Martin Kemp Movies and Career Information

Martin John Kemp (born 10 October 1961), brother of Gary Kemp, is an English actor, bassist, occasional television presenter and singer with the New Romantic band Spandau Ballet, and is well known as Steve Owen from the BBC soap opera Eastenders. Martin 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. 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 weeks 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