Martin Freeman

Date of Birth: September 8, 1971

Born in Aldershot, Hampshire, England, Martin Freeman is a graduate of the Central School of Speech and Drama. He shot to fame on both sides of the Atlantic when he played office worker Tim Canterbury in the BBC’s hit sitcom The Office (2001 to 2003).

From there, he went on to play supporting roles in feature films such as Love Actually (2003) and Shaun of the Dead (2004), then landed the starring role as Arthur Dent in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005), also featuring Zooey Deschanel and Bill Nighy.

Other television credits include playing Lord Shaftesbury in the miniseries Charles II (2003), regular roles in the TV series Bruiser (2000), World of Pub (2000) and Hardware (2003 to 2004), as well as roles in the TV movies Men Only (2001) and Margery and Gladys (2003). He also played the role of Dr. John Watson in the series Sherlock (2010 t0 2012) and voiced the character of The Pirate with a Scarf in the 2012 animated film The Pirates! Band of Misfits. His next big project is the role of Bilbo Baggins in the highly-anticipated feature The Hobbit: an Unexpected Journey (2013).

Martin, who is dating British actress Amanda Abbington, lives in London, England with his dog, Archie, a miniature wire-haired dachshund.