# Martina Laird

Martina Laird (born 1971) is a Trinidadian British actress of stage, film and television.

## Early life and education

Martina Laird was born in 1971 in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Her interest in drama began early, when she was seven years old, and from the age of 13 she studied with such local luminaries as Beryl McBurnie, and regularly attended performances at the Little Carib Theatre.
At the age of 17, Laird went to the United Kingdom, having won a national scholarship to study French at the University of Kent at Canterbury, and she did drama as part of her degree course. Having told her parents of her acting ambitions at the age of 20, on the advice of Derek Walcott, who was a family friend, Laird went on to attend the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art.

## Career

After beginning her acting career on the stage, she landed a role in the BBC TV drama series Casualty, most memorably playing the character Comfort for several years. She also featured in other popular television series, including Holby City and EastEnders.
Among her notable stage credits are as Sophia in Errol John's Moon on a Rainbow Shawl, directed by Michael Buffong, in a 2012 production at the Royal National Theatre, and Marcus Gardley's The House that Will Not Stand at the Tricycle Theatre (2014).
She performed in seven Shakespeare plays over two years in 2016 and 2017: The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, The Tempest, Henry IV, Coriolanus, and All's Well That Ends Well.
In 2019, Laird appeared in the August Wilson play King Hedley II, alongside Lenny Henry, at Stratford East.
In October 2023, she featured in a revival of Mustapha Matura's play Meetings at the Orange Tree Theatre.

## Awards

Laird has won a Screen Nation Award and a Michael Elliot Trust Award.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1991 | EastEnders | Court Clerk | Episode: 14th Jan 1993 Trial of Nick Cotton |
| 1993 | Harry | Friend | Series 1, Episode 5 |
| 1993–1999 | The Bill | Sandra Newton / Marlene Franklin / Marcia Walsh | 3 episodes |
| 1995 | The Governor | Zania | 3 episodes |
| 1995 | One for the Road | Ruth | Episode: "Prague" |
| 1995–2006, 2016 | Casualty | Comfort Jones / Comfort Newton / Darleen Devern | 207 episodes |
| 1996 | The Knock | Nadine Charles | Series 2, Episode 2 |
| 1996 | Thief Takers | Ruth | Episode: "Wasteland" |
| 1996 | Dangerfield | WPC | Episode: "Inside Out" |
| 1998 | Peak Practice | Dr. Toray | |
| 1998 | Jonathan Creek | Bridget | Episode: "Danse Macabre" |
| 1999 | Wing and a Prayer | Dee Dee Bastiani | 3 episodes |
| 1999–2000 | A Touch of Frost | Miriam Madikane | Episodes: "Line of Fire (Parts 1&2)" |
| 1999–2005 | Holby City | Comfort Newton / Darleen Devern | 3 episodes |
| 2000, 2011 | My Family | Darci / Doctor Kelly | |
| 2003 | Children in Need | Comfort | Series 1, Episode 4 |
| 2005 | Casualty@Holby City | Comfort Newton | 5 episodes |
| 2007 | Deadbeat | Detective Clayderman | |
| 2009 | Free Agents | | Series 1, Episode 6 |
| 2009 | Monday Monday | | |
| 2010 | Shameless | Michelle | 2 episodes |
| 2010 | Missing | Pamela Rutter | Series 2, Episode 3 |
| 2010 | Doctors | Kathy Nicholls | Episode: "Like Mothers, Like Daughters" |
| 2010 | Forget Me Not | Doctor | |
| 2011 | Coronation Street | Colette Hankinson | |
| 2011 | Blitz | Forensic Officer | |
| 2011 | London's Burning | Rachel | Television film |
| 2013 | Feds | Coach McKenzie | |
| 2015 | The Dumping Ground | Mrs Underwood | |
| 2016 | Jericho | Epiphany | 8 episodes |
| 2016 | EastEnders | DC Angie Rice | 8 episodes |
| 2017 | Padlock | Natasha | Short film |
| 2017–2018 | The Donmar Warehouse's All-Female Shakespeare Trilogy | Alonso / Worcester / Gadshill / Cassius | |
| 2019 | Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators | Claudia Farrel | |
| 2019 | Great Performances | Cassius | |
| 2019 | The Bay (TV series) | Bernie Chambers | TV series |
| 2020 | Summerland | Older Vera | |
| 2021 | Boxing Day | Janet | |
| 2021 | Still We Thrive | | Short film |
| 2023 | Unforgotten | Ebele Falade | Series 5, episode 1 |
| 2023 | The Little Mermaid | Lashana | |
| 2023 | Dreamland | Diane | TV series |

### Theatre

* The White Devil, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1996
* Three Hours After Marriage, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1996–1997
* Troilus and Cressida, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1996–1997
* Breath Boom, Royal Court Theatre, 2000
* The Five Wives of Maurice Pinder, Royal National Theatre, 2007
* Bianca in Othello, Donmar Warehouse, London, 2007–2008
* Moon on a Rainbow Shawl, Royal National Theatre, 2012
* The House that Will Not Stand, Tricycle Theatre, 2014
* All's Well That Ends Well, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, 2018
* Shebeen, Stratford East, 2018
* King Hedley II, Stratford East, 2019
* 15 Heroines, Jermyn Street Theatre, 2020
* Meetings, by Mustapha Matura, Orange Tree Theatre, 2023.