was one of the best-known faces on British television. Kemp won three TV Quick Awards for Best Soap Actor (2000, 2001, 2002),[16][17][18] a National Television Award for Most Popular Actor (2000)[19] and five British Soap Awards (Villain of the Year in 2000, Best Actor in 2001 and 2002, Sexiest Male in 2001 and 2002) for his work on EastEnders.[20][21][22] In July 2001, he announced that he would leave EastEnders when his contract expired in April 2002.[23]

Kemp switched over to ITV from 2002 to 2004, where he starred in several television dramas such as The Brides in the Bath, in which he played real-life murderer, George Smith, and Can't Buy Me Love opposite fellow EastEnders star Michelle Collins, which was based on a true story about a man who conned his wife and friends into believing he had won the lottery. From 2004–07, he was the face of furniture chain ScS.[24] He starred in a low-budget British film titled Back in Business which had a very limited release in few theatres in February 2007 and one month later was released on DVD. He founded his own production company and in March 2008 directed a low-budget 20-minute short film entitled Karma Magnet,[25] which starred his brother, Gary, and featured Martin's wife and son, Shirlie and Roman. This was released only online.

He appeared on a celebrity special of Who Wants to Be A Millionaire in January 2008 with his brother, Gary, to raise awareness of and funds for the Encephalitis Society. Along with his son, he also featured in one edition of a factual television series for Five, Dangerous Adventures For Boys, based on the best-selling book written by Conn and Hal Iggulden, The Dangerous Book for Boys. In 2008, he appeared on the Discovery Channel television programme Chop Shop where they built him a gangster car. He hosted TV's 50 Hardest Men for Sky1 in July 2008 and also guest starred as Mr. Burley in BBC drama series, Waterloo Road. 2011 saw him starring as "Dr. Lawrence" in Jack Falls. In November 2011, Kemp appeared as a contestant on the second series of ITV's 71 Degrees North, but quit after three days. Kemp's first feature film as director, Stalker, was released in 2011.[26]

Kemp was announced as the thirteenth celebrity to participate in the summer series of Celebrity Big Brother 2012. Kemp appeared in the final, and placed third on 7 September 2012.

Personal life

Martin Kemp has been married to Shirlie Holliman since 1988.[27] Holliman is a former backing singer of the group Wham![28] and one half of the 1980s pop duo, Pepsi & Shirlie.[29] The couple have a daughter, Harley Moon,[30] (born 1989[30]) and a son, Roman,[31] (born 1993). Kemp is a patron of the British/Irish charity, The Encephalitis Society.[32] At the time he became a patron, he confirmed that he had had controlled epilepsy since the 1990s, as a result of two brain tumours.[32] Following the tumours, Kemp had a protective metal plate implanted over his brain under the scalp.[33] It is unnoticeable but not undetectable – during an appearance on the Frank Skinner Show in 2002, Kemp jokingly remarked that he could never slip quietly through metal detectors at airports, as the plate would set the alarm off. On 20 January 2006, Kemp opened a new CT scanning suite at Russells Hall Hospital, Dudley, West Midlands.[34]

Kemp's parents, Frank and Eileen, both died in January 2009. Eileen Kemp was undergoing treatment for a heart bypass at Bournemouth Hospital, where Frank was brought in following a heart attack which proved fatal. She died 48 hours later.[35]

Filmography

Actor

  • Skin Deep (2004) .... Ian Thorpe
  • The Bus Driver's Prayer (1998) ..... Tom Marsh
  • Blood Brothers (1995) .... Michael Deighton
  • A Country Life (1976)[3] .... Graham Black

Director

Literature

References

  1. ↑ True: the Autobiography of Martin Kemp, p. 12
  2. ↑ True: the Autobiography of Martin Kemp, p. 18
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 3.11 True: the Autobiography of Martin Kemp, p. 20
  4. ↑ True: the Autobiography of Martin Kemp, p. 21
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 True: the Autobiography of Martin Kemp, p. 31
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 True: the Autobiography of Martin Kemp, p.39
  7. ↑ True: the Autobiography of Martin Kemp, p.46
  8. ↑ Gordon Smart, Is it act II of Spandau Ballet?, The Sun, 5 January 2009, retrieved 16 March 2009
  9. ↑ Gordon Smart, Spandau are Nou Romantics, The Sun, 13 February 2009, retrieved 16 March 2009
  10. ↑ "Spandau Ballet to re-form 30 years on with hopes of 'doing a Take That'". Mail Online. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  11. ↑ BBC News, Spandau Reform for a World Tour, 25 March 2009, retrieved 26 March 2009
  12. ↑ "The Krays". Thespinningimage.co.uk. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  13. ↑ "The Krays film review". Channel4.com. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  14. ↑ "The Krays". Time Out London. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  15. ↑ True: the Autobiography of Martin Kemp, p.3
  16. ↑ Julia Day. "Martin Kemp quits EastEnders". the Guardian. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  17. ↑ "Backstage at the Quick Awards". News.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  18. ↑ "TheCustard.tv". Thecustard.tv. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  19. ↑ "National Television Awards: The winners". News.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  20. ↑ "EastEnders sweeps soap awards". News.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  21. ↑
  22. ↑ "Eastenders cleans up soap awards". News.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  23. ↑ "EastEnder Martin Kemp quits Albert Square for ITV". Mail Online. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  24. ↑ "IMDB Artist Work". IMDB. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  25. ↑ "Karma Magnet". Dread Central. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  26. ↑ Helen Earnshaw (31 January 2012). "Martin Kemp Talks Stalker". Femalefirst.co.uk. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  27. ↑ True: the Autobiography of Martin Kemp, p. 141
  28. ↑ True: the Autobiography of Martin Kemp, p. 79
  29. ↑ True: the Autobiography of Martin Kemp, p. 123
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 True: the Autobiography of Martin Kemp, p. 172
  31. ↑ True: the Autobiography of Martin Kemp, p. 194
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 "The Encephalitis Society Newsletter" (PDF) (38). Autumn 2006. Retrieved 31 December 2008.
  33. ↑ True: the Autobiography of Martin Kemp, p. 216
  34. ↑ "Spandau star is just the tonic". Thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  35. ↑ Rollo, Sarah (17 January 2009). "Family tragedy for Kemp brothers". Digital Spy. Retrieved 17 January 2009.

External links