| Matthew Broderick |

Broderick in Sweden during his promotion of
Ferris Bueller's Day Off, December 1986 |
| Born |
March 21, 1962 (1962-03-21) (age 46)
New York City, New York, U.S.A. |
| Years active |
1979 — present |
| Spouse(s) |
Sarah Jessica Parker (1997-present) |
|
|
Matthew Broderick (born March 21, 1962) is an American award-winning film and stage actor who is best known for his roles as the title character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Nick in Godzilla and David Lightman in WarGames. He voiced Simba in the Academy Award winning franchise The Lion King 1 and 2. He also played Leo Bloom in the film and Broadway productions of The Producers, and played Colonel Robert Shaw in the Civil War drama Glory. He ranks #28 on VH1's 100 Greatest Teen Stars.
Biography
Early life
Broderick was born in New York City, the son of Patricia (née Biow), a playwright, actress, and painter whose work was posthumously shown at the Tibor de Nagy gallery in New York, and James Broderick, an actor.12 Broderick's mother was Jewish, and his father a Catholic of Irish descent.345 Broderick attended grade school at the City & Country School (a progressive K–8 school in Manhattan) and attended high school at Walden School (a defunct private school in Manhattan with a strong drama program).
Career
Broderick's first major acting role came in an HB (Herbert Berghof) Studio workshop production of playwright Horton Foote's On Valentine's Day, playing opposite his father, who was a friend of Foote's. This was followed by a lead role in the off-Broadway production of Harvey Fierstein's Torch Song Trilogy; then, a good review by New York Times theater critic Mel Gussow brought him to the attention of Broadway. Broderick commented on the effects of that review in a 2004 60 Minutes II interview:
| “ |
Before I knew it, I was like this guy in a hot play. And suddenly, all these doors opened. And it’s only because Mel Gussow happened to come by right before it closed and happened to like it. It’s just amazing. All these things have to line up that are out of your control. |
” |
He followed that with the role of Eugene Morris Jerome in the Neil Simon Eugene Trilogy including the plays, Brighton Beach Memoirs and Biloxi Blues. His first movie role was also written by Neil Simon. Broderick debuted in Max Dugan Returns (1983). His first big hit film was WarGames, a summer hit in 1983. This was followed by the role of Philippe Gaston in Ladyhawke, in 1985. Broderick auditioned for the role of Alex P. Keaton on the NBC sitcom Family Ties and was offered the role, but he had to turn it down because of his movie schedule. Broderick then got the role as the charming, clever slacker in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Broderick, who in real life was 23, played a high-school student who, with his girlfriend and best friend, plays hooky and explores Chicago while avoiding the clutches of the dean of students, who is eager to catch Bueller in the act. The movie remains a 1980s' comedy favorite today and is one of Broderick's best-known roles (particularly with teenage audiences) in contrast to the uptight, "nerdy" characters he would play for much of his career. In 1989's Glory, Broderick received good notices for his portrayal of the American Civil War hero Robert Gould Shaw.
In the 1990s, Broderick took on his famous role as the adult lion, Simba, in the spectacularly successful animated film, The Lion King. Also, he distinguished himself in two dark-comedy roles. The first was that of a bachelor who attracts the friendship of an insane and lonely cable repairman (played by Jim Carrey) in The Cable Guy. The second was that of an Omaha high-school teacher determined to stop an overachieving student (played by Reese Witherspoon) from becoming class president in Alexander Payne's Election.
Broderick returned to Broadway as a musical star in the 1990s, most notably his Tony Award–winning performance in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and his Tony Award–nominated performance in the Mel Brooks' stage version of The Producers in 2001. Also, he continues to make feature films, including the 2005 adaptation of The Producers. Broderick played the role of Leopold “Leo” Bloom, an accountant who co-produces a musical designed to fail, but which turns out to be successful. In “The Producers”, Broderick sings several songs, not only alone but with other characters.
Broderick reunited with his co-star from The Lion King and The Producers, Nathan Lane, in The Odd Couple, which opened on Broadway in October 2005. He has won two Tony Awards, one in 1983 for his featured role in the play Brighton Beach Memoirs and one in 1995 for his leading role in the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. He was also nominated for The Producers but lost to Lane.
Personal life
Broderick met actress Jennifer Grey on the set of Ferris Bueller's Day Off and in 1986 was briefly engaged to the actress.
Broderick met actress Sarah Jessica Parker through her brother. The couple married on May 19, 1997 in a civil ceremony in a historic deconsecrated synagogue on the Lower East Side; and although Broderick considers himself Jewish,67 the ceremony was performed by his sister, Janet Broderick Kraft, an Episcopal priest.8
Parker and Broderick have one child, James Wilkie Broderick, born on October 28, 2002. They spend a considerable amount of time at their holiday home in County Donegal, Ireland where Broderick spent his summers as a child. They now live in New York City.
He is left-handed, a fact made evident in his first movie, Max Dugan Returns, where he is playing baseball. Broderick is an avid baseball fan. His favorite team is the New York Mets.
Accident
On August 5, 1987, Broderick was in Northern Ireland, vacationing with Grey, when their rented BMW veered into the opposite lane of country road in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh and smashed head-on into a car driven by Anna Gallagher, 30. She and her mother, Margaret Doherty, 63, died instantly.
Broderick, who had not been drinking, spent four weeks in a Belfast hospital with a fractured leg and ribs, collapsed lung and concussion. Grey suffered minor injuries.
Broderick told authorities he had no recollection of the crash and did not know why he was in the wrong lane. "I don't remember the day. I don't remember even getting up in the morning. I don't remember making my bed. What I first remember is waking up in the hospital, with a very strange feeling going on in my leg," he said at the time.
Broderick was charged with causing death by dangerous driving and faced a prison term of up to five years. He was later convicted of the lesser charge of careless driving and fined $175. The victims' family called the case "a travesty of justice."
Broderick has recently agreed to meet with the family of the two women.citation needed
Work
Film
References
External links