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 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 played Leo Bloom in the film and Broadway productions of The Producers, and played Colonel Robert Shaw in the Civil War drama Glory.

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 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).

Broderick's first major acting role came in an HB Studio workshop production of playwright Horton Foote's On Valentine's Day, playing opposite his father, who was a friend of Foote's. This was followed by a lead role in the off-Broadway production of Harvey Fierstein's Torch Song Trilogy; then, a good review by New York Times theater critic Mel Gussow brought him to the attention of Broadway. Broderick commented on the effects of that review in a 2004 60 Minutes II interview: