• Faith: Judaism
• Career: Actor
• Birthday:  March 21, 1962

Matthew Broderick is an actor. His roles include the Golden Globe-nominated portrayal of the title character in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” the voice of adult Simba in Disney’s “The Lion King,” and Leo Bloom in both the Broadway musical “The Producers” and its 2005 film adaptation. Other films he’s starred in include “WarGames,” “Glory,” “The Freshman,” “The Cable Guy,” “Godzilla,” “Inspector Gadget,” “and “The Last Shot.” He also directed himself in “Infinity” and provided voice work in “Good Boy!,” “Bee Movie,” and “The Tales of Despereaux.” Broderick has won two Tony Awards, one for Best Featured Actor in a Play for “Brighton Beach Memoirs” and one for Best Actor in a Musical for “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.”

In 2001, he starred in Mel Brooks’ musical comedy “The Producers” alongside Nathan Lane and later reunited with Lane in the Broadway revival of Terrence McNally’s showbiz comedy “It’s Only a Play.” In 2013, Broderick starred in the musical "Nice Work If You Can Get It,” which was nominated for the Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album. As of 2020, he remains the youngest winner of the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. In 2006, for his contributions to the film industry, Broderick was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2017, he was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. Broderick was born in Manhattan, the son of Patricia and James Broderick. He attended grade school at City and Country School in Manhattan and high school at the private Walden School, which is also in Manhattan. He received acting training at HB Studio.

Broderick’s first major acting role came in an HB Studio workshop production of playwright Horton Foote’s “On Valentine’s Day,” playing opposite his father, a friend of Foote’s. This role was followed by a supporting role as Harvey Fierstein’s gay adopted son, David, in the off-Broadway production of Fierstein’s “Torch Song Trilogy,” then a good review by The New York Times theater critic Mel Gussow brought him to the attention of Broadway. Broderick spoke on the effects of that review in a “60 Minutes” interview. He said, “Before I knew it, I was like this guy in a hot play. And suddenly, all these doors opened. And it’s only because Mel Gussow happened to come by right before it closed and happened to like it. It’s just amazing. All these things have to line up that are out of your control.” Broderick and actress Sarah Jessica Parker married in 1997 in an Episcopal ceremony officiated by his sister, Rev. Janet Broderick Kraft. They have a son, and twin daughters via surrogacy.

What religion is Matthew Broderick?

Broderick’s mother identified as Jewish, and his father identified as Catholic, but Broderick himself identifies as Jewish, as does his wife. According to Parker, Broderick identifies strongly with Judaism. In one interview, she said, “Matthew not only identifies as a Jew. I mean, he really is. He knows more about the Bible and Jewish stories. He really sees things through the eyes of a Jew, and it’s fascinating to me. His perspective in life has very much to do with Hitler and the persecution of Jews.”