Matthew Steven LeBlanc born July 25, 1967 is an American actor and comedian. He 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, Le Blanc received three nominations at the Primetime Emmy Awards. He 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.
Early life
Le Blanc was born in Newton, Massachusetts. His mother, Patricia (née Di Cillo), was an office manager; his father, Paul LeBlanc, was a mechanic. His father is of French-Canadian descent and his mother is of Italian ancestry. He attended Newton North High School, where he graduated in the same year as future comedian Louis C.K.. He moved to New York at the age of 17 to pursue a career in modeling. He was told he was too short to be in the industry. On one occasion, he had to visit his friend and on the way to his apartment he stumbled across a “cute girl” he quoted, she then told him she was on her way to an acting class and asked him if he would like to come along, and thinking nothing of it, he agreed to go to the acting class. After his first class he realized that this was something he would like to do. He did many commercials and small tv shows and movies before finally getting his big break with Friends.
Career
1987–1994: Early career
LeBlanc at the 47th Primetime Emmy Awards, 1995
LeBlanc first appeared in a 1987 Heinz Tomato Ketchup commercial. In 1988, he starred in the television drama TV 101 for one season. In 1991, he had a recurring role on the hit Fox sitcom Married… with Children. He played Vinnie Verducci, a family friend of protagonist Al Bundy (Ed O’Neill) who briefly dates his daughter, Kelly (Christina Applegate). He also guest starred in the 90’s show the Red Shoe Diaries in the first season. LeBlanc went on to star in two short-lived spin-offs: Top of the Heap (1991) and Vinnie & Bobby (1992).
He appeared in two Bon Jovi music videos: “Miracle”, from the Young Guns II soundtrack in 1990, and “Say It Isn’t So” in 2000. He also appeared in videos for Alanis Morissette’s single “Walk Away”, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “Into the Great Wide Open”, and Bob Seger’s “Night Moves”.
1994–2004: Friends
LeBlanc found success in the role of the dimwitted but lovable Joey Tribbiani on Friends, and went on to play this character for 12 years — 10 seasons of Friends and two seasons of Joey. Friends was wildly successful, and LeBlanc, along with his co-stars, gained wide recognition among viewers. This ensemble situation comedy became a major hit for NBC, airing on Thursday nights for ten years.
For his performance, LeBlanc received three Primetime Emmy Award nominations, three Golden Globe award nominations, and one Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. During this time he also appeared in the films Lookin’ Italian (1994), Ed (1996), Lost in Space (1998), Charlie’s Angels (2000), and its sequel, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003).
2006–2011: Hiatus
Following the cancellation of Joey, LeBlanc announced that he would be taking a one-year hiatus from acting on television, which eventually turned into five years. His next role was a fictionalized version of himself on Episodes.
2011–present: Career revival
LeBlanc at the Golden Globes with Meryl Streep, 2012
From 2011, LeBlanc began appearing as a fictional version of himself in Episodes, a television series about a fictional American remake of an equally fictional British television series. The series is written by Friends co-creator David Crane and his partner Jeffrey Klarik. 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.
In February 2012, LeBlanc appeared in the second episode of the eighteenth series of Top Gear, where he set the fastest lap time in the “Star in a Reasonably Priced Car” segment in a Kia Cee’d. Lapping at 1:42.1, he beat the show’s previous recordholder Rowan Atkinson by 0.1 seconds. He also appeared in the fourth episode of the nineteenth season to race the New Kia Cee’d, and beat his previous time.
In February 2016, the BBC announced LeBlanc had signed on to become one of the new Top Gear hosts, signing a new two-year deal later that year. He announced his decision to retire from the series in May 2018, having co-hosted it for three years. Despite the show being “great fun”, he stated the “time commitment and extensive travel takes me away from my family and friends more than I’m comfortable with.”
LeBlanc played the lead role in the CBS sitcom Man with a Plan, which began airing in 2016 until it was cancelled in 2020.
Personal life
LeBlanc married Melissa McKnight, a British-born American model and a divorced single mother of two children, in May 2003. In 1997, they were introduced to each other by McKnight’s friend, wife of actor Lou Diamond Phillips. LeBlanc proposed to her a year later. Their daughter, Marina, born in 2004, began suffering seizures at eight months old. By the time she was two years old, the condition, thought to be a form of dysplasia, had mostly subsided. LeBlanc and McKnight divorced in October 2006, citing irreconcilable differences.