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Anna Maxwell Martin (born 10 May 1977), sometimes credited as Anna Maxwell-Martin, is a twice BAFTA award-winning English actress who has won acclaim for her performances as Lyra in His Dark Materials at the Royal National Theatre, as Esther Summerson in the BBC's 2005 adaptation of Bleak House, and as N in Channel 4's 2008 adaptation of Poppy Shakespeare. Anna Charlotte Martin was born in Beverley, near Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England in May 1977 and attended Beverley High School where she appeared in school plays. She added the name Maxwell (her grandfather's name) to her surname... MORE

Anna Maxwell Martin (born 10 May 1977), sometimes credited as Anna Maxwell-Martin, is a twice BAFTA award-winning English actress who has won acclaim for her performances as Lyra in His Dark Materials at the Royal National Theatre, as Esther Summerson in the BBC's 2005 adaptation of Bleak House, and as N in Channel 4's 2008 adaptation of Poppy Shakespeare. Anna Charlotte Martin was born in Beverley, near Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England in May 1977 and attended Beverley High School where she appeared in school plays. She added the name Maxwell (her grandfather's name) to her surname to distinguish her from another member with the same name when she joined Equity. Her father was the managing director of a pharmaceutical company and her mother was a research scientist. Her mother gave up her job to bring up Anna and her elder brother Adam. After she left school Martin studied history at Liverpool University, specialising in the First World War. She joined the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) after completing her studies at Liverpool. In her final year at LAMDA her father was diagnosed with cancer, although he lived long enough to see her stage performance as LESS