Martin Clunes OBEDL
Clunes in 2019
Born	Alexander Martin Clunes (1961-11-28)28 November 1961 (age 64) Wimbledon, London, England
Education	Arts Educational Schools
Occupations	Actor director television presenter
Years active	1982–present
Spouses	Lucy Aston ​ ​ (m. 1990; div. 1997)​ Philippa Braithwaite ​ ​ (m. 1997)​
Children	1
Father	Alec Clunes
Martin Clunes' voice from the BBC programmeDesert Island Discs, 18 September 2011.[1]

Alexander Martin ClunesOBE (born 28 November 1961) is an English actor, director, and television presenter. He is best known for portraying Martin Ellingham in theITV comedy-drama seriesDoc Martin, Gary Strang in theBBC sitcomMen Behaving Badly, and William Shawcross inWilliam and Mary. Clunes has narrated a number of documentaries for ITV, the first of which wasIslands of Britain in 2009. He has since presented a number of documentaries centred on animals. He has also voicedKipper the Dog in the preschool animated seriesKipper.

Clunes was appointed anOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the2015 Birthday Honours for services to drama, charity, and the community in Dorset.

Clunes was born on 28 November 1961 inWimbledon (then inSurrey, now inGreater London), the son of actorAlec Clunes and his second wife, Daphne (née Acott) Clunes (4 July 1928 – 17 September 2007).^[2][3] Clunes was educated at theRoyal Russell School inCroydon, and later at theArts Educational Schools, London. He has an older sister, Amanda.^[4] Clunes is related to actorJeremy Brett, who was variously described as either Clunes's uncle^[5] or cousin.^[6]

Clunes played his first role inrep at theMercury Theatre,Colchester,^[7] and his first television appearance was in an adaptation ofMikhail Bulgakov'sThe White Guard for theBBC Play of the Month in 1982,^[8] followed by theDoctor Who storySnakedance in 1983.^[9] A sporadic career led to his supplementing his income as a photo model forGilbert and George, and he can be seen in their 1983 workWorld.^[10] He got his first regular television role as one of the sons in theBBC sitcomNo Place Like Home,^[11] and then starred in two series of the sitcomAll at No 20.^[12]

While Clunes was appearing on stage at theHampstead Theatre,Harry Enfield came to see him; the acquaintanceship developed into a friendship where Clunes played characters in Enfield's sketch shows (most notably one of the Rugby Players).^[13] Enfield then recommended Clunes for the role of Gary in the sitcomMen Behaving Badly,^[14] written for Enfield bySimon Nye, for which Clunes won aBritish Academy Television Award for Best Comedy Performance in 1996.^[15] He played the part of Group Captain Barker in the two-part TV mini-seriesOver Here that same year. In 1993, he played Dick Dobson inDemob about a pair of demobilised soldiers who have to adjust to civilian life after entertaining Second World War troops with a raunchy cabaret act.

Since 1994, Clunes has frequently appeared on theBBC One panel showHave I Got News for You as a panelist or a guest presenter.^[16][17] Clunes has since appeared in films and television shows such asAn Evening with Gary Lineker,Staggered (starred and directed),Hunting Venus,The Booze Cruise,Saving Grace andJeeves and Wooster. In 1998, he was featured inSweet Revenge and appeared asRichard Burbage in the filmShakespeare in Love. Clunes has also acted frequently for the radio, including a guest appearance in theBBC Radio 4 seriesBaldi.

In 2001, he played Captain Stickles in theBBC adaptation of R. D. Blackmore'sLorna Doone. In 2002, Clunes playedserial killerJohn George Haigh in a Yorkshire TV productionA Is for Acid, and took the lead inITV's production ofGoodbye, Mr. Chips.^[4] Clunes was one of the eponymous leads in the 2004 ITV comedy-dramaWilliam and Mary, withJulie Graham. Clunes had worked with Julie Graham previously onDirty Tricks (2000).^[18] From 2004 until the conclusion in 2022 Clunes played the lead role of Dr Martin Ellingham in the ITV comedy drama seriesDoc Martin. In August 2007, Clunes starred in the ITV/TVNZ co-productionThe Man Who Lost His Head.^[19]

Clunes is a regularvoice-over artist and is the voice of Kipper in the animated children's seriesKipper the Dog, and Stripy inLittle Robots, another animated children's series. For six years (1993–1999) he also did voice acting forSafeway adverts; he provided the voice of Harry in Safeway's 'When Harry Met Molly' advertising campaign during said years. Clunes appeared in a television dramatisation ofFungus the Bogeyman playing Jessica White's father. Between 2009 and 2010, Clunes starred onBBC One television in the title role ofReggie Perrin, a re-make of classic 1970s British situation comedyThe Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin. In 2015, Clunes played the role ofSir Arthur Conan Doyle in the ITV mini-seriesArthur & George. In 2018, Clunes played the role of DCI Colin Sutton in the ITV dramaManhunt (first screened in 2019).^[20] In 2019, Clunes returned to sitcom with the BBC1 seriesWarren, saying "It was just so funny, I couldn't turn it down".^[21] In 2025, Clunes played the part of a farmer affected by County Lines drug gangs on a Welsh farm in the ITV dramaOut There.

Clunes played Brock in the 1990 filmThe Russia House. He played a character called Martin in the 1992 filmCarry On Columbus; Richard Burbage in the 1998 filmShakespeare in Love; and Anthony Staxton-Billing inSweet Revenge the same year. In 2000, Clunes played the role of Dr. Martin Bamford in the filmSaving Grace, and the follow-up to that filmDoc Martin the following year (2001), he played James Chancellor inGlobal Heresy.

In 2011, Clunes voiced the mischievous dog Dudley in the short filmMe or the Dog, starringEdward Hogg and directed byAbner Pastoll. Clunes then starred in the 2014 filmNativity 3: Dude, Where's My Donkey?.

In 2008, Clunes presentedMartin Clunes: A Man and his Dogs, which was aired on 24 August 2008.^[22]In 2009, Clunes presented a three-part ITV seriesIslands of Britain, which saw him travelling around several of the country's lesser known islands. In 2010 Clunes presented ITV mini-seriesHorsepower about man's relationship over time with the horse. This was followed byHeavy Horsepower which aired in 2013.^[23][24] In January 2011, Clunes presented documentaryMartin Clunes: Man to Manta.^[25] In June 2012, Clunes presented a documentary series onITV about thelemurs ofMadagascar calledMartin Clunes: The Lemurs of Madagascar.

On 31 January 2013, Clunes narrated ITV documentarySecret Life of Dogs. Then, on 2 and 3 June 2014, he narrated two more follow-up documentaries,Secret Life of Cats andSecret Life of Babies.^[26] On 4 April 2014 Clunes hosted a one-off ITV documentary calledMartin Clunes & A Lion Called Mugie, following the work of conservationists inKenya as well as tracking the progress of alion called Mugie. The documentary was filmed over three years.^[27] In August 2014 Clunes narrated ITV's three-part documentary seriesKids with Cameras: Diary of a Children's Ward which saw Newcastle's children's ward through the eyes of its patients.^[28] In April 2015, Clunes narratedCarry on Forever, a three part documentary series forITV3. It was shown over the Easter weekend.^[29]

In May 2015, Clunes presentedMan & Beast with Martin Clunes, a two-part factual series for ITV, which looked at the relationship between humans and animals.^[30] In 2016, he narratedRising Damp Forever, a two-part documentary series for ITV3. He also voiced ITV programmesSecrets of Growing Old,Secrets of Growing Up andBritain's Favourite Dogs. Also in 2016,Martin Clunes: Islands of Australia (also known asIslands of Oz) was released as a three-part Australian documentary television series produced byProspero Productions for theSeven Network that "follows acclaimed actor and comedian Martin Clunes as he explores the most diverse, intriguing, remote and spectacular islands that surround Australia."^[31] In 2019,Martin Clunes: Islands of America was released as a four-part documentary where he travelled to remote islands across the United States.^[32]

Clunes's first marriage was to actress Lucy Aston in 1990.^[33] They divorced in 1997 and Clunes married futureDoc Martin producer Philippa Braithwaite later that year.^[34] In 1999, Braithwaite gave birth to their daughter.^[35][36] Clunes and his family live inBeaminster, Dorset, where they run a farm withheavy horses.^[37][38][39]

A sponsor of numerous charities, Clunes made a short on-line film withStephen Fry aboutHIV discrimination for theTerrence Higgins Trust.^[40]

Clunes supports Weldmar Hospicecare Trust in Dorset and is a Patron of Julia's House, the Dorset and Wiltshire children's hospice.^[41] The Buckham Fair is organised in support of these charities.^[42] In January 2011, Clunes became a patron of Animal Care in Egypt (ACE).^{[43][clarification needed]}

Clunes was a patron of theBorn Free Foundation, and had filmed several adverts for the charity. However, he was dropped by the foundation in May 2019, after he was filmed riding an elephant in an episode of the ITV documentary seriesMy Travels with Other Animals.^[44] He has also been involved in theComic Relief charity which fundsSurvival International and African Initiatives, two organisations working with theMaasai on indigenous land rights issues. He is a supporter of The Dog Rescue Federation.^[45]

Television

Film

• A Dog's Life (Hodder & Stoughton, 2009)ISBN 9780340977057
• Meetings With Remarkable Animals (Penguin, 2024)ISBN 9780241723784

• 1995 –British Comedy Awards, Top TV Comedy Actor :Men Behaving Badly – Gary Strang
• 1996 –British Academy Television Awards, Best Comedy Performance :Men Behaving Badly – Gary Strang
• 1999 –Screen Actors Guild Awards, Outstanding Performance by a Cast :Shakespeare in Love –Richard Burbage

Clunes was made anOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Civil Division on 13 June 2015 in the2015 Queen's Birthday Honours List.^{[63][64][65][66]} He was appointed as aDeputy Lieutenant (DL) of theCounty ofDorset on 19 June 2019.^[67][68]

Bournemouth University awarded him thehonorary degree ofDoctor of Arts (D.Arts) on 9 November 2007.^[69][70] He has been president of theBritish Horse Society since 1 June 2011.^[71][72]

In 2024, Clunes was named as the inauguralChancellor forHartpury University and Hartpury College.^[73]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toMartin Clunes.

• Martin Clunes atIMDb

• 1961 births
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