Martin Jarvis (actor)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Martin Jarvis
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
OccupationActor
Years active1964–present
Spouse
​
(m. 1974)​
Children2

Martin Jarvis

OBE (born 4 August 1941) is an English actor.[1] Described by the BBC as "one of Britain's most distinguished and versatile actors",[2]
he has had a varied career in theatre, film and television, and is particularly noted for radio acting and voicing audiobooks.

Early life

Jarvis was born in

Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, to Denys Harry Jarvis and Margot Lillian Scottney, and grew up in South Norwood and Sanderstead, north Surrey
.

He was educated at

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), where he won the Vanbrugh Award and the silver medal.[3]

Theatre work

Jarvis has acted in many stage productions in London and abroad, including alongside Diana Rigg and Natascha McElhone in Joanna Murray-Smith's Honour at London's Wyndham's Theatre in 2006. His other stage work includes Woman in Mind and Henceforward... by Alan Ayckbourn, Other Places by Harold Pinter, Exchange by Michael Frayn, and The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (opposite Judi Dench).[2]

Jarvis appeared on Broadway in 2001 as P. G. Wodehouse's character Jeeves in the musical By Jeeves, a performance for which he was awarded a Theatre World Award.[4]

Radio work

Jarvis has had a long association with the

Dead Ringers by Mark Perry, highlighting his seeming ubiquity
in Radio 4 programmes.

Jarvis has performed the role of Jeeves in multiple radio dramas based on P. G. Wodehouse's Jeeves stories, including the 1997 L.A. Theatre Works adaptation of The Code of the Woosters,[6] the 2014 BBC radio adaptation of Ring for Jeeves,[7] and the 2018 BBC radio adaptation of Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves.[8] He performs live dramatic readings of some of the stories in the intermittent radio series Jeeves Live! (2007–2020).[9]

In America, Jarvis and his wife

Hollywood Theater of the Ear
.

In 2011, he appeared in a Radio 4 production of Terence Rattigan's In Praise of Love.

Television work

Jarvis's first television appearance was in the BBC

Bootleg
.

He has appeared as a guest on 161 episodes of Channel 4's Countdown between 1990 and 2008.

His appearances on American television include such series as

Ike: The War Years
.

Jarvis was the subject of BBC television's This Is Your Life in 1999.[citation needed]

He appeared in ITV 1's

Harvey Freeman.[11]

Jarvis appeared in a 2014 episode of Law & Order: UK as Eddie Stewart, a man arrested and charged with murder.[citation needed] In September 2022, Jarvis appeared alongside his wife in an episode of the BBC soap opera Doctors as John Chilton.[12]

Voice work

Among his work, Jarvis did the voiceovers for the 2010 BBC series

Nergal from his Titanic co-star David Warner. In 2000, Jarvis voiced John Dread in the TV series Max Steel. He has also voiced all the characters in the children's stop-motion animated series Huxley Pig and narrated "The Tempest" in Shakespeare: The Animated Tales
.

Jarvis has also undertaken audiobooks of P. G. Wodehouse's works, and won the Audie Award for these. He is the narrator of the 2011 audiobook of The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde. Further work in 2011 includes an audiobook of the Wilbur Smith novel The Leopard Hunts in Darkness. He has also appeared in Jubilee, a Doctor Who spin-off audio drama by Big Finish Productions, alongside his wife. In film, Jarvis appeared in Disney's 2012 film Wreck-It Ralph as Saitine, one of the video game villains who attends the Bad Anon self-help groups with Ralph (John C. Reilly).

Jarvis has also performed voiceovers for video games, beginning in 2007 as the role of The Chronicler in the

Spyro the Dragon video game series. He also provided the voice of Admiral Zaal'Koris vas Qwib Qwib in Mass Effect 2 (2010) and Mass Effect 3 (2012). Also in 2011, Jarvis also performed a voice-over part for the MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic. Jarvis also voiced Alfred Pennyworth in the Batman: Arkham series of video games. He first voiced the character in the 2011 video game Batman: Arkham City and would reprise for the 2013 video game Batman: Arkham Origins and the 2014 DC Universe animated movie Batman: Assault on Arkham, and the 2015 video game Batman: Arkham Knight.[citation needed
]

He read Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities for the Chivers Audio Books production on cassette, later released on CD by Barnes & Noble Audio Classics.[citation needed]

Personal life

Jarvis married

Ophelia. Together with his wife, Jarvis runs the radio production company "Jarvis & Ayres Productions",[10]
frequently used by BBC Radio 4.

He was awarded the

West Hollywood and London.[13]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1966 Secrets of a Windmill Girl Mike, Windmill Stage Manager
1970 The Last Escape Lt. Donald Wilcox
1970 Taste the Blood of Dracula Jeremy Secker
1981 The Bunker Johannes Hentschel
1988 Buster Inspector Mitchell
1992 Emily's Ghost Papa
1996
Police Story 4: First Strike
 		Australian Group #8 Alongside his real life wife Rosalind Ayres as "Australian Group #1"
1997 Titanic Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon Alongside Rosalind Ayres as Lady Duff-Gordon
2001 Beginner's Luck Old luvvie
2002 Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War JB
2008 Framed Richard
2011 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Birger
Neander-Jin: The Return of the Neanderthal Man Peter Blodnik
2012 Wreck-It Ralph Saitine (voice)
2014 Batman: Assault on Arkham Alfred Pennyworth (voice) Direct-to-video
United Passions Sir Stanley Rous

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1996 The Tick Breadmaster (voice) Episode: "Tick vs. Europe"
1996 Richie Rich
Cadbury
, Bascomb (voice) 		6 Episodes
2000 Max Steel John Dread (voice) 6 Episodes
2003–2008
The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy
 		Nergal (voice) 7 Episodes
Replacing David Warner
2005–2006 The Life and Times of Juniper Lee William, King Teddy, Bartok (voice) 2 Episodes
2007
Stargate: Atlantis
 		Davos Episode: "The Seer"
2022 Doctors John Chilton Episode: "Mustn't Grumble"

Video games

Year Title Role Notes
2003 Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown Sheriff of Nottingham
2006 The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy Nergal
2007 The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night The Chronicler
2008 The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon
2009 The Lord of the Rings: Conquest Gandalf
2009 Dragon Age: Origins Avernus Warden's Keep DLC
2010 Mass Effect 2 Zaal'Koris
2011 Batman: Arkham City Alfred Pennyworth
2011 Star Wars: The Old Republic Additional Voices
2012 Mass Effect 3 Zaal'Korris
2012
Kinect Rush: A Disney–Pixar Adventure
 		Finn McMissile
2013 Batman: Arkham Origins Alfred Pennyworth
2015 Batman: Arkham Knight

References

  1. ^ "Jarvis and Ayres Productions - BCG Pro". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Bootleg - cast biographies". BBC Online. 14 November 2002. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  3. ^ "CV for Martin Jarvis" (PDF). Amanda Howard Associates. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  4. ^ "By Jeeves". Playbill. 2019. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  5. ^ Radio Times listings 28/12/1981: BBC Radio 4
  6. ^ "The Code of the Woosters". LATW. L.A. Theatre Works. 2017. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  7. ^ "Classic Serial: Ring for Jeeves". BBC Radio 4. BBC. 2019. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  8. ^ "Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves". BBC Radio 4. BBC. 2019. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  9. ^ "Jeeves - Live!". BBC Radio 4. BBC. 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  10. ^ a b "BBC Drama: Much Ado About Nothing". BBC. 26 April 2005. Retrieved 14 July 2007.
  11. ^ Green, Kris (1 March 2010). "Martin Jarvis joins 'EastEnders'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
  12. What to Watch. (Future plc
    ). Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  13. ^ "Up Close with Martin Jarvis (Part 1) - Mormon Tabernacle Choir". YouTube. Retrieved 12 January 2020.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Martin_Jarvis_(actor)&oldid=1211573683"