Early life Jessica Cecelia Anna Maria Martin was born on 25 August 1962. She graduated with a degree in English and Drama from
Westfield College,
London University and also studied at the
Central School of Speech and Drama. Her first job, in 1983 when she was 21, was as a resident singer at
St James's Hotel and Club. Her father, Placido Martin, was a cocktail pianist there. In 1985, Martin was quoted as saying that she had only started doing impressions in public at the fringe for relaxation after appearing in performances
Women of Troy there. She was then invited to audition for
London Weekend Television's
Copy Cats. Martin and Bremner both quit Central TV in September 1985; Bremner had been offered his own
BBC2 series, while Martin was due to join Davro in shows for
TVS. Bremner and Martin toured UK theatres together in 1987, with a show of impressions. In 1988, Milton Shulman of
The Evening Standard described Martin performing "
The Lady Is a Tramp" in
Babes in Arms at the
Maynardville Open-Air Theatre as "pert and saucy". Martin played the lead role of Dorothy in a touring production of
The Wizard of Oz. She played the Lady of the Lake in the national tour of
Spamalot in 2011, Lottie Ames in
Mack and Mabel, In October 2015, Martin 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. Martin played role of
Dame Shirley Porter in Shirleymander by Greg Evans at the Playground Theatre, London in 2018, for which she was nominated for the Best Female Performance in the Off West End Awards 2018. In the
Daily Telegraph, Ben Lawrence wrote that Martin "best known for her impersonations .. does a terrific impression, but it is hard to reach inside the soul of this Rottweiler in a pussycat bow". She also received an Off West End Awards nomination for Lead Performance in a Musical for portraying Mrs. Blitzstein in
Blitz! at the
Union Theatre, London in 2020.
Audio work Martin appeared on
The Impressionists on
BBC Radio 2 in 1985. She was a voice actor for the
PlayStation 2 game
Dragon Quest VIII, and has also performed as a voice over artist for a range of animations and commercials. Martin has appeared in several
Doctor Who audio dramas from
Big Finish Productions. In 2012, Martin showed her work to established comics artist
Mark Buckingham, who supported and encouraged her.
Elsie Harris Picture Palace, which is set in the 1930s British film industry, was her first full-length graphic novel. It was shortlisted for the
Myriad First Graphic Novel Prize 2014. In 2018, Martin illustrated a
Doctor Who story, "Hill of Beans", that featured her character Mags from the television series.
Life Drawing: A Life Under Lights, a graphic novel memoir about her life as an actress, singer and artist was published by
Unbound in Spring 2019. ==Filmography==