[1][2] Born in Bath Street, Wivenhoe, Essex, he was the son of John Harvey, a yacht-designer and shipbuilder, and Margaret Diana Mary (née Goyder).

This was The Only Way, an adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities in which Martin Harvey played the lead role of Sydney Carton.

His later successes included A Cigarette-maker's Romance, Oedipus (in Max Reinhardt's Covent Garden production), Shaw's The Devil's Disciple and Maeterlinck's The Burgomaster of Stilemonde.

[3] Early on in Irving's company, when cast as the attendant to the messenger in the scene with Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, Martin Harvey decided that here was his opportunity to be more than a mere extra with a non-speaking part.

"I bought a remarkable feather", he explained, "and wore it in my hat, and on the day of the dress rehearsal I painted on my face a very elaborate moustache.

"[4] Martin Harvey and his wife Angelita worked on an adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities, later involving playwright Freeman Wills and Irish clergyman Canon Frederick Langbridge.

[5] During the First World War, Martin Harvey and his wife toured the country giving military recruitment lectures and raising money for the Red Cross and other charities, most notably the Nation's Fund for Nurses.