Matthew Broderick (born March 21, 1962) is an American film and stage actor who is best known for his roles as the title character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Nick Tatopoulos in Godzilla and David Lightman in WarGames. He voiced Simba (adult) in The Lion King and The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. He also voiced Tack the Cobbler in The Thief and the Cobbler. He also played Leo Bloom in the film and Broadway productions of The Producers, and played Colonel Robert Gould Shaw in the Civil War drama Glory.

Early life

Broderick was born in New York City, the son of Patricia (née Biow), a playwright, actress, and painter whose work was posthumously shown at the Tibor de Nagy gallery in New York, and James Wilke Broderick, an actor. Broderick's mother was Jewish, and his father a Catholic of Irish descent. Broderick attended grade school at the City & Country School (a progressive K–8 school in Manhattan) and attended high school at Walden School (a defunct private school in Manhattan with a strong drama program).