Matthew Labyorteaux (original) (raw)

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American film, television, and voice actor (b. 1966)

Matthew Labyorteaux
Labyorteaux on Little House on the Prairie, 1977
Born	Matthew Charles Labyorteaux (1966-12-08) December 8, 1966 (age 58)Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1972–present
Known for	Role of Albert Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie
Spouse	Leslie Labyorteaux ​ ​(m. 2020)​[1]
Children	2[1]
Relatives	Patrick Labyorteaux (brother)

Matthew Charles Labyorteaux (born December 8, 1966) is an American film, television and voice actor.[2][3] In many of his credits, his last name is spelled as "Laborteaux".[4] He is also credited as Matthew Charles for his work in animation.

He is best known as the voice of Jaden Yuki and The Supreme King in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX from 2005 to 2008. He is also known for portraying Albert Ingalls[5] on Little House on the Prairie from 1978 to 1983.

Labyorteaux was born in Los Angeles and adopted by interior designer and talent agent Ronald Labyorteaux (1930–92) and actress Frances Marshall, born Frances Newman (1927–2012). He is the younger brother of Patrick, also adopted and also an actor, and Jane. An article in People magazine from 1978 reported that he was born with a hole in his heart, was thought to be autistic for the first five years of his life, and was unable to walk until the age of three or speak until the age of five.[6] According to one report, his autism symptoms were managed through changes in his diet.[7] Another source says the symptoms began to gradually disappear by the time he was seven, mentioning only the care of his adoptive family.[8]

Labyorteaux began working in commercials at the age of seven, having been discovered while accompanying his older brother, Patrick Labyorteaux, to a casting call. He shortly thereafter landed his first dramatic role in A Woman Under the Influence, directed and written by John Cassavetes, where he played one of the children of Peter Falk and Gena Rowlands's characters.[9]

Aside from his tenure on Little House on the Prairie, Labyorteaux also starred in the short-lived television series The Red Hand Gang (1977) and Whiz Kids (1983–1984), in addition to several made-for-television movies. His most prominent film role was in Wes Craven's Deadly Friend (1986) as Paul Conway, a young genius who resurrects a dead girl using an artificial intelligence microchip from a robot he created that had previously been destroyed by a malicious neighbor.[10]

He made guest appearances on numerous television shows, including The Rookies, The Bob Newhart Show, Mulligan's Stew, Lou Grant, Here's Boomer (spin-off of The Red Hand Gang), The Love Boat, Simon & Simon (crossover episode with Whiz Kids), Highway to Heaven, Night Court, Paradise, and Silk Stalkings.

More recently, Labyorteaux has worked as a voice actor, providing characterizations in video games and animated features, additional dialogue recording in film and television, and voice-over in advertisements.

Labyorteaux is a skilled video game player. In October 1981, he finished in 10th place for Centipede at the Atari, Inc. world championships. In April 1982, he became the United States Pac-Man champion at a _People_-sponsored tournament, with a score of 1,200,000.[11]

In 1992, Matthew and Patrick founded the Youth Rescue Fund (which was partnered with Los Angeles Youth Supportive Services), a charity organization that assists young people in crisis, and have since engaged in fundraising for youth shelters across the U.S. The organization is no longer active.

On July 17, 2020, Labyorteaux married his wife Leslie.[12] Matthew is the stepfather to Leslie's two children.[1]

1. ^ a b c Pop Culture Retro interview with Matthew Labyorteaux from Little House on the Prairie! Part One. Pop Culture Retro. May 19, 2021. Archived from the original on September 12, 2021. Retrieved October 5, 2021 – via YouTube.
2. ^ Reilly, S. (September 11, 1978). Donovan, H (ed.). "Landon's Little Kids". People Weekly. 10 (11). Chicago, IL: Time: 92–96. ISSN 0093-7673. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
3. ^ Harris, H. (December 20, 1981). Roberts, E.L. Jr. (ed.). "Laborteaux trio: Matt, Pat, and Mom" (PDF). The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, PA: J.S. Knight: TV04. ISSN 0885-6613. Retrieved July 15, 2012.
4. ^ "Matthew Labyorteaux". IMdb. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
5. ^ "Matthew Labyorteaux". Biography.com. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
6. ^ Reilly, Sue (September 11, 1978). "Landon's little kids". People. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
7. ^ Martin, Bob (March 6, 1977). "From Shakespeare to TV comedies — Stiers does it all". Press-Telegram. p. 194. Retrieved April 6, 2023. [Labyorteaux]'s an autistic child himself, whose symptoms have been controlled by a change in his diet.
8. ^ Polsky, Milton E. (1979). Today's Young Stars of Stage and Screen. F. Watts. p. 73. ISBN 9780531028858. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
9. ^ Norton, Paula (February 7, 1976). "Notes from the wasteland: A special friendship". Argus-Courier.
10. ^ Goldstein, Patrick (October 14, 1986). "Deadly Friend slows flow of gore". The Los Angeles Times.
11. ^ "Pac-Man Champ: Ready on the Set". Softline. September 1982. p. 9. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
12. ^ Twitter https://twitter.com/mlabyorteauxfan/status/1283969747307106304. Retrieved September 15, 2021.

• "About Patrick Laborteaux and Matthew Laborteaux". Little House on the Prairie (littlehouseontheprairie.com). July 22, 2017.
• Matthew Labyorteaux at IMDb
• Matthew Labyorteaux at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Matthew Labyorteaux at Anime News Network's encyclopedia