He was born in
Saint Petersburg in the family of Swedish and Russian descent. His parents adored theater and took their son to many performances. As a schoolboy, Sergey played in a theatrical studio. After one year of education in the
Technological institute, he decided to become a professional actor. At the entrance exams he read
Boris Godunov's monologue from
Pushkin's play. The exam board roared with laughter, but refused to accept him. He later joined the theatrical institute from a second attempt. Martinson worked in several theaters. In 1924–1941 he played in the
Theatre of the Revolution. In 1925–1926, 1929–1933, 1937–1938 he was the leading actor of
Vsevolod Meyerhold's theatre. He was cast by Meyerhold in the plays
The Government Inspector,
Mandate and others. From 1933 to 1936 he worked in the
music hall. He married his first wife, Yekaterina Ilyinichna Ilyina (born in Saint Petersburg, 1900; died in New York, 1985), an actress, in 1927, whom he met during his acting studies; their daughter, Anna, later a successful artist and costume designer, was born in 1928 (died in New York, 2012), she married the Russian conductor and violist
Rudolf Barshai (1924–2010). Although they had never officially divorced, he married his second wife, dancer Lola Dobrokhotova, who was later exiled by the government for alleged connections to "foreign elements" and died in exile; they had a son, Aleksandr (1939–2003). His third wife, Luisa (born: Ukraine, 1929, died: 2018, USA) was a woman 30 years junior to Martinson. They had a daughter, Natasha (born 1956) and divorced several years later. ==Filmography==