Jessica Martin

Jessica Martin (born 25 August 1962, Fulham, London) is an English actress, singer and impressionist whose career has diversified to include comic writing and illustrating.

Life and career

She graduated with a B.A Honours degree in English and Drama from Westfield College, London University and Central School of Speech and Drama. Soon after graduating she became an impressionist on the Fringe circuit, performing alongside Rory Bremner and Harry Enfield. She was given a regular slot on Spitting Image and became the only female member of London Weekend's impressionist show, Copy Cats. Fellow team members included Bobby Davro with whom she partnered for three series of his weekly show Bobby Davro's TV Weekly. Martin and Gary Wilmot went on to find musical theatre stardom in the West End hit show Me and My Girl. They performed for two years at the Adelphi Theatre and did a national tour.

Martin went on to play many leading musical roles including Mabel in the 1996 production of Mack and Mabel at the Piccadilly Theatre, Nellie Forbush in South Pacific, Mrs Lovett in Sweeney Todd and Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. She also guest starred in Doctor Who starring Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor. She played Mags in The Greatest Show in the Galaxy. The episodes were released on DVD in 2012. She also provided the voice of the Queen in the Voyage of the Damned with David Tennant as the Doctor in the 2007 Christmas special. She has made numerous radio appearances including a specially written one off special for BBC Radio 2, Cybill Liberty, written by Mark Brisenden featuring a 1940s female radio detective Cybill Liberty, including Judy Garland and Carmen Miranda all played by Jessica.

She has maintained an extensive career as a voice over artists, performing in animations and commercials. She has also recorded several audio books including Mary Wollstonecraft's Vindication of the Rights of Men.

Martin provides voice acting for the English-language version of the PlayStation 2 game Dragon Quest VIII, most notably as Empyrea.

In 2004, Martin recorded a song for the CD Weird & Wonderful - A Collection Of Songs by Alexander S. Bermange celebrating weirdos and weirdness, featuring sixteen West End stars (released on Dress Circle Records). In 2008, she joined author and columnist Mark Steyn to release a cover of "It's a Marshmallow World", a holiday song first popularized by Bing Crosby.[1]

She played the Lady of the Lake in the national tour of Spamalot in 2011, Lottie Ames in the award winning production of Mack and Mabel and Lottie Lacey in the revival of William Inge's Dark at the Top of the Stairs.

In the last two years, Martin has successfully transitioned into the comic book industry. She has merged her passion for film history with narrative art. Her first published work was a story illustrated by her 'mentor' Mark Buckingham, leading artist on Vertigo's "Fables" series which was included in the Thought Bubble Anthology 2013. Her first comic written and drawn by herself was "It Girl" about silent film superstar Clara Bow. It was self-published in November 2013 and has been an ongoing success. It has sold out several times over in London comic shops Orbital and Gosh as well as Foyles and BFI bookstores. It was selected as one of the "Ten Must Own Comics 2013" by Broken Frontier's Small Press website.

Her first graphic novel Elsie Harris Picture Palace set in the 1930s British film industry was short listed in the Myriad First Graphic Novel Prize 2014. The ceremony took place at the British Library in May 2014 as part of the "Comics Unmasked" exhibition season. It was published in Spring 2015.

In October 2015, she joined the cast of Elf: The Musical, playing the role of Emily Hobbs at the Dominion Theatre.[2]

Jessica Martin is a patron of the Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America and performed at the 50th anniversary Memorial Service for Lupino Lane at St Paul's, Covent Garden.

Roles

Television

Games

Film

Cabaret and one-woman show

Radio roles

Theatre roles

Lost musicals

References

  1. ↑ "It’s a Marshmallow World - Macleans.ca". Blog.macleans.ca. 2014-06-26. Retrieved 2014-07-23.
  2. ↑ "Full casting announced for Elf at Dominion". whatsonstage.com. Whats On Stage. 18 August 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2015.

External links

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