Martin Herdman (born 24 July 1956) is an English actor, boxer and former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer.

Sporting career

Herdman was a

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

for several years, and won the South West London ABA Heavyweight Championship in 1978. He also represented England in international matches against Kenya and Hungary. Herdman also played

as a , playing at representative level for

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, and club level for Fulham RLFC. He won three caps for Wales while at Fulham from 1981 to 1982. In 1984, Herdman went to America after being given a tryout as a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

for the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

, but was cut from their roster.

Acting career

Herdman has played regular parts in '' Bramwell'', ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

'', ''

Family Affairs ''Family Affairs'' is a British soap opera that aired on Channel 5. It debuted on 30 March 1997, the day of the launch of said channel and was the first programme broadcast on the channel. It was screened as five thirty-minute episodes per w ...

'', ''

Soldier Soldier ''Soldier Soldier'' is a British television drama series. Created by Lucy Gannon, produced by Central Television and broadcast on the ITV network, it ran for a total of seven series and 82 episodes from 10 June 1991 to 9 December 1997. It ...

'', ''

Drop the Dead Donkey ''Drop the Dead Donkey'' is a British television sitcom that was first shown on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom between 1990 and 1998. It is set in the offices of "GlobeLink News", a fictional TV news company. Recorded close to transmission, it ...

'', ''

Silent Witness ''Silent Witness'' is a British crime drama television series produced by the BBC that focuses on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. The series was created by Nigel McCrery, a former murder squa ...

'', '' Wycliffe'', ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

'' and ''

Midsomer Murders ''Midsomer Murders'' is a British Mystery fiction, mystery television series, adapted by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson from the novels in the ''Chief Inspector Barnaby'' book series created by Caroline Graham (writer), Caroline Graham. ...

''. He played the lead role in the 2018 feature film ''Sink'', written and directed by Mark Gillis.

Personal life

Herdman is the father of four sons, the youngest of whom is actor

Joshua Herdman Joshua Colin M. Herdman''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 9 September 1987) is an English actor and mixed martial artist, best known for playing Gregory Goyle in the ''Harry Potter'' f ...

of the Harry Potter films. He ran the Herdman Family Carpet Shop in St Margarets from 1999–2020. The business went into

insolvency In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company ( debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be ''insolvent''. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-sheet i ...

in 2022.

References

External links

*
Biography at martinherdman.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Herdman, Martin 1956 births Living people English male boxers English male film actors English male television actors Leigh Leopards players London Broncos players Rugby league players from Surrey Rugby league second-rows Sportspeople from Chertsey Wales national rugby league team players Welsh rugby league players