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Matthew Steven LeBlanc (born July 25, 1967) is an Emmy and Golden Globe Award-nominated American actor, best known for his role as Joey Tribbiani in the NBC sitcoms Friends and Joey. A former model and commercial actor who utilized his working-class ethnic good looks for comedic effect in several sitcoms, LeBlanc began his professional career in commercials for Heinz Ketchup, Levi's Jeans and Doritos. He entered series TV with the high school drama, "TV 101" (CBS, 1988-89) and appeared in sitcom guest spots before co-starring, opposite Joseph Bologna, in the "Married With Children" spin-off "Top of the Heap" (Fox, 1990-91). As Vinnie, the younger half of a blue-collar father-son team that attempted to prey on rich women, LeBlanc demonstrated that he could smile, wear tight jeans and act dim-witted. After that short-lived gig, he reprised the role for another failed effort, "Vinnie and Bobby" (Fox, 1991-92). His father is Paul LeBlanc, and his mother is Pat Grossman. He is of mixed Irish, Dutch, English, and French descent on his father's side, and of Italian ancestry on his mother's; he is almost always cast as Italian. When Matt was 8 years old he wanted to be a motorcycle racer. He entered into junior competitions until finally giving it up. Matt trained and did well in carpentry when he was young, winning the "Golden Hammer" award while attending high school. He was also cast as Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar at the Cultural Arts Playhouse. LeBlanc graduated from Newton North High School in 1985. Before Newton North Matt attended Frank Ashely Middle School located in Newtonville Massachusetts. After high school he attended college at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, MA. He left a while after starting his second semester. In the late 1980s, Le Blanc began appearing in a number of television ads, including well-known spots for Heinz, Levi's and Coca-Cola. Matt has said that with the one ketchup commercial he was able to buy a house, a car, a motorcycle, and a wardrobe full of clothes. In 1988, he landed his first regular TV role, on the drama TV 101 which ran for one season. In the late 1980s, he also starred in Bob Seger's "Night Moves" music video. In 1991 he starred in the music video for Alanis Morissette's single "Walk Away", in which he played her boyfriend. In 1991, he went on to star in a spin-off of Married With Children entitled Top of the Heap. The short lived series only lasted 7 episodes in April and May of 1991. He also played his Top of the Heap character Vinnie Verducci in a number of Married With Children episodes. Le Blanc also appeared in one episode of Red Shoe Diaries in 1991. LeBlanc finally struck sitcom gold as part of the twentysomething ensemble series, "Friends" (NBC, 1994-2004), as aspiring actor Joey Tribiani. The beefy actor provided enough charm and wit to his character to elevate what could have been just another "himbo" role. He has also appeared in more serious TV projects including "Anything to Survive" (ABC, 1990), a telefilm co-starring Robert Conrad, and two feature-length installments of Showtime's stylish "Rebel Highway" (1994) series: the John Milius-directed "Motorcycle Gang" and "Reform School Girl", helmed by Jonathan Kaplan. The former was a "family against nature" tale while the latter two were zesty remakes of two 1957 American International Pictures drive-in flicks. His feature debut, "Ed" (1996), in which he played straight man to a chimp, however, failed to win over critics and audiences. LeBlanc fared somewhat better with his turn as Major Don West in the feature version of the 60s TV series "Lost in Space" (1998). He also brought a dash of Joey-esque charm to his role as Lucy Liu's Hollywood actor boyfriend in the smash 2000 remake "Charlie's Angels." Le Blanc finally made it big when he landed the role of Joey Tribbiani in 1994 on Friends, and went on to play this character for twelve years; in ten seasons of Friends and two seasons of Joey. When Matt LeBlanc auditioned for the role as Joey Tribbiani he only had $11. When the cast got their paychecks, the first thing he bought was a hot dinner. Friends was hugely successful and Le Blanc, along with his co-stars, gained wide recognition among television viewers. Le Blanc's most notable movie roles have been in the films Ed (1996), Lost in Space (1998), Charlie's Angels (2000) and All the Queen's Men (2001). In 2002, LeBlanc challenged his beefy boy image in his starring turn as O'Rourke in the war comedy "All The Queen's Men," in which he is asked to cross enemy lines while cross-dressed in order to infiltrate a factory which exclusively employs women but the film was roundly panned, but LeBlanc re-earned audience's goodwill with another small but sparkling turn in "Charlie's Angels 2: Full Throttle" (2003) and a heavily hyped storyline on "Friends" that had womanizing Joey falling for his close gal pal Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), a turn of events LeBlanc pulled off with surprising vulnerability and his increasingly disarming comedic delivery. As the venerable series headed into its final season, NBC announced that upon the conclusion of "Friends" the character of Joey Tribiani would be spun off into his own solo series, produced by a team of "Friends" scribes and starring LeBlanc, who would also have a creative and financial stake in the new venture. Le Blanc has not appeared on screen since Joey was cancelled in 2006, but is now concentrating on producing, as he formed the production company Fort Hill Productions with partner John Goldstone. Under his production company, he has co-produced the made-for-TV movie The Prince in 2006, and is set to co-produce the James Wong directed movie The Watch. From 2002-2004, Le Blanc was nominated three consecutive years as Best Actor at the Emmy Awards, while from 2003-2005 he received three consecutive Best Actor nominations at the Golden Globe Awards. In 2000, he won Editor's Choice in TV Guide Awards (as Friends). In 2002, he won TV - Choice Actor - Comedy at the Teen Choice Awards (as Friends). In 2005, he won Favorite Male Television Star at the People's Choice Awards. On May 3, 2003, LeBlanc married girlfriend of six years Melissa McKnight and the couple had one daughter, Marina Pearl LeBlanc, who was born February 8, 2004. Marina Pearl was diagnosed as having a rare brain disorder. This disorder affects the motor abilities, causing seizures. In August 2005, LeBlanc publicly apologized to his wife and the public for having inappropriate contact with a stripper during a vacation in British Columbia. The couple separated on January 1, 2006, and in March of that year, LeBlanc filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. Their divorce became final on October 6, 2006. According to Entertainment Tonight, LeBlanc has been dating Joey co-star Andrea Anders. |
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