Martin Jarvis (actor)

Martin Jarvis OBE
Born	(1941-08-04) 4 August 1941 (age 83) Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England
Alma mater	Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1964–present
Spouse	Rosalind Ayres ​ (m. 1974)​
Children	2

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.

Jarvis was educated at Whitgift School, an independent school in Croydon, and at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), where he won the Vanbrugh Award and the silver medal.^[3]

Career

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 BBC, particularly BBC Radio 4. In the 1980s Michael Frayn's columns for The Guardian and The Observer, described by some as models of the comic essay, were adapted and performed in many voices for BBC Radio 4 by Jarvis. He read a four part adaptation of John Gordon's The Giant Under the Snow in 1981.^[5] He performs regularly in radio dramas and readings, both comic and serious. In David Mamet's Mind Your Pantheon he played the actor Strabo. He is known for his long series of readings of Richmal Crompton's Just William stories, which show his characteristic and flexible reading voices. He has also narrated the Billy Bunter series by Frank Richards. As a result of this extensive work, Jarvis has been satirised in the radio show 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 Rosalind Ayres perform frequently in audio drama with the L.A. Theater Works and Hollywood Theater of the Ear.

In 2011, Jarvis 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 science fiction series Doctor Who as Hilio, captain of the butterfly-like Menoptra, in The Web Planet (1965).^[10] He returned to Doctor Who as the scientist Dr. Butler in Invasion of the Dinosaurs (1974) and as the beleaguered governor of the planet Varos in Vengeance on Varos (1985). He became a familiar face on television when he played Jon in the BBC's landmark 1967 adaptation of The Forsyte Saga, the title role in a BBC serial of Nicholas Nickleby (1968), The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes (1970) and Uriah Heep in the 1974 BBC version of David Copperfield, and when he was the male lead in the sitcom Rings on Their Fingers (1978–80) with Diane Keen. In 1993, he starred with Ewan McGregor and Rachel Weisz in a BBC adaptation of Scarlet and Black. He also appeared in the 2002 BBC children's miniseries Bootleg.

Jarvis appeared as a guest on 161 episodes of Channel 4's Countdown between 1990 and 2008.^{[citation needed]}

Jarvis's appearances on American television include such series as Murder, She Wrote, Walker, Texas Ranger, and more recently Stargate Atlantis and Numb3rs. He also made a brief appearance as George VI in the ABC television miniseries Ike: The War Years.

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

Jarvis appeared in ITV 1's The Bill in July 2008. In March 2010, it was announced that he would appear in the BBC soap opera EastEnders playing journalist 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 Just William and voices the animal characters, as well as Voltaire the wise Weather-Cock (who acts as the narrator), in the 1993 children's television series Fourways Farm. He has also voiced various characters in animated series such as The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and The Life and Times of Juniper Lee. In the former, he inherited the role of the character 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. Focus on the Family used Jarvis' voice for two of their audio dramas, Ben-Hur and a Father Gilbert Mystery entitled The Play's the Thing. 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 returned for the 2013 video game Batman: Arkham Origins, the 2014 DC Universe animated movie Batman: Assault on Arkham, and the 2015 video game Batman: Arkham Knight.^{[citation needed]}

Jarvis 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 Rosalind Ayres on 23 November 1974 in Ealing; he has two sons by a previous marriage. He met Ayres when they played in Hamlet together; she played Ophelia. Together with his wife, Jarvis runs the radio production company "Jarvis & Ayres Productions",^[10] frequently used by BBC Radio 4.

Jarvis was awarded the OBE in 2000. He has also published a book of memoirs titled Acting Strangely: A Funny Kind of Life (ISBN 0413728501 hardback, ISBN 0-413-74550-3 paperback). Jarvis has homes in 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
1993	Calliope	O'Brien	Film Noir co-starring with Phil Collins
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 & 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"

• Doctor Who (The Web Planet) (1965)
• The Forsyte Saga (1967)
• Jackanory (1967)
• The Moonstone (1972)
• The Pallisers (1974)
• Doctor Who (Invasion of the Dinosaurs) (1974)
• Rings on Their Fingers (1978)
• Ike (Miniseries: Part II) (1979) – George VI
• Breakaway (1980)
• Mr Palfrey of Westminster (1984)
• The Black Tower (1985)
• Doctor Who (Vengeance on Varos) (1985)
• The Reluctant Dragon (1987)
• Huxley Pig (1989–1990) (voice)
• Rumpole of the Bailey (Episode: "Rumpole and the Age of Miracles") (1988)
• The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship (1990) (voice)
• Inspector Morse (Episode: "Greeks Bearing Gifts") (1991)
• Shakespeare: The Animated Tales (1992) (voice)
• Lovejoy (1994)
• Fourways Farm (1994) (narrator, voice)
• The Queen's Nose (1995)
• Testament: The Bible in Animation (1996)
• Space: Above and Beyond (1996)
• A Touch of Frost (1996)
• Extreme Ghostbusters (1997) (voice)
• Space Island One (Episode: "Mayfly") (1998) – Prof. Jarvis
• Jackie Chan Adventures (2000) (voice)
• The Inspector Lynley Mysteries (Episode: "Well Schooled in Murder") (2002)
• Muffin The Mule (audiobooks) (2005) - Narrator
• NUMB3RS (2007) – Taylor Ashby
• EastEnders (2010)
• Endeavour (2013) – Henry Broom
• By Any Means (2013)
• Dead Man's Folly (2013)

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
2024	Batman: Arkham Shadow		[14]

References

1. "Jarvis and Ayres Productions - BCG Pro". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
2. "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. "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. Timblick, Simon. "Doctors spoilers: Are Jimmi Clay and Maeve Ludlow getting MARRIED?". What to Watch. (Future plc). Retrieved 20 September 2022.
13. "Up Close with Martin Jarvis (Part 1) - Mormon Tabernacle Choir". YouTube. 19 December 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
14. Yin-Poole, Wesley (20 August 2024). "First Look at Batman VR Game Arkham Shadow Gameplay, Voice Cast Revealed gamescom 2024". IGN. Archived from the original on 20 August 2024. Retrieved 20 August 2024.

External links

• Martin Jarvis at IMDb
• Guardian Q & A September 2007
• The Times May 2004