Matthew Lawrence Biography

Matthew William Lawrence (born February 11, 1980) is an American actor known for his leading role in the movie Cheats with Trevor Fehrman and his role of Jack Hunter on the ABC sitcom Boy Meets World from 1997 to 2000 and its spin-off Girl Meets World, as well as his roles in movies such as The Hot Chick, The Comebacks, and Mrs. Doubtfire. He also played a TV sitcom, "Brotherly Love" where he played along with his real-life brothers, and played Matt/Matthew Roman.

Early life

Lawrence was born in Abington Township, Pennsylvania, the son of Donna Lynn (ne Shaw), a personnel manager, and Joseph Lawrence, Sr., an insurance broker. His family's surname was changed to Lawrence from Mignogna before he was born. He is of half Italian descent. He is the middle-born of three boys; with two brothers, Joey and Andrew, both of whom are also actors. Lawrence attended classes at Abington Friends School.

Career

Lawrence began acting in the mid-1980s, his first role being that of Danny Carrington in Dynasty. He continued as a child actor through the early 1990s, appearing in many television and feature film roles, including the 1993 Robin Williams comedy Mrs. Doubtfire and the mid-1990s television series Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad. In addition, he maintained starring roles in Brotherly Love, which starred his real life brothers, and Boy Meets World where he played the character Jack. Lawrence also appeared alongside Rob Schneider in The Hot Chick.

Lawrence's singing debut was in 1986, when he and Joey performed at the 1986 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (Matt sang at the 1991 Macy's Parade as well). Other musical Matt rarities can be found on two Gimme A Break episodes (Nell's Secret Admirer; Johnny B. Goode & The Window; Part 1; Rock & Roll Music), two Brotherly Love episodes (A Roman Holiday; Silent Night, Art Attack; Pigeon On Your Car) and his last musical moment on Boy Meets World (As Time Goes By; This Dame). Except for Silent Night and This Dame, Matt also played guitar on the remaining three.

In 2011, Lawrence guest-starred on his brother's sitcom ABC Family's Melissa & Joey.

In 2015, he reprised his role as Jack Hunter in the series Girl Meets World, a spin-off/sequel of Boy Meets World.

Personal life

He was previously engaged to Heidi Mueller from 2004 to 2006. He dated dancer Cheryl Burke from 2007 to 2008. He is currently in a long term relationship with model Laura Jayne New.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	Planes, Trains and Automobiles	Little Neal
1988	Pulse	Stevie
1990	Tales from the Darkside: The Movie	Timmy
1993	Mrs. Doubtfire	Chris Hillard
1998	'	Dennis	AKA, All I Wanna Do
1998	Rusty: A Dog's Tale	Rusty the Dog (voice)
1998	Kiki's Delivery Service	Tombo (voice)	English dub
2000	Glow	Jeremy
2000	Big Monster on Campus	Frank Stein
2002	Cheats	Victor
2002	'	Billy
2006	Monster Night	Brock	Video
2007	'	Lance Truman
2008	Trucker	Scott
2009	Creature of Darkness	Lance
2011	Fort McCoy	Dan Griffin
2012	Of Silence	Brian
2013	My Santa	Chris

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984–1985	Dynasty	Danny Carrington Jr.	TV series
1985	Sara	Jesse Webber	Recurring role (13 episodes)
1985	ABC Afterschool Special	Matt	Episode: "Don't Touch"
1986–1987	Gimme a Break!	Matthew Donovan	18 episodes
1988	David	David Rothenberg	TV film
1989	Wilfrid's Special Christmas	Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge	TV film
1990	Joshua's Heart	Joshua	TV film
1990	Lifestories: Families in Crisis		Episode: "The Hawkins Family"
1991	'	Timmy	TV film
1991	Daddy	Sam Watson	TV film
1991	Blossom	Young Joey	Episode: "Thanks for the Memorex" Episode: "This Old House"
1991–1992	Drexell's Class	Walker	14 episodes
1991–1992	Walter & Emily	Zach Collins	13 episodes
1992	With a Vengeance	Phillip Barcetti	TV film
1994	Blossom	Young Joey	Episode: "Night of Reckoning"
1994–1995	Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad	Sam Collins / Servo	Main role (53 episodes)
1995	Bringing up Jack	Ryan McMahon	6 episodes
1995–1997	Brotherly Love	Matt Roman	Main role (40 episodes)
1996	Brothers of the Frontier	Aaron Frye	TV film
1996	Adventures from the Book of Virtues	Tom Sawyer (voice)	Episode: "Work"
1997	Angels in the Endzone	Jesse Harper	TV film
1997–2000	Boy Meets World	Jack Hunter	Main role (68 episodes)
1999	H-E Double Hockey Sticks	Dave Heinrich	TV film
1999	Horse Sense	Cowboy at Airport (uncredited)	TV film
2000	Girl Band	Mike	TV film
2001	Jumping Ship	Jake Hunter	TV film
2003	CSI: Miami	Chuck Shaw	Episode: "Hard Time"
2004	Boston Public	Billy Deegan	Episode: "Chapter 80"
2011	Melissa & Joey	Tony Longo	Episode: "The Other Longo"
2011	Inside Carly	Jim	TV series
2013	My Santa	Chris	TV film
2014	Melissa & Joey	Tony Longo	Episode: "Uninvited"
2015	Workaholics	Coast Guard Guy	Episode: "Front Yard Wrestling"
2015	Girl Meets World	Jack Hunter	Episode: "Girl Meets Semi-Formal"