Matt LeBlanc Biography
- Born: 25-07-1967
- Birth Place: Newton, Massachusetts
Matt LeBlanc Biography
“How you doin’?” With these three little words, the fictional Joey Tribbiani enamoured many, many women. Matt LeBlanc worked hard to secure his role in the phenomenal hit ‘Friends’ and his struggling actor role wasn’t too much of a stretch for the jobbing thespian. But like his other co-stars, he has found it hard to replicate the world-wide success or find a new role. But then again, considering he’s already made a million an episode, the question to his critics is, ‘how you doing?’
Matt, like his famous creation, comes from an Italian American mother though he can also claim an Irish, English, Dutch and French background as well. He was born, raised, and schooled in Massachusetts. He went onto college there but dropped out before completion opting to pursue a modelling job in Florida. One of his jobs involved posing for a gay travel guide.
He then went onto to appear in several television commercials for a variety of high profile brands including the classic Cannes award-winning Heinz tomato ketchup in 1987. He had secured his first regular acting by the age of 21 appearing as a regular character in both ‘TV 101’ and the cult hit and essential late night UK viewing, ‘Married with Children’. Despite occasional roles over the next few years, his tenacity would not be properly rewarded until 1994 with the ten season, syndicated, smash-hit, sit-com, ‘Friends’.
His portrayal of ‘The One who is Big-hearted, Simple-minded, Womanising, In and Out of Work Actor who has an Eating Disorder’ endeared him to viewers. His brotherly protection of Chandler was rewarded with him being given his own room when Monica and Chandler settled down. His lack of understanding of any given situation, and of virtually any sentence (that didn’t involve sex) gave him the majority of punch-lines in every show. But the double pizza eating poster boy for V.D, and ex soap-star Dr Drake Ramoray fared less well when he tried to strike out on his own without his ensemble of friends.
His spin-off series Joey aired from 2004-2006 and gone were LeBlanc’s days of earning a million dollars an episode. Ironically, as the series slipped in popularity, the character of Joey secures more and more successful roles.
Matt LeBlanc had starred in a number of reasonably received feature films including ‘Lookin' Italian’ (1994), ‘Lost in Space’ (1998), and ‘Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle’ (2003).
From 2003 to 2006, Matt LeBlanc was married to Melissa McKnight with whom he had one daughter, Marina. She suffers from a rare brain disorder and despite the couple’s divorce, the pair continue to jointly care for her. Matt LeBlanc has since been seeing one of his ‘Joey’ co-stars.
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