Biography - Matthew Broderick

With 1986’s “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”, young actor Matthew Broderick celebrated truancy, girls, and a lust for life. Bueller’s now-famous shenanigans subsequently made Broderick a huge star, and his boyish good looks and lovable sense of humor became the standard for a slew of later teen comedies.

Broderick was born in New York City on March 21, 1962 to successful actor James Broderick and playwright Patricia Biow. Starting out on the stage immediately after high school, Broderick received raves for his performances in Horton Foote’s “On Valentine’s Day” (alongside his father) and Harvey Fierstein’s “Torch Song Trilogy”. The latter production garnered Broderick a terrific review from New York Times theatre critic Mel Gussow, which instantly bolstered his career. Broderick was soon seen in two Neil Simon plays, “Biloxi Blues” and “Brighton Beach Memoirs”, which won him a 1983 Tony Award for Best Actor. He received another in 1995 for the hit Broadway revival of the musical “How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying”.

Also in 1983, Broderick starred in the hit film “Wargames” after his film debut in “Max Dugan Returns” the same year, which was also the debut film for Kiefer Sutherland. The young actor then famously turned down Michael J. Fox’s star-making role in the hit series “Family Ties”, though the huge success of “Ferris Bueller” ended up giving him a similar boost in name recognition. For the next ten years Broderick concentrated on film projects, the majority of them being film adaptations of comedic stage plays he had previously starred in, including both of the aforementioned Neil Simon pieces. In 1994 he voiced the lead role of Simba in Disney’s “The Lion King”, which became one of the biggest animated hits of all time.

After returning to Broadway fame in 1995 with “How to Succeed…”, Broderick starred alongside Jim Carrey in the ill-fated “The Cable Guy”. The film’s off-putting plot alienated audiences expecting another accessible Carrey goof-fest, though the two stars did achieve some hilarious moments together in the Ben Stiller-directed dark comedy. After starring with Meg Ryan and Kelly Preston in the melancholy romantic comedy “Addicted to Love”, Broderick tried his hand at blockbusters with 1998’s mega-budget “Godzilla” remake, which failed to meet box office expectations and has therefore not seen a line of sequels. Arguably his best recent film role came in 1999 with Alexander Payne’s hilarious high school satire “Election”. Playing a crabby history teacher, the film revolved around Broderick’s character’s attempt at sabotaging the ascendancy of an overachieving Reese Witherspoon to Student Council President.

Broderick returned to Broadway once again in 2001 for Mel Brooks’ musical “The Producers”. Starring alongside Nathan Lane, the still-running musical has been a smash commercial and critical success, particularly when Lane and Broderick filled the lead roles. Both actors received Tony nominations for the entertainment satire in 2001, with Lane taking home the prize.

Formerly linked to Jennifer Grey and Lili Taylor, Broderick has been married to “Sex and the City” star Sarah Jessica Parker since 1997, and has a son with the bubbly actress. Recently seen in Kenneth Lonergan’s “You Can Count on Me” and “The Stepford Wives” remake with Nicole Kidman, Broderick will appear in Lonergan’s “Margaret” in late 2006 alongside Matt Damon and Anna Paquin.