Jarvis was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, to Denys Harry Jarvis and Margot Lillian Scottney, and grew up in South Norwood and Sanderstead, north Surrey See more

Jarvis's first television appearance was in the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who as Hilio, captain of the butterfly-like Menoptra, in See more

Among his work, Jarvis did the voiceovers for the 2010 BBC series Just William and voices the animal characters, as well as Voltaire the wise Weather-Cock, in the 1993 See more

• Martin Jarvis at IMDb
• Guardian Q & A September 2007
• The Times May 2004 See more

Jarvis has acted in many stage productions in London and abroad, including alongside Diana Rigg and Natascha McElhone See more

Jarvis has had a long association with the BBC, particularly BBC Radio 4. In the 1980s Michael Frayn's columns for The Guardian and The Observer, described by some as models of … See more

Jarvis married Rosalind Ayres on 23 November 1974 in Ealing; he has two sons by a previous marriage. He met Ayres when they played in Hamlet together; she played See more