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Matthew Broderick
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Matthew Broderick (born March 21, 1962) is a Tony Award winning American film and stage actor who is perhaps best known for his role as the title character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. He also received considerable acclaim for his role as Leo Bloom in The Producers.
Contents
- 1 Biography
- 1.1 Early life
- 1.2 Career
- 1.3 Personal life
- 2 Filmography
- 3 Television work
- 4 Stage appearances
- 5 Footnotes
- 6 External links
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Biography
Early life
Broderick was born in New York City, the son of actor James Broderick and Patricia Broderick (née Biow), a playwright, actress and painter whose work was recently posthumously shown at the Tibor de Nagy gallery in New York[1]. Broderick's mother was culturally Jewish; his father was Catholic[1] and of Irish descent [2]. Broderick attended grade school at the City & Country School, a progressive K–8 school in Manhattan; and high school at Walden School, a private school in Manhattan with a strong drama program.
Career
Broderick's first major acting role came in a role in an HB Studio workshop production of playwright
Horton Foote's
On Valentine's Day, playing opposite his father James, 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; 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 two Neil Simon plays: Brighton Beach Memoirs and Biloxi Blues, both plays are part of what is known as the "Eugene Trilogy" . In between those plays he starred in WarGames, a summer hit in 1983. 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 in his mid 20's, played a high school student who, with his girlfriend and best friend, explores Chicago while avoiding the clutches of the dean of students, who is eager to catch Bueller in the act. The movie remains an 80's comedy favorite today. In 1989's Glory Broderick received good notices for his portrayal of — and uncanny resemblance to — the American Civil War hero Robert Gould Shaw in a script largely written by his mother.
Broderick in the 1990s took two dark comedy roles. The first was that of a bachelor who attracts the friendship of an insane, yet 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. He also 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, both alone and 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 co-star
Nathan Lane.
Personal life
Home life
Broderick met actress Jennifer Grey on the set of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. In 1987, Broderick was involved in a controversial car accident while driving in Ireland with Grey (his fiancé at the time). The accident killed a woman and her daughter. Broderick (who fractured his leg and a rib) was cleared of all charges but paid a fee of $175 to the victims' family. No drink was involved in the crash. Martin Doherty, the elder victim's son, was quoted by Bill Hoffman in 2002 saying "I would like to reassure him that there are no bad feelings from us." The car crash occurred close to when Ferris Bueller's Day Off was being released in the US[3].
Broderick met actress Sarah Jessica Parker via her brother. The couple were married on May 19th, 1997 in a civil ceremony in a historic deconsecrated synagogue on the lower east side; and while Broderick considers himself culturally Jewish,[4] the ceremony was performed by his sister, the Reverend Janet Broderick, an Episcopal Priest who currently serves as the rector of Grace Church Van Vorst in Jersey City, NJ. [5]
Parker and Broderick's first child, James Wilkie Broderick (born on October 28, 2002), is named after his grandfather. His middle name is that of author Wilkie Collins, an author Broderick and Parker greatly admire. They spend a considerable amount of time at their holiday home in County Donegal, Ireland where Broderick spent his summers as a child.
He is left-handed, a fact made evident during the movie The Producers when he is drawing in his ledger. Broderick is an avid baseball fan. His favorite team is the New York Mets.
Filmography
Upcoming:
Television work
Stage appearances
Footnotes
