Martin Starkie was born in London. Educated at Oxford University where he was a pupil of Nevill Coghill. Trained for the theater at LAMDA, the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. In England he has been an actor, writer and director for the theater, radio, and TV. The idea of making a stage play and musical of CANTERBURY TALES originated with him. He directed his own dramatization at the Oxford Playhouse in England in 1964. This formed the basis for the present musical.