Matthew Broderick

Long known to movie fans as sneaky-smart truant Ferris Beuller, Matthew Broderick is also one of Broadway's most dependable stars. Born to an actor father and playwright mother, Broderick began making a name for himself in hit Broadway plays such as Brighton Beach Memoirs (for which he won a 1983 Tony award) and Biloxi Blues. His movie debut came in 1983's Max Dugan Returns, but it was the 1986 teens-on-the-loose comedy Ferris Bueller's Day Off that made him a star. Broderick worked in movies and on stage throughout the 1990s, appearing in films such as The Lion King (1994, as the voice of Simba) and Election (1999, with Reese Witherspoon), and winning another Tony award in 1995 for How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. He made his film directing debut in 1996 with Infinity, and he married actress Sarah Jessica Parker in 1997. In 2001 he had another Broadway success as Leo Bloom in the Mel Brooks musical The Producers.

Extra credit: Broderick's father was actor James Broderick, known to TV audiences as the father in the old ABC series Family (1976-80)...Ferris Bueller's Day Off was turned into a bad TV series in 1990, but without Broderick: it starred Charlie Schlatter as Ferris and Jennifer Aniston as his sister, Jeannie.