Matthew Broderick Biography

Following an auspicious debut, Broderick attracted the attention of playwright Neil Simon, who cast him in the Tony Award-winning role of Eugene Jerome in his Broadway play ‘Brighton Beach Memoirs’.

After turning down the part of Alex Keaton on the TV series ‘Family Ties’, Broderick launched his film career with a definitive turn as a teenage computer hacker in the thriller ‘War Games’.

Despite his previous critical success on both stage and screen, Broderick's breakthrough performance came with his loveable portrayal of the fast-talking and precocious teen chancer in John Hughes’ enduring comedy, ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’.

In 1989, he starred opposite Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman in the highly acclaimed Civil War drama, ‘Glory’. He continued to demonstrate his versatility in films ranging from the gangster farce ‘The Freshman’, to the Disney animated blockbuster ‘The Lion King’.

In 1996, Broderick made his directorial debut with ‘Infinity’, a romantic drama based on the life of Nobel Prize-winning scientist Richard Feynman. A handful of mainstream films followed, including the critical failures ‘The Cable Guy’, ‘Godzilla’ and ‘Inspector Gadget’.

Broderick has begun to evidence a return to form in notable performances in the satire ‘Election’ and Kenneth Lonergan’s family drama ‘You Can Count On Me’. In 2001, he returned to Broadway, opening to rave reviews in the wildly popular stage version of Mel Brooks' ‘The Producers’.

In 1997, Broderick married long-time girlfriend Sarah Jessica Parker. Their first son, James Wilke Broderick, was born in October 2002.