- Matthew Marsden
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Matthew Marsden Born 3 March 1973
Sandwell, England, UKOccupation Actor/Singer Years active 1993–present Spouse Nadine Marsden; 3 children Matthew Marsden (born 3 March 1973) is an English actor and singer. In the United Kingdom he is widely remembered for playing the character Chris Collins in the popular soap opera, Coronation Street. However, he is best known in the USA as a film actor. He has played the roles of Paris in Helen of Troy, Dr. Jack Byron in Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid, Bill Natolly in Tamara, Captain Alexander Slater in Resident Evil: Extinction and a mercenary sniper nicknamed "Schoolboy" in Rambo (2008). He also appeared in the blockbuster Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen as Captain Graham, leader of the UK Special Forces and James Taggart in the motion picture adaptation of Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged.
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Early life
Marsden was born in Sandwell Hospital and raised on the Yew Tree Estate, Walsall.[1] His father walked out on him and his family when he was ten years old, and subsequently remarried.[2] Marsden and his older sister, Leanne, were brought up by their mother, Ann.[3][4] He was a drummer in a marching jazz band called The Brookland Cascaders; the band (known for their Rock and Roll style) were based near Marsden's home in Yew Tree Estate. Marsden was a pupil of Manor High School, Wednesbury, before leaving to go to Dartmouth High School in Great Barr.[3] After leaving school he took up acting and joined the National Youth Theatre. Marsden then enrolled at university where he studied music and drama and took a number of other extra-cirricular activities.
Whilst at university, Marsden worked on his uncle's market stall selling shoes at Birmingham Market. He then found work as a model in London with "Models 1", Paris with "Men of Karin" and Milan with "Beatrice" and featured in commercials for products such as Jacobs Coffee, Punica, Vimto and Impulse body spray.[5] Marsden has since commented "I was at college in London and when you're a struggling student it doesn't take a genius to work out that it's easier to model for a few hours each week and earn thousands of pounds than work in a bar for a pittance. But I hated doing it really."[5] After nearly two years of modelling he decided to get an agent, and found work as an actor.[5]
Career
His acting break came in 1995 when he joined the cast of the ITV soap opera, Emmerdale, playing the upper-crust Daniel Weir, lover of Linda Glover. He remained in the role for three months before the character was written out.[5] He went on to play the role of surfer Philip Kennedy in Island—a Jersey-based ITV mini series.[5] Marsden also dressed in drag when he appeared in the Jeannot Szwarc French film Les Soeurs Soleil (The Sun Sisters).[6] opposite Jean Reno, Christian Clavier and Thierry Lhermitte.
On 3 March 1997, he joined the cast of Coronation Street as mechanic Chris Collins and he remained with the series until 29 March 1998. Marsden quickly became one of the soap's top pin-ups and during this time he was besieged by fan mail and was also voted Best Newcomer at the National Television Awards. Following his departure from Coronation Street, Marsden decided on a change of direction and a fleeting career as a pop star followed.[7] He signed a £500,000 record deal with Columbia Records and released his debut single in July 1998 called The Hearts Lone Desire, which reached number 13 in the UK singles chart.[8] He followed with a second single, She's Gone (a cover of Daryl Hall's soul classic) with his label-mates Destiny's Child providing backing-vocals, which reached number 24 in the UK singles chart.[8] A third single and an album were also recorded, however Marsden's career as a singer stalled when he parted company with his record label.
He returned to acting, portraying Paris in the USA networks mini-series Helen of Troy; Army Ranger Dale Sizemore in Ridley Scott's blockbuster film Black Hawk Down and he also starred opposite Michael Caine in John Irvin's feature Shiner for Miramax Films. He went on to star in Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid (the sequel to Anaconda).
He also starred in Tamara, a supernatural thriller by Final Destination screenwriter Jeffrey Reddick. He made appearances in the films DOA: Dead or Alive and Resident Evil Extinction. He co-starred with Sylvester Stallone in Rambo (2008), and with Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
Recently Marsden won the "Best Actor" award at the Doorpost Film festival for his performance in the short film "Eyes to See" opposite Garcelle Beauvais.
Personal life
Marsden lives in Los Angeles with his wife Nadine Micallef, a former ballerina from Malta, whom he married in 2005.[9][10] He is father to four children, a son (from a pre-marital relationship) and three children with his wife Nadine.[3][4][10]
Marsden trained with United States Army Rangers prior to filming his role in Black Hawk Down. In 2008, he teamed up again with the technical adviser on that movie, former United States Navy SEAL and Silver Star recipient Harry Humphries on the set of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. He is an active supporter of the troops and has parachuted with the world famous United States Army Parachute Team.
He is a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, a PADI divemaster, and an avid fan of West Bromwich Albion.[11][12]
Religion
Marsden was born to a family of Irish descent and is a practising Roman Catholic. He appeared in Rosary Stars Praying the Gospel (2009), alongside Ali Landry, Jeff Suppan and others.[13][14]
Music
Albums
Year Information UK Album Chart Position 1999 Say Who - Unreleased
Additional information Track listing:
- "The Heart's Lone Desire" (Metropolitan Mix) – 4:19
- "Say Who" – 4:36
- "Walk My Way" – 4:39
- "She's Gone" (featuring Destiny's Child) 4:18
- "Fragile Heart" – 4:30
- "Talk To Me" – 4:32
- "Didn't We Say" – 4:20
- "I Still Live For You" – 3:54
- "Love's In Need Of Love Today" – 4:42
- "Be My Baby Tonight" – 3:38
- "The Writing's On The Wall" – 3:47
- "Lost For Words" – 3:21
— Singles
Year Single UK Singles Chart Position Album 1998 "The Hearts Lone Desire" #13 Say Who "She's Gone"
(featuring Destiny's Child)#24 1999 "Walk My Way" — Filmography
Films
Year Film Role Notes 1993 The Young Americans Mayfair Party Uncredited 1996 Les Soeurs Soleil Lawrence 2000 Shiner Eddie "Golden Boy" Simpson 2001 Black Hawk Down Specialist Dale Sizemore 2004 Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid Dr. Jack Byron 2005 Tamara Bill Natolly 2006 DOA: Dead or Alive Maximillian Marsh USA Release: 2007 2007 Resident Evil Extinction Captain Alexander Slater 2008 Rambo Schoolboy 2009 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Captain Graham 2010 Eyes to See Ray Short film 2011 Atlas Shrugged: Part I James Taggart TV
Year Show Role Notes 1995 Emmerdale Daniel Weir Series regular 1996 Island Philip Kennedy Series regular 1997–1998 Coronation Street Chris Collins Series regular 2000 North Square Stuart Pound 2 episodes 2002 Demontown Marc Tyler Unaired pilot The Legacy Sam Maddux Unaired pilot 2003 Helen of Troy Paris 2 part mini-series 2004 CSI: Miami Morgan Coleman 1 episode: Addiction 2006 Emily's Reasons Why Not Vincent 1 episode: Why Not to Date a Twin 2007 NCIS Lt. Roy Sanders 1 episode: Dead Man Walking Ghost Whisperer Sgt. Matt Murphy 1 episode: Haunted Hero 2010 Madso's War Mike "Madso" Madden Unaired pilot 2011 Nikita Voss 1 episode: The Next Seduction References
- ^ "First Blood to Matthew in Rambo blockbuster". .expressandstar.com. http://www.expressandstar.com/2008/02/24/first-blood-to-matthew-in-rambo-blockbuster. Retrieved 2008-11-02.
- ^ "Childhood anguish of Corrie star". The People. 1999. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-77783254.html. Retrieved 2007-10-02.
- ^ a b c Gurdip Thandi. "Marsden's ready to roll with Rambo". Birmingham Mail. http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/mail/news/tm_method=full%26objectid=19339341%26siteid=50002-name_page.html. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
- ^ a b "Hollywood here I come". Birmingham Mail. http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/tm_method=full%26objectid=11759404%26siteid=50002-name_page.html. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
- ^ a b c d e Hyland, Ian (1997-03-30). "New kid on The Street". Sunday Mirror. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_19970330/ai_n14461500. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
- ^ Pisa, Nick (1997-04-06). "WHO'S A PRETTY BOY?". Sunday Mirror. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_19970406/ai_n14462509. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
- ^ Hyland, Ian (1999-03-28). "The diary: Showbiz gossip". Sunday Mirror. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_19990328/ai_n14485599. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
- ^ a b Roberts, David (editor) (2005). British Hit Singles & Albums (18 ed.). Guinness World Records Limited. p. 324. ISBN 1-904994-00-8. http://www.bibleofpop.com.
- ^ Actor Matthew Marsden and wife Nadine Marsden at the Las Vegas premiere of "Rambo."
- ^ a b Rollings, Grant (2008-03-22). "From Corrie to Hollywood". The Sun (London). http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/article948800.ece. Retrieved 2008-05-31.
- ^ Laws, Roz; "Matthew's spreading word on West Brom" BirminghamMail.net, 19 June 2009 (Retrieved: 28 July 2009)
- ^ Bishop, Rob (1999-06-10). "Top three back Hale to carry Albion flag". Birmingham Post.
- ^ Rosary Stars Praying the Gospel"
- ^ Matthew Marsden's religious background
External links
Categories:- 1973 births
- English film actors
- English male singers
- English people of Irish descent
- English Roman Catholics
- English expatriates in the United States
- Living people
- Alumni of Middlesex University
- People from Walsall
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