Derek Martin

Derek Martin
Martin in 2009 at Wendy Richard's funeral service
Born	Derek William Rapp 11 April 1933 (1933-04-11) (age 78) Bow, East London, England
Nationality	British
Ethnicity	White British
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1962–present
Television	Eldorado EastEnders
Website
http://www.derekmartin.net

Derek Martin (born Derek William Rapp on 11 April 1933) is a British actor who is best known for his role as Charlie Slater in the British soap opera EastEnders which he played from 2000 to 2011.

Personal life

Born Derek William Rapp to Christina (née Jarvis) and William George Rapp, Martin currently lives in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, a small town just outside London. He has two sons.^{[citation needed]} He is also a big darts fan and usually attends the Lakeside World Professional Championships each year.^{[citation needed]} In February 2010 it was revealed that Martin will undergo an operation on his knee, expected to be in May 2010. He said his complaint was due to old age, playing football and carrying meat in an old job at Smithfield Meat Market.^[1]

Career

Martin started his entertainment career as a stuntman but after breaking his collar bone filming the drama Elizabeth R he switched to acting. He featured in the BBC television series Paul Temple.

In 1978 he appeared as Detective Inspector Fred Pyle in The Detective's Tale, the first play in the BBC television series Law and Order. In 1982 he became the second actor to take on the role of R. D. Wingfield's fictional Detective Inspector Jack Frost, starring in A Touch of Frost. He then starred in Eldorado as Alex Morris. He has also made guest appearances in many television programmes including Doctor Who appearing in The Ambassadors of Death as an uncredited heavy, The Claws of Axos as an uncredited UNIT soldier and Image of the Fendahl as policeman David Mitchell, Upstairs, Downstairs, The Bill, Only Fools and Horses and Little Britain.

In September 2000 he started playing Charlie Slater in EastEnders. In April 2010 it was announced that Martin had been cut from the show along with five other actors.^[2] In early 2011 he filmed a guest stint with EastEnders with Charlie due to return for two episodes around April 2011.^[3]

He also starred in a short film called Piggy Bank in 2004.

External links

• Derek Martin at the Internet Movie Database
• Official site

References

1. ^ Rollo, Sarah (6 February 2010). "'Enders star's knee injury to be scripted". Digital Spy. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s2/eastenders/news/a201754/enders-stars-knee-injury-to-be-scripted.html. Retrieved 16 May 2010. 
2. ^ "EastEnders to axe six popular characters". BBC News. 17 April 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8627054.stm. Retrieved 17 April 2010. 
3. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (2 March 2011). "Soaps - News - Charlie Slater to make brief 'Enders return - Digital Spy". Digital Spy. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s2/eastenders/news/a306785/charlie-slater-to-make-brief-enders-return.html. Retrieved 9 March 2011. 

Persondata
Name	Martin, Derek
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	11 April 1933
Place of birth	Bow, east London, England
Date of death
Place of death