Alexander Martin Clunes, OBE (born 28 November 1961) is a British actor best known for portraying Martin Ellingham in the ITV drama series Doc Martin and Gary Strang in Men Behaving Badly. Clunes has narrated a number of documentaries for ITV, the first of which was Islands of Britain in 2009. He has since presented a number of documentaries centred on animals.

Clunes was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2015 Birthday Honours for services to drama, charity and the community.

Early life

Clunes was educated at the Royal Russell School in Croydon, London and later at the Arts Educational School. He is the son of classical actor Alec Clunes, who died of lung cancer when Clunes was eight years old. He has an older sister Amanda. He is a nephew of the late actor Jeremy Brett.

Career

Clunes served his first role in rep at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester, and his first television appearance came in the 1983 Doctor Who story Snakedance. But a sporadic career led to his supplementing his income as a photo model for Gilbert and George, and he can be seen in their 1983 work World.