Martin Kemp

Martin John Kemp (born 10 October 1961) is an English actor, musician, and occasional television presenter, best known as the bassist in the New Wave band Spandau Ballet, as well as for his portrayal as Steve Owen from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. He is the brother of Gary Kemp, who was also a member of Spandau Ballet and has also had an acting career. He also finished third in the summer series of Celebrity Big Brother 2012.

Early lifeMartin Kemp was born in his parents’ house in Islington, London, and attended Rotherfield Junior School. At the age of 7 he began to attend the Anna Scher Children’s Theatre drama club with his brother, Gary, and appeared in many TV shows, including Jackanory, The Tomorrow People, and Dixon of Dock Green. In his last year with Anna Scher he won a role in The Glittering Prizes, appearing alongside Tom Conti and Nigel Havers. After leaving Central Foundation Boys' School at 16, he began an apprenticeship in a print factory, but soon began to feel disenchanted.

Spandau Ballet:

Kemp’s life changed when Steve Dagger, the manager of his brother Gary’s band The Gentry, suggested he should replace the band’s bass player. He learned to play bass in three months and performed for the first time with The Gentry at a college party. Eventually the band was renamed “Spandau Ballet” and Kemp left his printing job to concentrate on the band full-time. Spandau Ballet went on to have a great deal of success in the New Romantic Era, with four of their albums reaching the UK album chart top ten. True also gave the band their first UK number one album and single with the album’s “title track”. Kemp also performed with the band on the popular 1984 famine relief project song "Do They Know It's Christmas", written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure.

In early 2009, newspaper reports claimed that Spandau Ballet was set to re-form later that year, and this was confirmed by the band at a press conference held on board HMS Belfast on 25 March 2009. The band also announced a world tour, beginning with dates in the UK and Ireland in October 2009.

Later career:

Kemp and his brother Gary returned to acting in 1990, both of them appearing in the British film The Krays in which they played the notorious gangster twins, Ronald and Reginald Kray. Their performances received a great deal of critical acclaim. Since The Krays, Martin Kemp has been in the public eye more than his brother. He moved to Los Angeles in the early 1990s and made appearances in television series such as The Outer Limits and Highlander: The Series. He also appeared in several Hollywood films such as Waxwork II: Lost in Time (1992) and Embrace of the Vampire (1994).

In 1995, he moved back to the United Kingdom and took a break from acting for a short while after recovering from two benign brain tumours. He then resumed his acting career in 1998 when he made guest appearance in the ITV police drama series The Bill. He went on to become popular for his role as villain Steve Owen in the BBC's top soap opera, EastEnders from December 1998. His character was involved in some of the soap's highest rated storylines such as the Saskia Duncan murder and "Who Shot Phil?". By the time he left the series in 2002, he was one of the best-known faces on British television. Kemp won three TV Quick Awards for Best Soap Actor (2000, 2001, 2002), a National Television Award for Most Popular Actor (2000) and five British Soap Awards (Villain of the Year in 2000, Best Actor in 2001 and 2002, Sexiest Male in 2001 and 2002) for his work on EastEnders. In July 2001, he announced that he would leave EastEnders when his contract expired in April 2002.

He then switched over to ITV from 2002 to 2004, where he starred in several television dramas such as The Brides in the Bath, in which he played real-life murderer, George Smith, and Can't Buy Me Love opposite fellow EastEnders star Michelle Collins, which was based on a true story about a man who conned his wife and friends into believing he had won the lottery. From 2004-2007 Martin was also the face of furniture chain ScS.

He starred in a low-budget British film titled Back in Business which had a very limited release in few theatres in February 2007 and one month later was released on DVD.

He has also founded his own production company and in March 2008 directed a low-budget 20-minute short film entitled Karma Magnet, which starred his brother, Gary, and also featured Kemp's son, Roman, and wife, Shirlie. This was released on the internet only.

He appeared on a celebrity special of Who Wants to Be A Millionaire in January 2008 with his brother, Gary, in order to raise awareness of and funds for the Encephalitis Society. Along with his son, he also featured in one edition of a factual television series f