MATTHEW BRODERICK

'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 2001 Broadway revival of ''The Producers''.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Career

Personal life

Filmography

Television work

Stage appearances

References

External links

Biography

Early life

Broderick was born in New York City, the son of actor James Wilke Broderick and Patricia (née Biow),^[1] a playwright, actress and painter whose work was posthumously shown at the Tibor de Nagy gallery in New York.^[2] Broderick's mother was Jewish^[3] and his father a Catholic^[4] of Irish descent.^[5] Broderick attended grade school at the City & Country School, a progressive K–8 school in Manhattan; and high school at Walden School (now closed), 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:
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" . 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. 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 20s, 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 an 80s comedy favorite today. In 1989's ''Glory'' Broderick received good notices for his portrayal of 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 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''. ''Election'' had also been a coming-of-age role for Broderick; his fans from ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' noted that where Broderick played a popular student who took an easygoing approach to school, in ''Election'' he played a popular teacher who is trying to convince students there is more to education than simply grades and looking good for college admission boards.
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 ''. 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

Broderick met actress Jennifer Grey on the set of ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off''. In 1987, Broderick was involved in a multi-car collision while driving in Ireland with Grey (his fiancée at the time). The collision 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. Drinking was not 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 accident occurred close to the US release of ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off''.^[6]
Broderick met actress Sarah Jessica Parker through her brother. The couple were married on May 19, 1997 in a civil ceremony in a historic deconsecrated synagogue on the Lower East Side; and while Broderick considers himself Jewish,^[7][8] the ceremony was performed by his sister, the Reverend Janet Broderick Kraft, an Episcopal priest.^[9]
Parker and Broderick's first child, James Wilkie Broderick (born on October 28, 2002), is named after his grandfather James Brian Broderick. 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 already 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.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1983	''Max Dugan Returns''	Michael McPhee
	''WarGames''	David Lightman
1985	''1918''	Brother
	''Ladyhawke''	Phillipe Gaston
1986	''Ferris Bueller's Day Off''	Ferris Bueller
	''On Valentine's Day''	Brother
1987	''Courtship''
	''Project X''	Jimmy Garrett
1988	''She's Having a Baby''	Ferris Bueller	Cameo
	''Biloxi Blues''	Eugene Morris Jerome
	''Torch Song Trilogy''	Alan
1989	''Family Business''	Adam McMullen
	''Glory''	Colonel Robert Gould Shaw
1990	''The Freshman''	Clark Kellogg/Narrator
1992	''Out on a Limb''	Bill Campbell
1993	''The Night We Never Met''	Sam Lester
1994	''The Lion King''	Adult Simba	Voice
	''Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle''	Charles MacArthur
	''The Road to Wellville''	William Lightbody
1995	''The Thief and the Cobbler''	Tack the Cobbler	Voice (Miramax version)
1996	''The Cable Guy''	Steven M. Kovacs
	''Infinity''	Richard Feynman	Also director and producer
1997	''Addicted to Love''	Sam
1998	''Godzilla''	Dr. Niko "Nick" Tatapolis
	''	Adult Simba	Voice
	''Walking to the Waterline''	Michael Woods
1999	''Election''	Jim McAllister
	''Inspector Gadget''	Inspector Gadget/RoboGadget/John Brown
2000	''You Can Count on Me''	Brian Everett
2003	''The Music Man''	Professor Harold Hill
	''Good Boy!''	Hubble	Voice
2004	"The Lion King 1½"	Adult/teenage Simba	Voice
	''Marie and Bruce''	Bruce
	''The Stepford Wives''	Walter Kresby
	''The Last Shot''	Steven Schats
2005	''The Producers''	Leo Bloom
2006	''Strangers with Candy''	Roger Beekman
	''Deck the Halls''	Steve Finch
2007	''Margaret''
	''Bee Movie''	Adam	Voice

Television work

★ ''Cinderella'' (1985)

★ ''Master Harold...and the Boys'' (1985)

★ ''A Life in the Theater'' (1993)

★ ''The Music Man (2003)''

Stage appearances

★ ''Torch Song Trilogy'' (1981)

★ ''Brighton Beach Memoirs'' (1983)

★ ''Biloxi Blues'' (1985)

★ ''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'' (1995) (revival)

★ ''Night Must Fall'' (1999) (revival)

★ ''Taller Than a Dwarf'' (2000)

★ ''The Producers'' (2001-2002) (returned briefly in 2003)

★ ''Short Talks on the Universe'' (2002)

★ ''The Odd Couple'' (2005) (revival)

References

1. http://www.genealogy.com/famousfolks/brodrick/index.html
2. http://www.tibordenagy.com/artists/broderick.html
3. http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=15137
4. Broderick's Set to Bloom In 'Producers' Celia McGee
5. http://www.matthewbroderick.net/interview/americanway060101.html
6. http://www.angelfire.com/mb/matthewbroderick/news.html
7. http://www.matthewbroderick.net/article/detour96.html
8. http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/27905/format/html/displaystory.html
9. http://www.matthewbroderick.net/article/people00.html

External links

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★ 2004 Story from ''60 Minutes II''

★ Matthew Broderick - ''Downstage Center'' 2004 interview at American Theatre Wing.org

★ TonyAwards.com Interview with Matthew Broderick