Martin John Christopher Freeman (born 8 September 1971) is an English actor. Among other accolades, he has won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

, a

BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...

and a Screen Actors Guild Award, and has been nominated for a

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

. Freeman's most notable roles are that of

Tim Canterbury Timothy Canterbury is a fictional character in the BBC sitcom ''The Office'', portrayed by Martin Freeman. He is a sales representative at the Slough branch of Wernham Hogg Paper Merchants. He has a self-deprecating and ironic sense of humour. ...

in the

mockumentary A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on c ...

series ''

The Office ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original series o ...

'' (2001–2003), Dr. John Watson in the British crime drama series '' Sherlock'' (2010–2017), young

Bilbo Baggins Bilbo Baggins is the title character and protagonist of J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 novel ''The Hobbit'', a supporting character in ''The Lord of the Rings'', and the fictional narrator (along with Frodo Baggins) of many of Tolkien's Middle-eart ...

in ''The Hobbit'' film trilogy (2012–2014), and

Lester Nygaard Lester Nygaard is a fictional character in the first season of the FX television series '' Fargo'' and is portrayed by Martin Freeman, who received critical acclaim for his performance, and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Glo ...

in the first season of the dark comedy-crime drama series ''Fargo'' (2014). He has also appeared in films including the romantic comedy ''

Love Actually ''Love Actually'' is a 2003 Christmas romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. It features an ensemble cast, composed predominantly of British actors, many of whom had worked with Curtis in previous film and television proje ...

'' (2003), the horror comedy ''

Shaun of the Dead ''Shaun of the Dead'' is a 2004 zombie comedy film directed by Edgar Wright and written by Wright and Simon Pegg. Pegg stars as Shaun, a downtrodden salesman in London who is caught in a zombie apocalypse with his friend Ed ( Nick Frost). The ...

'' (2004), the sci-fi comedy ''

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' (sometimes referred to as ''HG2G'', ''HHGTTG'', ''H2G2'', or ''tHGttG'') is a comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally a 1978 radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4, it ...

'' (2005), the action comedy ''

Hot Fuzz ''Hot Fuzz'' is a 2007 action comedy film directed by Edgar Wright and written by Wright and Simon Pegg. Starring Pegg, Nick Frost, Timothy Dalton, and Jim Broadbent, the film centres on two police officers investigating a series of mysteriou ...

'' (2007), the semi-improvised comedy ''

Nativity! ''Nativity!'' is a 2009 British Christmas musical comedy film directed by Debbie Isitt and released on 27 November 2009 and the first instalment in the ''Nativity'' film series. The film stars Martin Freeman and Ashley Jensen. In the film te ...

'' (2009), the sci-fi comedy '' The World's End'' (2013), and as Everett K. Ross in the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...

superhero films '' Captain America: Civil War'' (2016), '' Black Panther'' (2018), and '' Black Panther: Wakanda Forever'' (2022). He will reprise the role in the upcoming

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...

series ''

Secret Invasion "Secret Invasion" is a comic book crossover storyline that ran through a self-titled eight-issue limited series and several tie-in books published by Marvel Comics from April through December 2008. The story involves a subversive, long-term in ...

'' (2023).

Early life

Martin John Christopher Freeman was born on 8 September 1971 in

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, the youngest of five children. His parents, Philomena (née Norris) and naval officer Geoffrey Freeman, separated when he was a child. His father died of a heart attack when Freeman was 10 years old. Freeman's paternal grandfather, Leonard W. Freeman, was a medic in the British Expeditionary Force during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and was killed in action at

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Dunkirk evacuation. Leonard's father, Richard, was born blind and worked as a piano tuner and organist at St Andrew's Church in

West Tarring Tarring, officially West Tarring, is a neighbourhood of Worthing, in the borough of Worthing in West Sussex, England. It lies on the A2031 road north-west of the town centre. It is called "West Tarring", or less commonly "Tarring Peverell", to di ...

before becoming a music teacher in

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east ...

. Freeman was raised in his mother's

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

faith, and attended the

Salesian School A Salesian school is an educational institution run by the Roman Catholic Salesians of Don Bosco, Salesian Congregation of Saint John Bosco (or Don Bosco), and one that uses his methods. Salesian schools are dedicated to young people in an educatio ...

in Chertsey, Surrey, before attending

Brooklands College __NOTOC__ Brooklands College is a further education college in Weybridge and Ashford, England. In August 2007 Brooklands merged with Spelthorne College in Ashford. The Weybridge campus is in the grounds of Hugh F. Locke King's historic mansio ...

in nearby

Weybridge Weybridge () is a town in the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. The settlement is recorded as ''Waigebrugge'' and ''Weibrugge'' in the 7th century and the name derives from a crossing point of the ...

for media studies. His older brother, Tim, became a singer with the group

Frazier Chorus Frazier Chorus were an English pop group from Brighton, England. They were known for their unconventional instrumentation, including synthesizers, trumpets, flutes and clarinets, as well as frontman Tim Freeman's "soft, heavily accented ... t ...

Career

Martin Freeman during filming of Sherlock cropped

Freeman attended the

Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...

and has appeared in at least 18 TV shows, 14 theatre productions, and several radio productions. He is notable for his role as

in ''

'', a role which, he said in 2004, "cast a very long shadow" for him as an actor. He appeared in the sitcom '' Hardware'' (2003–2004). He also appeared in several films, including ''

Ali G Indahouse ''Ali G Indahouse'' is a 2002 British comedy film written by Sacha Baron Cohen and Dan Mazer, directed by Mark Mylod, and starring Baron Cohen as Ali G, the character he originally played on the Channel 4 comedy series '' The 11 O'Clock Show'' ...

'' (2002) and ''

'' (2003). Freeman began to move into more serious dramatic roles on television with his appearance as

Lord Shaftesbury Earl of Shaftesbury is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1672 for Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Baron Ashley, a prominent politician in the Cabal then dominating the policies of King Charles II. He had already succeeded his f ...

in the 2003 BBC historical drama '' Charles II: The Power and The Passion''. He can also be seen making a brief appearance in the first episode of the second series of ''

This Life This may refer to: * ''This'', the singular proximal demonstrative pronoun Places * This, or ''Thinis'', an ancient city in Upper Egypt * This, Ardennes, a commune in France People with the surname * Hervé This, French culinary chemist Arts, e ...

''. Freeman also starred in the BBC television series ''

The Robinsons ''The Robinsons'' is a British comedy television series that debuted on BBC Two on 5 May 2005. The show's central character is a divorced reinsurance actuary, Ed Robinson (played by Martin Freeman), who realises that reinsurance is not his passio ...

'' and had a cameo in Episode 1 of ''

Black Books ''Black Books'' is a British sitcom created by Dylan Moran and Graham Linehan, and written by Moran, Kevin Cecil, Andy Riley, Linehan and Arthur Mathews. It was broadcast on Channel 4, running for three series from 2000 to 2004. Starring Mo ...

''. In 2007, he appeared in ''

The All Together ''The All Together'' is a 2007 comedy film written and directed by Gavin Claxton and starring Martin Freeman, Corey Johnson, Velibor Topic and Danny Dyer. Plot Frustrated TV producer Chris is a self-opinionated wannabe screenwriter (with a p ...

'' written and directed by

Gavin Claxton Gavin Claxton (born 19 July 1966, in Derby, England) is a British film producer, producer, screenwriter and film director, director of the feature film comedy The All Together starring Martin Freeman and Danny Dyer. He is also producer, co-writer ...

, as well as the Bill Kenwright theatre production of ''The Last Laugh''. Freeman is featured in the video for

Faith No More Faith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1979. Before settling on the current name in July 1983, the band performed under the names Sharp Young Men and later Faith No Man. Bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist/r ...

's cover of "

I Started a Joke "I Started a Joke" is a song by the Bee Gees from their 1968 album ''Idea'', which was released as a single in December of that year. It was not released as a single in the United Kingdom, where buyers who could not afford the album had to co ...

". In May 2009, he starred in '' Boy Meets Girl'', a four-part drama that charts the progress of characters Veronica and Danny after an accident which causes them to swap bodies. Freeman played Dr. John Watson in '' Sherlock'', the BBC contemporary adaptation of the

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

detective stories. The first episode of ''Sherlock'', "

A Study in Pink "A Study in Pink" is the first episode of the television series '' Sherlock'' and first broadcast on BBC One and BBC HD on 25 July 2010. It introduces the main characters and resolves a murder mystery. It is loosely based upon the first Sherlock ...

", was broadcast on 25 July 2010 to critical acclaim. For his performance in the role, he won the 2011

BAFTA award for Best Supporting Actor Best Actor in a Supporting Role is a British Academy Film Award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding supporting performance in a film. Actors of all n ...

and the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. Before 1975, supporting actors featured in a miniseries or movie were included in categories such as co ...

. Freeman played

, the main character, in the three-part

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...

's ''The Hobbit'' film series. Accolades that his performance in the first part, '' The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey'', garnered him include Best Hero at the 2013 MTV Movie AwardsCalautti, Katie (15 April 2013)
"Bilbo Baggins Beats Snow White For Best Hero At MTV Movie Awards"

MTV Movie Awards The MTV Movie & TV Awards (formerly the MTV Movie Awards) is a film and television awards show presented annually on MTV. The first MTV Movie Awards were presented in 1992. The ceremony was renamed the MTV Movie & TV Awards for its 26th editi ...

. and Best Actor at the

18th Empire Awards The 18th Empire Awards ceremony (officially known as the Jameson Empire Awards), presented by the British film magazine ''Empire'', honored the best films of 2012 and took place on 24 March 2013 at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, England. ...

.Szalai, Georg (25 March 2013)
Sam Mendes Win Empire Awards in U.K. for 'Skyfall'
''The Hollywood Reporter''. Freeman appeared in all three films of

Simon Pegg Simon John Pegg (né Beckingham; born 14 February 1970) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. He came to prominence in the UK as the co-creator of the Channel 4 sitcom ''Spaced'' (1999–2001), directed by Edgar Wright. H ...

and

Edgar Wright Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English filmmaker. He is known for his fast-paced and kinetic, satirical genre films, which feature extensive utilisation of expressive popular music, Steadicam tracking shots, dolly zooms and a ...

's comedic ''

Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy The ''Three Flavours Cornetto'' trilogy (also sometimes referred to as the ''Cornetto'' trilogy or the ''Blood and Ice Cream'' trilogy) is an anthology series of British comedic genre films directed by Edgar Wright, written by Wright and Simo ...

'', commencing with a brief non-speaking role in ''

'' as Yvonne's boyfriend, Declan, followed by a brief cameo in ''

'' as a police officer. He was a main cast member in the 2013 finale to the trilogy, '' The World's End''. On 5 October 2013, he was presented with a fellowship bearing his name by the members of University College Dublin's Literary & Historical Society. In April 2014, he played insurance salesman

in the

dark comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

series '' Fargo''. For his performance in this series, he was nominated for a

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

, a

, and a

Critics' Choice Television Award The Critics' Choice Television Awards are accolades that are presented annually by the Critics Choice Association (CCA). They were established in 2011, and the first ceremony was held on June 20, 2011, and streamed live on VH1.com. The fourt ...

. He opened in the title role in

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

’s play ''

Richard III Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...

'' in July 2014 at

Trafalgar Studios Trafalgar Theatre is a new West End theatre in Whitehall, near Trafalgar Square, in the City of Westminster, London. It is set to open in spring 2021 following a major multi-million pound restoration project aiming to reinstate it back to its ...

. In 2015, Freeman starred as producer Milton Fruchtman in the television film ''

The Eichmann Show ''The Eichmann Show'' is a 2015 British BBC TV drama film produced by Laurence Bowen and Ken Marshall and directed by Paul Andrew Williams. It is based on the true story of how American TV producer Milton Fruchtman and blacklisted TV directo ...

'', based on blacklisted TV director

Leo Hurwitz Leo Hurwitz (June 23, 1909 – January 18, 1991) was an American documentary filmmaker. Among the films he directed were '' Native Land'' (1942) and ''Verdict for Tomorrow'' (1961), the Emmy Award- and Peabody Award-winning film of the Eichman ...

's filming of the 1961 trial of Nazi war criminal

Adolf Eichmann Otto Adolf Eichmann ( ,"Eichmann"
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' described the film as "absolutely enthralling". He also played Everett K. Ross, a

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

agent in '' Captain America: Civil War'', which was released in May 2016. In 2017, Freeman starred in ''

Cargo Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including trans ...

'', which premiered at the Adelaide Film Festival on 6 August 2017. The film is a feature-length remake of a 2013 short film of the same name. Later in the year he appeared opposite

Tamsin Greig Tamsin Margaret Mary Greig (; born 12 July 1966) is an English actress, narrator and comedian. She played Fran Katzenjammer in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Black Books'', Dr Caroline Todd in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Green Wing'', Beverly Lincoln in Br ...

in ''

Labour of Love ''Labour of Love'' is the fourth studio album by British reggae band UB40, and their first album of cover versions. Released in the UK on 12 September 1983, the album is best known for containing the song " Red Red Wine", a worldwide number-one ...

'', a political comedy by James Graham, at the

Noël Coward Theatre The Noël Coward Theatre, formerly known as the Albery Theatre, is a West End theatre in St. Martin's Lane in the City of Westminster, London. It opened on 12 March 1903 as the New Theatre and was built by Sir Charles Wyndham behind Wyndham's ...

. ''Labour of Love'' charts both the evolution of the UK Labour Party in recent decades and its presence in a tight-knit Nottinghamshire community. Freeman portrays fictional Labour MP David Lyons, whose modernising ideas pit him against the traditional left-wing constituency agent Jean Whittaker (Greig). In 2018, he reprised his role as Everett K. Ross in '' Black Panther'', which was set around two weeks after the event in ''Captain America: Civil War'', making it his second appearance in

. Between May 2017 and July 2019, Freeman starred in numerous adverts for

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public limited company, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunications company. Its registered office and Headquarters, global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It ...

. In June 2018, Freeman was part of ''To Provide All People'', a BBC Wales drama celebrating 70 years of the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

. Since March 2020, Freeman has starred in the FX/

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

comedy series ''

Breeders A breeder is a person who selectively breeds carefully selected mates, normally of the same breed to sexually reproduce offspring with specific, consistently replicable qualities and characteristics. This might be as a farmer, agriculturalist, ...

''. Freeman also serves as creator and an executive producer for the series. On 18 May 2020 FX and Sky One renewed ''Breeders'' for a second season.

Charity work

In 2011, Freeman umpired a charity cricket match to raise money for victims of the

Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...

Personal life

Freeman resides in the

Belsize Park Belsize Park is an affluent residential area of Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden (the inner north-west of London), England. The residential streets are lined with mews houses and Georgian and Victorian villas. Some nearby localities ar ...

area of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He previously lived in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, with actress

Amanda Abbington Amanda Abbington (born Amanda Jane Smith; 28 February 1974) is an English actress. She is best known for playing Miss Mardle in ''Mr Selfridge'' and Mary Watson in '' Sherlock'', the BBC adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stor ...

. They were together from 2000 to 2016, and have a son named Joe and a daughter named Grace. They appeared together in productions such as ''Sherlock'', ''Swinging with the Finkels'', ''The Debt'', ''The Robinsons'', and ''The All Together''. On 22 December 2016, it was reported that Freeman and Abbington had separated. He is a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism m ...

and is no longer a practicing

. He is a close friend of actor

, who is the godfather of his son. Freeman's personal style follows that of British

mod subculture Mod, from the word modernist, is a subculture that began in London and spread throughout Great Britain and elsewhere, eventually influencing fashions and trends in other countries, and continues today on a smaller scale. Focused on music and f ...

, and he cites

Paul Weller Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/ new wave/mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul mu ...

as one of his heroes and influences on his style. He is a fan of

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

, and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

music, and presented an episode of

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

's ''

The Culture Show ''The Culture Show'' is a British magazine programme about books, art, film, architecture, music, visual fashion and the performing arts. The show was broadcast weekly on BBC Two between 2004 and 2015. Early history Launched in November 2004, t ...

'' in 2009 titled "Martin Freeman Goes to Motown". He also selected music for a 2006 Motown compilation titled ''Made to Measure'', and worked on a jazz compilation with his friend

Eddie Piller Eddie Piller is a British DJ, radio show host, and founder/managing director of Acid Jazz Records. Early life and career Piller was born in 1962 and grew up in Essex. His father ran a firm of bookmakers and his mother ran the Small Faces' fa ...

titled ''Jazz on the Corner'', which was released on

Acid Jazz Records Acid Jazz Records is a record label based in East London formed by Gilles Peterson and Eddie Piller in 1987. The label is the namesake of the acid-jazz subgenre of jazz music for which it is most famously known for producing. Background The ...

on 23 March 2018 and featured tracks by

Kamasi Washington Kamasi Washington (born February 18, 1981) is an American jazz saxophonist, usually playing tenor saxophone. Archived July 9, 2015. Career Washington was born in 1981 and raised in Los Angeles, California. He is a graduate of the Academy of ...

and

The Brand New Heavies The Brand New Heavies is an acid jazz and funk group formed in 1985 in Ealing in west London. Centered around songwriters/multi-instrumentalists Simon Bartholomew and Andrew Levy, the core members of the group since its founding, Brand New He ...

. The pair presented

Craig Charles Craig Joseph Charles (born 11 July 1964) is an English actor, comedian, television and radio presenter. He is best known for his roles as Dave Lister in the science fiction sitcom ''Red Dwarf'' and Lloyd Mullaney in the soap opera ''Coronation ...

' ''Funk and Soul Show'' on 31 March 2018. In 2019, a follow-up album titled ''Soul on the Corner'' was announced, featuring tracks by

Leroy Hutson Leroy Hutson (born June 4, 1945) is an American soul and R&B singer, songwriter, arranger, producer and instrumentalist, best known as former lead singer of R&B vocal group The Impressions. His music concerns '70s soul, as noted in the June 2 ...

and

Bobby Womack Robert Dwayne Womack (; March 4, 1944 – June 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Starting in the early 1950s as the lead singer of his family musical group the Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guit ...

. Freeman's brother, singer-songwriter Jamie Freeman, died of brain cancer in December 2022.

Politics

Freeman is a supporter of the Labour Party. As a teenager, he supported the now-defunct political group Militant and volunteered with the

Labour Party Young Socialists The Labour Party Young Socialists (LPYS) was the youth section of the Labour Party in Britain from 1965 until 1991. In the 1980s, it had around 600 branches, 2,000 delegates at its national conferences and published a monthly newspaper, ''Socia ...

. In 2015, he appeared in a party political broadcast to endorse the Labour Party ahead of the 2015 UK general election. In August 2015, Freeman was a supporter of

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...

campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * Bl ...

in the Labour Party leadership election.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Freeman, Martin 1971 births 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors Living people Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama Best Supporting Actor BAFTA Award (television) winners Emmy Award winners Primetime Emmy Award winners Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie Primetime Emmy Award winners British male comedy actors English male film actors English male television actors English male voice actors English Roman Catholics English socialists Male actors from Hampshire Actors from Aldershot Labour Party (UK) people