The son of real estate agent and aspiring actor Glenn Vernon Martin (1914–1997) and Mary Lee (née Stewart; 1913–2002) Martin was born in Waco, Texas, on August 14, 1945.Melinda is his elder sister
Martin was raised in Inglewood, California, with his sister, and subsequently in Garden Grove,
California, in a Baptist family. He is of English, Scottish, Welsh, Scots-Irish, German, and French ancestry.
Martin was Garden Grove High School’s cheerleader. His father served beverages onstage as an extra at the Call Board Theatre on Melrose Place, which is one of his first memories.