Martin Andrew was born in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. He began his career by formally training at the West Suffolk Music and Drama Centre in 1972, where he was taught the violin as well as the fundamentals of acting. This, combined with a 3-year training period at the Royal School of Church Music in the UK, would provide the early foundation for a long career in the world of entertainment. Having spent several years playing violin in the town Orchestra, he turned his attention to the world of popular music and became the lead singer and Bass guitarist for the British Heavy Metal Band "Heretic" in 1981. Following the moderate success, a record released in the mid-80s and countless tours throughout the UK and Europe, he then traveled across the Atlantic to Canada. A solo career began in 1989 with the recording and subsequent release of the 4-track EP "Night after Night", which was retired undefeated on the Ontario radio station "CKSL's" "Battle of the Bands." Martin embarked on many tours across Canada in the early 90's before settling in Edmonton, Alberta, where his focus changed to Theater. He performed at Jubilation's and Celebrations Dinner Theatre in two successful shows. "WKLP Rock n Roll Radio" and "Magnum PUI". Following his 2 years with the company, he was signed up to perform at the Mayfield Dinner Theatre as part of "The British Are Coming Again" musical. Martin worked as an Extra on a variety of television shows, including the Disney Channel's "Mentors", before being approached to impersonate a living legend. An offer to perform as a "Rod Stewart" Tribute artist took Martin to the Las Vegas Strip in 2004. He has performed to audiences at many of the strip casinos as well as other venues throughout the USA and around the world. Due to his high-profile success in Las Vegas, he was approached by a company in the UK to participate in a documentary, focusing on the day in the life of a Las Vegas Impersonator. He also entered into the film world and worked on the sets of a variety of movies, including White Coats, Domino, Oceans 13 and Middle Men before landing a principal role alongside Mick Jagger, Paris Hilton, Ringo Starr and Elton John in "Platinum Weird", which is a musical collaboration formed between Dave Stewart and Kara DioGuardi. It is also the subject of an elaborate hoax placing the band in 1974, including a half-hour mockumentary produced for the television network VH1. In 2010, Martin sang the British national anthem at the Mandalay Bay Events Centre in Las Vegas for the world championship boxing match between Khan and Maidana on HBO. Soon after this, he was approached by the British National Theatre of America to perform the principal role of "Paul" in Matt Charman's black comedy "A Night at the Dogs". Martin continued working in the entertainment industry throughout the USA until in 2013 he was offered a leading role in the Kevin Matlo psychological thriller "Forbidden Playground" which was filmed in Canada. He then went on to play the lawyer "Mr Cogburn" for 3 episodes in the critically acclaimed Canadian television series "Blackstone from 2014 - 2015. In 2016, Martin teamed up with Canadian Tribute artist "Samira" to perform a show called "Reunited" which featured the music of Rod Stewart and Tina Turner. This show was performed throughout the USA, Mexico and the Dominican Republic until early 2020. Martin continues working in the entertainment world as an actor and recording artist and has to date released 6 solo works of his music, which are available on all digital formats. Martin is the host of the Fox hit TV reality show Joe Millionaire for Richer or Poorer. His autobiography " The Road to the Manor" will be available on all digital outlets as well as a paperback edition on September 9th 2024.
