Jessica Martin

Jessica Martin is an English actress, singer and impressionist whose career has diversified to include comic writing and illustrating.

She graduated with a degree in English and Drama from Westfield College, London University and Central School of Speech and Drama. 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 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 star 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 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. 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.

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.

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 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. 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. In September 2016, she was featured in Robert J. Sherman's Bumblescratch playing the dual roles of Bethesda Bumblescratch and the Widow MacGregor at the Adelphi Theatre. She was named a Variety Club Celebrity Ambassador for her work in Bumblescratch and her other works.

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.

Television

• Junglies (ITV) 1992 - voice only
• Noël Coward's Tonight At 8.30 (BBC 1) 1992
• You Bet Guest Panelist, Series 6 Episode 3 (LWT)1992
• Doctor Who (BBC 1) 1988
• Spitting Image (Central Independent Television) 1985-87
• Royal Variety Shows (LWT) 1987 and 1986
• Bobby Davro's T.V Weekly (Television South) 1986-88
• Sunday Night At The London Palladium (LWT) 1986
• Copy Cats (LWT) 1985

Games

• Dragon Quest VIII Empyrea (2004)

Film

• Shalom dir. Martin Kerem 2005
• The Garden dir. Derek Jarman 1990

Cabaret and one-woman show

• All American Songbook (2 Temple Place) 4 July 2007
• My Heart Stood Still (St. James's Palace) dir. Christopher Luscombe 2007
• A Marvellous Party (St. James's Palace) dir. Christopher Luscombe 2006
• Jessica Martin cabaret (The Ritz Hotel, London) 2006
• Jessica Martin cabaret (Corporate –’72 Club’ Radisson Edwardian, London) 2006
• Jessica Martin and John Barrowman cabaret (Highgrove) 2006
• A Marvellous Party (Highgrove) dir. Christopher Luscombe 2005
• Sunset Bitch (New York International Fringe Festival) dir. Robert Howie 2005
• Blame It On My Youth (Don’t Tell Mama – New York and Jermyn Street Theatre, London) dir. Robert Howie 2003
• Let's Kick Arts (Bridewell Theatre) dir. Don Leaver 2002
• Veronique – A Lifelong Cult (Pleasance, Edinburgh Festival) dir. Robert Howie 2001

Radio roles

• Barbra Streisand in Jack Rosenthal's Last Act (BBC Radio 4) dir. Maureen Lipman 2006
• Alma Cogan in Stage Mother, Sequinned Daughter (BBC Radio 4) dir. Marilyn Imrie 2002
• I Can Do That (BBC Radio 4) dir. Bruce Hyman 1999
• Glossies (BBC Radio 4) dir. Sally Flatman 1996
• Ned Sherrin's Review of Revues (BBC Radio 2) 1995
• Cybil Liberty (BBC Radio 2) dir. Dirk Maggs 1992
• Jane Brown in Ray Cooney's farce Dead Trouble (Calibre Cassette Library for the Blind made in association with Challenge Anneka (Episode 5 of Series 1) dir. Ray Cooney 1989

Theatre roles

• Bethesda/Widow MacGregor Bumblescratch, Adelphi Theatre dir. Stewart Nicholls 2016
• Emily Hobbs Elf: The Musical, Dominion Theatre 2015
• Lotte Ames Mack & Mabel, Southwark Playhouse 2012
• Lady of the Lake Spamalot, UK Tour 2011.
• Unnatural Acts (Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh Festival) dir. David Giles 2007
• The UnAmerican Songbook (Theatre Museum) dir. Denis King
• Tracey Beaker Gets Real (Nottingham Playhouse & national tour) dir. David Newman 2006
• Danny and Sylvia (Jermyn Street Theatre, London) dir. Kenn Oldfield 2005
• Taste The Love (Jermyn Street Theatre, London) dir. Paul Rogan 2004
• Exclusive Yarns (Wimbledon Studio Theatre at the New Wimbledon Theatre) dir. Andrew Wood 2004
• Me, Myself and I (Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond) dir. Kim Grant 2003
• Larkin With Women (Belgrade Theatre, Coventry) dir. David Giles 2003
• Mrs Lovett in Sweeney Todd (Bridewell Theatre, London) dir. Richard Jordan 2001
• Trudy in A Saint She Ain’t (The King’s Head, Islington) dir. Ned Sherrin 1999
• Candida (New End Theatre) dir. David Evans Rees 1998
• The Surprise Party (Nuffield Theatre at the University of Southampton & national tour) dir. Patrick Sanford 1997
• Nellie Forbush in South Pacific (Churchill Theatre, Bromley & national tour) dir. David Taylor 1997
• Mabel Normand in Mack and Mabel (Piccadilly Theatre, London) dir. Paul Kerryson 1996
• Swingtime Canteen (The King’s Head, Islington) dir. Robert Howie 1995
• Lonely Hearts (Old Fire Station Theatre, Oxford) dir. Stephen Rayne 1995
• The Court Jester (Croydon Warehouse Theatre) dir. Ted Craig 1994
• Shakers (Nottingham Playhouse) dir. Jane Thornton 1994
• Ruth in The Card (Maynardville Open-Air Theatre, Regent’s Park) dir. Ian Talbot 1994
• Gussie in The Case of the Dead Flamingo Dancer (Churchill Theatre, Bromley) dir. Martin Connor 1992
• Sally Smith in Me and My Girl (Adelphi Theatre, London and national tour) dir. Mike Ockrent 1989-92
• Bunny in Babes in Arms (Maynardville Open-Air Theatre, Regent’s Park) dir. Ian Talbot 1988
• Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (Theatre Royal, Plymouth, and national tour) dir. Andrew McKinnon 1988

• • Something For The Boys
  • Leave It To Me
  • I Can Get It For You Wholesale
  • On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
  • Finian’s Rainbow
  • One Touch Of Venus
  • Fifty Million Frenchmen
  • The Lost Musicals Gala hosted by Kitty Carlisle Hart and Anne Kaufman Schneider
  • Silk Stockings
• Trudy in A Saint She Ain’t (The King’s Head, Islington) dir. Ned Sherrin 1999
• Candida (New End Theatre) dir. David Evans Rees 1998
• The Surprise Party (Nuffield Theatre at the University of Southampton & national tour) dir. Patrick Sanford 1997
• Nellie Forbush in South Pacific (Churchill Theatre, Bromley & national tour) dir. David Taylor 1997
• Mabel Normand in Mack and Mabel' (Piccadilly Theatre, London) dir. Paul Kerryson 1996
• Swingtime Canteen' (The King’s Head, Islington) dir. Robert Howie 1995
• Lonely Hearts (Old Fire Station Theatre, Oxford) dir. Stephen Rayne 1995
• The Court Jester (Croydon Warehouse Theatre) dir. Ted Craig 1994
• Shakers (Nottingham Playhouse) dir. Jane Thornton 1994
• Ruth in The Card (Maynardville Open-Air Theatre, Regent’s Park) dir. Ian Talbot 1994
• Gussie in The Case of the Dead Flamingo Dancer (Churchill Theatre, Bromley) dir. Martin Connor 1992
• Sally Smith in Me and My Girl (Adelphi Theatre, London and national tour) dir. Mike Ockrent 1989-92
• Bunny in Babes in Arms' (Maynardville Open-Air Theatre, Regent’s Park) dir. Ian Talbot 1988
• Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (Theatre Royal, Plymouth, and national tour) dir. Andrew McKinnon 1988