Martine McCutcheon - the early years

Martine McCutcheon (born Martine Kimberley Sherri Ponting on May 14, 1976) is an English singer and Olivier award-winning actress. Martine was born at the Salvation Army Mothers Hospital in Hackney, London, England, when her mother Jenny was just 19. She had a turbulent early childhood due to the abusive behaviour of her drug-addict father, Thomas Hemmings. Her father left when McCutcheon was 2 years old, he would return periodically to threaten her mother, so her early years were spent running and hiding in order to escape him. When McCutcheon was nine, her mother finally won sole custody and an injunction was made against her father seeing her until she was 18.

At an early age Martine was inspired by Barbara Streisand, Aretha Franklin, and Frank Sinatra dancing to her mothers records and showed even at that early age that she was a natural entertainer. When Martine McCutcheon was 10, her mother met and married window cleaner John McCutcheon which led to Martine taking her step-father’s surname. She wanted to be a performer from a young age, but as her family couldn’t afford the fees for a drama school, she had to find an alternative method to learn her trade. After a persuasive letter from Martine, a Church of England trust agreed to sponsor her. She trained after school and every Saturday (learning tap, ballet, jazz, and drama) in order to catch up with the more privileged children who were competing with her for a place at the prestigious school. At the age of 12 Martine McCutcheon obtained her first acting role and was paid £350 to appear in an American television commercial for the drink, Kool-Aid, which was followed by modelling assignments and bit parts in TV shows such as in the ITV police drama The Bill. At 15 years old, she had formed an all-girl band, ‘Milan’, with two fellow students and landed a record contract and a gig touring as the ‘warm up’ group for East 17. Milan had some sucess, but not successful enough for McCutcheon, so she quit the group.

Martine McCutcheon - eastenders

Her determination finally paid off in January 1995 when Martine McCutcheon was offered the small part of Tiffany Raymond on the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders. As Martine received more exposure from the soap and her popularity grew. Millions of viewers tuned in to see her final scenes in Albert Square in 1998, when her character was killed in a special episode screened on New Years Eve. The nation fell in love with Martine’s character, Tiffany, and she won countless best actress awards in the three years that she starred in the show. When Martine announced that she would be leaving the series, the BBC switchboards were jammed by calls from distraught fans pleading for Tiffany to stay in Albert Square.

Martine McCutcheon - her pop career

After finishing her role in Eastenders in 1999 Martine McCutcheon began a new solo pop career with Virgin Records, surprising critics and doubters alike by scoring a number 1 in the UK Singles Chart with the ballad Perfect Moment. The song was a global success reaching number 1 not only in the UK, but in Israel, Italy, Switzerland & Ireland too. That same year she scored two more top 10 hits, reaching number 6 with the singles I’ve Got You and later Talking in Your Sleep, which was recorded for the Children in Need appeal with all proceeds being donated to that cause. All three singles were taken from her debut album You, Me and Us, which peaked at number 2 in the British Album charts and was certified as double platinum. In 2000 Martine McCutcheon released her second album Wishing, which was less successful, charting at number 25 in the UK album charts. The album spawned two singles - the number 2 hit I’m Over You and her follow up song On The Radio, which was famously used as the theme tune for Hibernian striker Amadou Konte. After the lack of success with this album Virgin Records cancelled her contract. McCutcheon released her third album Musicality, a Broadway influenced cover album, in 2002. It reached number 55 in the albums charts, however her pop career stalled yet again when her second recording contract, this time with EMI Liberty, was cancelled due to poor sales.

Martine McCutcheon - stage, film and TV

Martine McCutcheon went on to play Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady in London’s West End and despite being plagued by health problems during her run, she won the award for best actress in a musical at the 2002 Laurence Olivier Awards. In 2003 Martine McCutcheon featured in her first major film role. She appeared as tea-lady Natalie in the Richard Curtis romantic comedy Love Actually, where the British Prime Minister (played by Hugh Grant) falls in love with McCutcheon’s character. The film received good reviews and was a box office smash. McCutcheon headed off to America in the wake of the film’s success, but a Hollywood career failed to materialise. She did however, win Best Trans-atlantic breakthrough at the 2004 MTV Movie Awards. In September 2005 she appeared in two episodes of hit BBC drama series Spooks, playing a waitress who witnesses a terrorist bombing. One of her latest projects was screened on the UK television station ITV in spring 2006. In The English Harem she played the English wife of a Muslim man (Art Malik), who discovers that her husband already has two wives.