Martin Shaw (born 21 January 1945) is an English actor. He came to national recognition as Doyle in
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
crime-action television drama series ''
The Professionals
A professional is someone who is skilled in a profession.
Professional or professionals may also refer to:
* Professional sports
Music
*The Professionals (band), a British punk rock band formed in 1979
* ''The Professionals'' (The Professionals ...
'' (1977–1983). Further notable television parts include the title roles in ''
The Chief'' (1993–1995), ''
Judge John Deed
''Judge John Deed'' is a British legal drama television series produced by the BBC in association with One-Eyed Dog for BBC One. It was created by G.F. Newman and stars Martin Shaw as Mr Justice Deed, a High Court of Justice, High Court judge wh ...
'' (2001–2007) and ''
Inspector George Gently
''Inspector George Gently'' (also known as ''George Gently'' for the pilot and first series) is a 2008 British television crime drama series produced by Company Pictures for BBC One, set in the 1960s and loosely based on some of the Inspector G ...
'' (2007–2017). He has also acted on stage and in film, and has narrated numerous audiobooks and presented various television series.
Early life
Shaw was born in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
. His childhood was spent in Alleyne Grove in
Erdington
Erdington is a suburb and ward of Birmingham in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Warwickshire and located northeast of central Birmingham, bordering Sutton Coldfield. It was also a council constituency, managed by its o ...
and
Sutton Coldfield
Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, known locally as Sutton ( ), is a town and civil parish in the City of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south ...
.
Shaw attended
Great Barr School
Fortis Academy is a Mixed-sex education, co-educational secondary school and sixth form located in the Great Barr, Birmingham, Great Barr area of Birmingham, England.
History
The school was officially opened by D. Rogers on 24 September 1957 a ...
, where he excelled in
English literature
English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...
and drama lessons.
At sixteen, he was offered a scholarship to a Birmingham drama school but declined.
In his youth, Shaw was involved in a drunken brawl with a friend, suffering broken teeth, injuries to his face and a fractured skull, and needed cheekbone surgery.
At age eighteen, Shaw moved to London to attend the
London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) is a drama school located in Hammersmith, London. It is the oldest specialist drama school in the British Isles and a founding member of the Federation of Drama Schools.
LAMDA's Principal is ...
.
He served his apprenticeship in
repertory
A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation.
United Kingdom
Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawing ...
as an
assistant stage manager
Stage management is a broad field that is generally defined as the practice of organization and coordination of an event or theatrical production. Stage management may encompass a variety of activities including the overseeing of the rehearsal p ...
at the
Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch
The Queen's Theatre is a 507-seat mid-scale producing theatre located in Hornchurch in the London Borough of Havering, east London.
History
Hornchurch Urban District Council purchased a derelict cinema on Station Lane (the site of the present R ...
and the
Bristol Old Vic
Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a fin ...
.
Stage
Shaw took key roles in the first revival of ''
Look Back in Anger
''Look Back in Anger'' (1956) is a realist play written by John Osborne. It focuses on the life and marital struggles of an intelligent and educated but disaffected young man of working-class origin, Jimmy Porter, and his equally competent yet i ...
'' (Royal Court/Criterion, 1968); in the
National Theatre's ''Saturday, Sunday, Monday'' opposite
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the Theatre of the U ...
(1973); and in ''
A Streetcar Named Desire
''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of person ...
'' presented by the
Piccadilly Theatre
The Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at 16 Denman Street, behind Piccadilly Circus and adjacent to the Regent Palace Hotel, in the City of Westminster, London, England.
Early years
Built by Bertie Crewe and Edward A. Stone ...
in 1974. He later acknowledged the role of
Stanley Kowalski
Stanley Kowalski is a fictional character in Tennessee Williams' play ''A Streetcar Named Desire''.
In the play
Stanley lives in the working-class Faubourg Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans with his wife, Stella ( DuBois), and is employed a ...
in 'Streetcar' as a point of breakthrough in his career.
In 1985, Shaw played
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
in
Alan Bleasdale
Alan George Bleasdale (born 23 March 1946) is an English screenwriter, best known for social realist drama serials based on the lives of ordinary people. A former teacher, he has written for radio, stage and screen, and has also written novels. ...
's critically acclaimed ''Are You Lonesome Tonight?''. It told the story of Presley's last few hours. After a long run in London, the production visited
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
,
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
and
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
in Australia.
Shaw's portrayal of Lord Goring in ''
An Ideal Husband
''An Ideal Husband'' is a four-act play by Oscar Wilde that revolves around blackmail and political corruption, and touches on the themes of public and private honour. It was first produced at the Haymarket Theatre, London in 1895 and ran for ...
'' on Broadway earned him a
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...
nomination and a Drama Desk award.
After filming finished on the TV series ''
Judge John Deed
''Judge John Deed'' is a British legal drama television series produced by the BBC in association with One-Eyed Dog for BBC One. It was created by G.F. Newman and stars Martin Shaw as Mr Justice Deed, a High Court of Justice, High Court judge wh ...
'', Shaw took the role of
Thomas More
Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII as Lord ...
in
Robert Bolt
Robert Oxton Bolt (15 August 1924 – 20 February 1995) was an English playwright and a two-time Oscar-winning screenwriter, known for writing the screenplays for ''Lawrence of Arabia'', ''Doctor Zhivago'', and '' A Man for All Seasons'', ...
's play ''
A Man for All Seasons''. Shaw's daughter, Sophie, played opposite him as More's daughter, Margaret. The production toured Britain's cities before a run in London at the
Theatre Royal Haymarket
The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre on Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foot ...
.
In 2013. in a new production of the classic play ''
Twelve Angry Men
''Twelve Angry Men'' is an American courtroom drama written by Reginald Rose concerning the jury of a homicide trial. It was broadcast initially as a television play in 1954. The following year it was adapted for the stage. It was adapted for a 1 ...
'' at the
Garrick Theatre
The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, named after the stage actor David Garrick. It opened in 1889 with ''The Profligate'', a play by Arthur Wing Pinero, and another Pinero play ...
London, Shaw played the part of the dissenting juror (identified as juror number 8).
In 2016 Shaw toured and hit the West End again with a lively production of
Hobson's Choice
A Hobson's choice is a free choice in which only one thing is actually offered. The term is often used to describe an illusion that multiple choices are available. The most well known Hobson's choice is "I'll give you a choice: take it or leave ...
at the
Vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
. After completing filming the final episode of
George Gently
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd President ...
, Shaw again toured in 2017 with the U.K. premier of
Gore Vidal's 1960 political piece:
The Best Man. Shaw played the part of William Russell, former US Secretary of State.
Television
Shaw began television work in 1967.
Parts in one-off plays for
Granada Television
ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...
led to his playing hippy student Robert Croft, Lucile Hewitt's boyfriend, in ''
Coronation Street
''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford.
Origi ...
''.
Another early role was booze and football-loving Welsh medical student Huw Evans in the television comedy series ''
Doctor in the House
''Doctor in the House'' is a 1954 British comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas and produced by Betty Box. The screenplay, by Nicholas Phipps, Richard Gordon and Ronald Wilkinson, is based on the 1952 novel by Gordon, and follows a group of st ...
''. He later guest-starred, playing the same role, in the follow-up series ''
Doctor at Large'', now a nervous expectant father in the episode "Mother and Father Doing Well".
Shaw appeared with future co-star
Lewis Collins
Lewis Collins (27 May 1946 – 27 November 2013)"Happy Birthday Richard Hastilow, 65", ''The Times'', 26 May 2010 was an English actor, best known for his career-defining role playing 'Bodie' in the late 1970s – early 1980s British television ...
in an episode of ''
The New Avengers''. Both played the roles of terrorists.
Shaw portrayed Ray Doyle ("Agent 4–5") in the British television series ''
The Professionals
A professional is someone who is skilled in a profession.
Professional or professionals may also refer to:
* Professional sports
Music
*The Professionals (band), a British punk rock band formed in 1979
* ''The Professionals'' (The Professionals ...
'' (1977–1983), opposite Collins. Shaw played another law-enforcement role in the 1990s ITV production ''
The Chief''.
In 1983, Shaw played
Robert Falcon Scott
Captain Robert Falcon Scott, , (6 June 1868 – c. 29 March 1912) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the ''Discovery'' expedition of 1901–1904 and the ill-fated ''Terra Nov ...
in ''
The Last Place on Earth
''The Last Place on Earth'' is a 1985 Central Television seven-part serial, written by Trevor Griffiths based on the book ''Scott and Amundsen'' by Roland Huntford. The book is an exploration of the expeditions of Captain Robert F. Scott (playe ...
''. The series was filmed at
Frobisher Bay
Frobisher Bay is an inlet of the Davis Strait in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is located in the southeastern corner of Baffin Island. Its length is about and its width varies from about at its outlet into the Labrador Sea ...
near the city of
Iqaluit
Iqaluit ( ; , ; ) is the capital of the Canadian territory of Nunavut, its largest community, and its only city. It was known as Frobisher Bay from 1942 to 1987, after the large bay on the coast on which the city is situated. In 1987, its t ...
on
Baffin Island
Baffin Island (formerly Baffin Land), in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, is the largest island in Canada and the fifth-largest island in the world. Its area is , slightly larger than Spain; its population was 13,039 as of the 2021 Canadia ...
, Canada. In interview at the time, Shaw commented that he generally responded well to the testing physical conditions, particularly when they enhanced the reality of the scene. In the same year he played Sir Henry Baskerville in ''
The Hound of the Baskervilles
''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' is the third of the four crime novels by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serialised in ''The Strand Magazine'' from August 1901 to April 1902, it is set i ...
'', an adaptation of the novel by
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for '' A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...
. He acted opposite
Ian Richardson
Ian William Richardson (7 April 19349 February 2007) was a Scottish actor.
He portrayed the Machiavellian Tory politician Francis Urquhart in the BBC's '' House of Cards'' (1990–1995) television trilogy. Richardson was also a leading S ...
's
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 ...
and Donald Churchill's
Dr. Watson
John H. Watson, known as Dr. Watson, is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Along with Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson first appeared in the novel ''A Study in Scarlet'' (1887). The last work by Doyle f ...
.
He played
Cecil Rhodes
Cecil John Rhodes (5 July 1853 – 26 March 1902) was a British mining magnate and politician in southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896.
An ardent believer in British imperialism, Rhodes and his Br ...
in ''
Rhodes
Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...
'', an eight-part serial that aired in 1996 and was filmed on location in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. Shaw's younger son,
Joe
Joe or JOE may refer to:
Arts
Film and television
* ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle
* ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage
* ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971
* ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...
, took early leave of his drama school course to play the part of the youthful Rhodes.
Another television acting credit includes the role of Dr Robert Kingston in ''
Always and Everyone
''Always and Everyone'' (later known as ''A&E'') is a British television medical drama, broadcast on ITV, that ran for four series between 7 June 1999 and 22 August 2002. Set in the Accident and Emergency department of Saint Victor's city hospita ...
'' (1999–2002), a British accident and emergency medical series, played alongside
Niamh Cusack
Niamh Cusack ( ; born 20 October 1959) is an Irish actress. Born to a family with deep roots in the performing arts, Cusack has been involved as a performer since a young age. She has served with the UK's two leading theatre companies, the Ro ...
.
In 2001, he took the title role in the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
''.
's ideas about lifestyle choices such as vegetarianism and alternative medicine as well as issues of social justice. One episode about the safety of the MMR vaccine was banned.
Between seasons of ''Judge John Deed'', Shaw took the role of poetic bespectacled forensic detective
'' in 2005. After the sixth season of ''Judge John Deed'' had been filmed, Shaw appeared in the series ''
'', broadcast by the BBC in 2008. This was Shaw's first project as executive director.
, London which was broadcast on BBC 1.
In 2021 he played the role of Dennis Stephenson, leader of a fictitious religious cult called the Barum Brethren, in the
''. The series premiered in autumn 2021, and is based on the
bestselling novel.
Although Shaw is not classified as a film actor he has had several roles over the years. His first film role was an Irish communist in a 1967 television adaptation of the novel, ''
''. Better known is his 1971 role of
''. He has also been seen as an undercover
''; a singing and dancing futuristic magician "Zax" in ''Facelift''; the role of Rachid in the 1973 film ''
'', and a wanted villain leading a life on the run in a circus troupe in ''Ladder of Swords'' (1989).
''. In 2006, Shaw narrated and appeared in a DVD chronicling the "
" project. This featured the return of a Second World War
for the first time in fifty years.
. Shaw fulfilled a lifetime ambition to take the controls of a Spitfire (owned by Maurice Bayliss) and, though take-off was not permitted, he also powered an
. Shaw also compared notes with the nonagenarian builder and developer of the modern
.
...