Matt LeBlanc

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.
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. 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 	
1993	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
1990 	Monsters 	Tommy 	Episode: "Shave and a Haircut, Two Bites"
1991 	Married... with Children 	Vinnie Verducci 	4 episodes
1991 	Top of the Heap 	Vinnie Verducci 	Main cast (7 episodes)
1992 	Vinnie & Bobby 	Vinnie Verducci 	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 	Joey Tribbiani 	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
2013 	Web Therapy 	Nick Jericho 	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
2021 	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==
* Matt LeBlanc at the Internet Movie Database
* Matt LeBlanc on Man with a Plan Wiki (Fandom) 
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