Martine McCutcheon (born Martine Kimberley Sherrie Ponting^[1] on 14 May 1976) is an English singer, television personality and Laurence Olivier Award-winning actress. McCutcheon had minor success as one third of the pop group Milan in the early 1990s; however, it was her role as Tiffany Mitchell in BBC's EastEnders that made her a household name in the UK in 1995. McCutcheon left the series at the end of 1998 to embark on a pop career, this time as a solo artist. She had international success, reaching No. 1 in 5 countries with her debut single Perfect Moment. She released three albums to varying degrees of success, but her pop career stalled due to the poor reception of her third album in 2002. She has since appeared in various television programmes, in films such as Love Actually as 'Natalie', and on stage in My Fair Lady, where her portrayal of Eliza Doolittle won her a Laurence Olivier Award in 2002. She released her autobiography, Who Does She Think She Is?^[2] in 2000.

Early life[link]

McCutcheon was born as Martine Kimberley Sherri Ponting at the Salvation Army Mother's Hospital in Hackney, London, when her mother, Jenny Tomlin, was 20. She endured a turbulent early childhood due to the abusive and irrational behaviour of her drug addict father, Thomas Hemmings.^[3] Her earliest memory of her father is him dangling her over a balcony by her ankles, 30 feet up in the air, threatening to drop her unless her mother did what he wanted.^[4] Despite Hemmings leaving 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 won sole custody and an injunction was made against Hemmings seeing McCutcheon until she was 18.^[4]

When McCutcheon was 10, her mother met and married window cleaner John McCutcheon (Martine's stepfather) which led to Martine taking her stepfather's surname. McCutcheon has a younger half-brother. ^[3] She knew she wanted to be a performer from a young age but, as her family could not afford the fees for a drama school, she had to find an alternative method to learn her trade. McCutcheon met a woman at a local dance class who had been to the Italia Conti stage school, and she suggested that the school would be a good environment for her. After a persuasive letter from McCutcheon, 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.^[3]

Career[link]

Early career[link]

At the age of 12, 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.^[3] She also appeared in the music video for the song "Caribbean Blue" by Irish singer Enya. By the time she was 15, she had formed an all-girl group, 'Milan', with two fellow students and landed a record contract and a gig touring as the 'warm up' group for the British boyband, East 17. Milan were reasonably successful. They entered the dance charts three times but were not successful enough for the band to make a living and they collectively disbanded.^[3]

[edit] Mainstream success; EastEnders

In 1994, while working as a shopgirl at Knickerbox, McCutcheon was offered the small part of Tiffany Raymond on the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders. The role of Tiffany grew as did McCutcheon's popularity and 22 million 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 Year's Eve.^[5] In reality, McCutcheon had decided to leave the soap in order to embark on a pop career and the death of her character was not viewed favourably by the actress as she had intended to return. Since leaving the show, McCutcheon has publicly slammed the BBC's "Controller of Continuing Drama Series", Mal Young, who made the decision to kill her character. She accused him of treating her unfairly and bringing her role in the soap to an end so irrevocably, merely as punishment for leaving.^[3] In turn, Young has hit back at McCutcheon, saying her anger only arose because she wanted him to keep her role in EastEnders open as a 'safety net', in case her pop career failed, and he was not prepared to do this. McCutcheon has subsequently written an autobiography entitled Who Does She Think She Is?: My Autobiography, which depicts Young less than favourably.^[3]

Pop career[link]

McCutcheon first appearance in the chart occurred in 1995 on a minor dance song "Are You Man Enough" with the dance producers "Uno clio". A promotional video was produced.

In 1999, McCutcheon debuted as a solo pop artist with Virgin Records and scored a number 1 in the UK Singles Chart with the ballad "Perfect Moment" (originally recorded by Edyta Górniak in 1997). The song was a global success reaching number 1 not only in the UK, but in Israel, Italy, Switzerland and Ireland. 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 featured the double A Side "Love Me", an album track that was re-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 UK Albums Chart and was certified as double platinum.

In 2000, McCutcheon released her second album Wishing, which was less successful, charting at number 25 in the UK Albums Chart. The album spawned two singles - the number 2 hit "I'm Over You" and her follow up song "On The Radio". Despite only peaking at #25 the album still managed to sell around 250,000 copies. 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 when due to poor sales her recording contract was cancelled.^[3]

In December 2011, on Irelands "The Saturday Night Show" Martine confirmed she was in the studio working on a new album due for release sometime in 2012.

Film, stage and television[link]

McCutcheon appeared in ITV's The Knock as well as the British film Kiss Kiss (Bang Bang) in 2000. She went on to play Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady at the National Theatre in London. Despite missing many performances (citing health problems) and withdrawing nearly five months early from the production's transfer to the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane,^[6] she won the award for best actress in a musical at the 2002 Laurence Olivier Awards.

In 2002, McCutcheon presented the National Music Awards for ITV1 and in 2003 she 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 success. McCutcheon went to America in the wake of the film's success, but a Hollywood career did not 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 Tash, a waitress who witnesses a terrorist bombing. Screened on the UK television station ITV1 in December 2005, McCutcheon appeared in The English Harem, playing a woman in love with a Muslim man (Art Malik), who marries him despite knowing he already has two wives. That same year she presented and performed on ITV's entertainment programme, Moviemusic Mania.

In 2007, McCutcheon was seen in two independent films, Withdrawal opposite Patrick Swayze and Jump!, as well Marple episode At Bertram's Hotel, where she plays a maid named Jane Cooper that assists Miss Marple with her investigations. She was also a judge in the second series of ITV1's Soapstar Superstar. Her appearance on the show drew criticism, with reports alleging that she was becoming a hate figure for the contestants, who were said to have found her comments relentlessly critical and at times patronising.^[7] McCutcheon performed in an Art Plus fundraising event at the Whitechapel Art Gallery opposite Natalie Press, Samantha Morton and Rhys Ifans and in January 2008 she starred alongside actor Jason Donovan, in the ITV soap Echo Beach as character Susan Penwarden.^[8]

Other work[link]

McCutcheon released her autobiography, Who Does She Think She Is? in 2000, and in 2003 Martine McCutcheon: Behind the Scenes - A Personal Diary, was published by Harper Collins. McCutcheon, along with many global stars, also featured in a promotional film for London's successful bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics, in 2004. A fitness DVD, Martine McCutcheon: Dance body workout, was released in December 2005.

In August 2006, the supermarket chain, Tesco, announced that they would be using McCutcheon in a series of adverts to promote a new green scheme for recycling used plastic carrier bags.^[9] In 2006, she became "the face" of the fabric softener brand, Lenor.

In 2009, she had her first novel published by Pan MacMillan, called The Mistress.^[10]

In January 2010, she became the face on Danone's UK advertising campaign for its Activia yogurt brand.^[11]

Martine had worked on two BBC Radio plays, most recently with Ricky Tomlinson and Clive Anderson.

Personal life[link]

McCutcheon was engaged to DJ Gareth Cooke, but broke off the relationship in 1996.^[12] She is now engaged to singer Jack McManus,^[13] with whom she has been in a relationship since 2009.^[14]

Filmography[link]

• EastEnders (1995–98) - Tiffany Mitchell
• Kiss Kiss (Bang Bang) (2000) - Mia
• Love Actually (2003) - Natalie
• The English Harem (2005)
• Withdrawal (Indie short film) (2006)
• Jump! (2007) - Liuba Halsman

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

Other songs[link]

• 1999: "Mamma Mia" - from the ABBAMania compilation album
• 2002: "I Dreamed a Dream" - From 101 Songs from the musicals CD
• 2001: "On The Radio" - from "Now That's What I Call Music! 48"
• 1999: "Perfect Moment" - from "Now That's What I Call Music! 43"
• 2000: "I've Got You" - from "Now That's What I Call Music! 47"
• 2001: "Wouldn't It Be Loverly?" - from "My Fair Lady" 2001 London Cast Recording
• 2001: "I Could Have Danced All Night" - from "My Fair Lady" 2001 London Cast Recording

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Martine McCutcheon at the Internet Movie Database
• Martine McCutcheon on Lastfm