Biography

Martin Kemp

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Martin Kemp was born on October 10, 1961 in Islington, London, England, UK. He is an actor and director, known for Stalker (2010), EastEnders (1985) and The Krays (1990). He has been married to Shirlie Kemp since November 14, 1988. They have two children.

He played bass in the 1980s pop band Spandau Ballet. His older brother, Gary Kemp, was the guitarist, synthesizer player and songwriter. His other bandmates were Tony Hadley, John Keeble and Steve Norman.
His wife, Shirlie Kemp, was a back-up singer of the band Wham! and was one-half of the duo Pepsi & Shirlie.
He has three kidneys while his brother Gary only has one.
He was introduced to his wife, Shirlie Kemp by singer George Michael. Shirlie had been one of his backing singers and remained a close friend.
He has a metal plate in his head due to a brain tumor that was removed, not due to a motorcycle crash as is believed by some.

Everything was larger than life: the clothes we wore, the shoulder pads, the hairspray. It was all about excess, which is why I think bands from the Eighties never kind of transposed and found their way into the Nineties very well, because the Nineties became very street.
We knew it was the biggest gig that was happening. It's very rare that when you're in the moment you realise how big that moment is but Live Aid (1985) was just an exception to the rule. You knew and you understood how many people were watching it, you knew what it meant to others. Also, you have to remember this was the first time that a festival had happened that was outside of the heavy rock arena because before that it was just the arena for heavy metal. So it was everything, it changed politics, it changed everything and we knew that at the time.
[on EastEnders (1985)] The part I'm taking on here is definitely not just a hard man. He's a very clever character, he's intellectual, he's multi-layered, he's a great chance for me to take on a great part.
[on Tony Hadley's resignation in 2017] What Tony [Tony Hadley] decided to do doesn't just steal special moments and memories from the band. It also steals them from the fans. We all like to see Eighties bands because those performers and those songs trigger memories, so the fact Tony chose to take that away from so many people is sad.

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