Martin Jarvis is one of Britains most versatile leading actors. His career, which began in the 1960s, continues to encompass just about every aspect of the entertainment industry: film, television, theatre, radio and audio recording. He is also the author of two bestselling books: a hilarious autobiography Acting Strangely and a compelling account of his award-winning time on Broadway in 2001: Broadway, Jeeves - The Diary of a Theatrical Adventure, both published by Methuen. He is a prolific director of radio drama and, with his wife, actress/director Rosalind Ayres, produces plays and readings for BBC. They have homes in London and Los Angeles. Martin trained at RADA, where he won the Vanbrugh Award and the Silver Medal. He is an Associate of RADA and in the year 2000 was invested an OBE (Officer of the British Empire) by Her Majesty The Queen. He received a Theatre World Award on Broadway in 2001 for his title role performance in By Jeeves which he also filmed.

His West End, National, Almeida and Donmar theatre appearances include works by Ayckbourn, Frayn, Pinter, Maugham, Shaw and Wilde. He played Jack Worthing opposite Judi Denchs Lady Bracknell at the National Theatre in the 1980s directed by Sir Peter Hall, and premiered Harold Pinters Other Places in the Nationals Cottesloe Theatre. Pinter directed Martin in the leading role of Hector in Giraudouxs The Trojan War Will Not Take Place. Martin met Sir Alan Ayckbourn at the National and subsequently went on to star in Ayckbourns: Woman in Mind, Henceforward, Just Between Ourselves and By Jeeves.

Screen credits include leading roles in the British/Australian mini-series Bootleg, Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Lorna Doone, Michael Frayns Make and Break, Ike - The War Years (with Robert Duvall) and The Bunker (with Anthony Hopkins.) He was Linus in Richard Eyres film of Absence of War written by David Hare.