Friends Central
Register
Advertisement

Matthew Steven "Matt" LeBlanc (born July 25, 1967) is an American actor who garnered global recognition with his portrayal of Joey Tribbiani in the NBC sitcom Friends and in its spin-off series, Joey. For his work on Friends, LeBlanc received three nominations at the Primetime Emmy Awards. Along with the rest of the main cast, LeBlanc participated in the 2021 reunion special Friends: The Reunion.

Aside from Friends, LeBlanc has also starred as a fictionalized version of himself in Episodes (2011–2017), for which he won a Golden Globe Award and received four additional Emmy Award nominations. He co-hosted Top Gear from 2016 to 2019. From 2016 to 2020, he played patriarch Adam Burns in the CBS sitcom Man with a Plan.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Matt LeBlanc's 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 before 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 Ashley Day Junior High School located in Newtonville, Massachusetts. After high school he attended college at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, MA. He left shortly after starting his second semester.

Career[]

In the late 1980s, LeBlanc began appearing in a number of television ads, including well-known spots for Heinz, Levi's and Coca-Cola. Matt has said that with 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. LeBlanc also appeared in one episode of Red Shoe Diaries in 1991.

JoeyTribbiani

Joey Tribbiani, LeBlanc's most famous television role

LeBlanc 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 LeBlanc auditioned for the role as Joey he only had $11. When the cast got their paychecks, the first thing he bought was a hot dinner.[1] Friends was hugely successful and LeBlanc, along with his co-stars, gained wide recognition among television viewers. Known for being a ladies' man and having a rather silly but adorable personality, the character of Joey was popular with viewers and won LeBlanc received three nominations at the Primetime Emmy Awards.

In 2000 he appeared in Bon Jovi's music video "Say It Isn't So".

LeBlanc's most notable movie roles have been in the films Ed (1996), Lost in Space (1998), Charlie's Angels (2000), All the Queen's Men (2001), Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003) and Lovesick (2014).

From 2011, LeBlanc appeared as a fictionalized version of himself in Episodes, a television series about an American remake of a fictional British television series. The series is written by Friends co-creator David Crane and his partner Jeffrey Klarik, and contains multiple references to Friends. At the 69th Golden Globe Awards in 2012, LeBlanc won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a television series, musical, or comedy, and was nominated for an additional four Primetime Emmy Awards.

LeBlanc became the lead presenter of Top Gear following his predecessor, Chris Evans, quitting after just one series. He would then take Evans' role from Series 24 through to Series 26, before leaving the show in 2019. He would star in 26 episodes of Top Gear, 24 of them as presenter. His role was replaced by Freddie Flintoff and Paddy McGuinness. LeBlanc first appeared in the series as the Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car, and later returned to test the new version of the Kia Cee'd, which was shown in Jeremy Clarkson's film entitled the "Thorough Cee'd Test". In 2016, LeBlanc hosted a BBC America special, Top Gear: The Races.

From 2016 to 2020, LeBlanc played patriarch Adam Burns in the CBS sitcom Man with a Plan. He was also the executive producer of the series.

In May 2021, LeBlanc participated in the special episode Friends: The Reunion.

Personal life[]

On May 3, 2003, LeBlanc married his 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. He also has a stepdaughter, Jacquelyn, 13, and a stepson, Tyler, 17, from Melissa's previous marriage.

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 dated Joey co-star Andrea Anders from 2006 to 2015. LeBlanc has been dating the Top Gear producer Aurora Mulligan since 2016.

Awards[]

From 2002-2004, LeBlanc was nominated three consecutive years as Best Actor in a Comedy Series 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.

Filmography[]

Film[]

Year Title Role Notes
1987 Doll Day Afternoon GI Joe Film debut, short film
1993 Grey Knight Terhue
Red Shoe Diaries 3: Another Woman's Lipstick Kyle Segment: "Just Like That"
1994 Lookin' Italian Anthony Manetti
1996 Ed Jack 'Deuce’ Cooper
1997 Red Shoe Diaries 7: Burning Up Jed Segment: "Kidnap"
1998 Lost in Space Major Don West
2000 Charlie's Angels Jason Gibbs
2001 All the Queen's Men O'Rourke
2003 Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle Jason Gibbs
2010 Jonah Hex N/A Executive producer
2014 Lovesick Charlie Darby

Television[]

Year Title Role Notes
1988–1989 TV 101 Chuck Bender Series regular (13 episodes)
1989 Just the Ten of Us Todd Murphy 2 episodes
1990 Anything to Survive Billy Burton Television movie
Monsters Tommy Episode: "Shave and a Haircut, Two Bites"
1991 Married... with Children Vinnie Verducci 4 episodes
Top of the Heap Main cast (7 episodes)
1992 Vinnie & Bobby Main cast (7 episodes)
1992–1993 Red Shoe Diaries Tom's Brother, Jed Cody/Kyle 2 episodes
1993 Class of '96 Frank Goodman Episode: "Bright Smoke, Cold Fire"
1994 Reform School Girl Vince Television movie
1994–2004 Friends Joey Tribbiani Main cast (236 episodes)
2004–2006 Joey Main cast (46 episodes)
2011–2017 Episodes Fictionalized version of himself Main cast (41 episodes)
2012 Top Gear Himself (guest) 1 episode
2013 Web Therapy Nick Jericho Web series; 3 episodes
Web Therapy Television series; 2 episodes
2015 The Prince Television movie; producer
2016–2019 Top Gear Himself (presenter) 24 episodes (series 23, 24, 25, 26)
2016–2020 Man with a Plan Adam Burns Main cast (69 episodes); also executive producer
2021 Friends: The Reunion Himself HBO Max special; also executive producer
Top Gear: A Tribute to Sabine Schmitz Himself 1 episode

Notes and Trivia[]

  • His western zodiac sign is Leo and his Chinese zodiac sign is a Goat.
  • His trademark is his deep baritone voice.
  • His height is 5' 9½" (1,77 m)
  • He was born at 4:18am-EDT
  • He is a motorcycle enthusiast and hosted his own TV show
  • He has a tattoo of a bike chain around his right bicep and above it is the name of his daughter, Marina Pearl.
  • His character, Joey Tribbiani, once attempted to learn French and was extremely bad at it. In real life, LeBlanc is fluent in the language.

External links[]

Advertisement