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.

Matthew Labyorteaux
Labyorteaux on Little House on the Prairie, 1977
Born
Matthew Charles Labyorteaux

(1966-12-08) December 8, 1966 (age 57)
OccupationActor
Years active1972–present
Known forRole of Albert Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie
Spouse
Leslie Labyorteaux
(m. 2020)
[1]
Children2[1]
RelativesPatrick Labyorteaux (brother)

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.

Early life

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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]

Career

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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.

Personal life

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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]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1974 A Woman Under the Influence Angelo Longhetti
1978 King of the Gypsies Middle Dave
1986 Deadly Friend Paul Conway
1998 Mulan Additional voices
2006 Everyone's Hero
2009 Bride Wars
2011 Yu-Gi-Oh!: Bonds Beyond Time Jaden Yuki (voice) English dub
2013 The Wind Rises Additional voices
2018 Next Gen

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1975 The Rookies Jody Gifford Episode: "Lamb to the Slaughter"
Phyllis Child Episode: "There's No Business Like No Business"
1976 & 1978–1983 Little House on the Prairie Albert Quinn Ingalls, Young Charles Ingalls Main role
1976 NBC Special Treat Billy Episode: "Papa and Me"
The Practice Pete Episode: "Judy Sinclair"
Doc David Episode: The Death of a Turtle
The Bob Newhart Show Richie Episode: "My Boy Guillermo"
1977 A Circle of Children Brian O'Connell TV movie
Most Wanted Billy Joe Nelson Episode: "The Tunnel Killer"
Mulligan's Stew Duane Episode: "Biggest Mansion"
The Red Hand Gang Frankie 12 episodes
Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo Matthew Beck TV movie
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman Johnny Doe / Wild Child Main role
1978 Killing Stone Christopher Stone TV movie
1979 The Little House Years Albert Ingalls
Lou Grant Mark Donner Episode: "Kids"
1980 Here's Boomer Jesse Episode: "Jailbreak"
The Aliens Are Coming Timmy Garner TV movie
1982 The Love Boat Chip Bronson Episode: "Winning Isn't Everything"
1983 Simon & Simon Richie Adler Episode: "Fly the Alibi Skies"
Little House: Look Back to Yesterday Albert Ingalls TV movie
1983–1984 Whiz Kids Richie Adler Main role
1985 Amazing Stories Andy Episode: "Fine Tuning"
Highway to Heaven Matt Haynes Episode: "The Right Thing"
1986 Shattered Spirits Ken Mollencamp TV movie
1988 Hotel Mark Daniels Episode: "Double Take"
1989 Night Court Bobby Johnson 2 episodes
1990 Paradise Sam Devitt Episode: "The Coward"
1991 The Last to Go Nathan Holover TV movie
Silk Stalkings Jason Dietz Episode: "Dirty Laundry"
1993 Barbarians at the Gate Teenaged F. Ross Johnson TV movie
1995 Aaahh!!! Real Monsters Rob, Chuck (voices) Episode: "Eau de Krumm/O'Lucky Monster"
2005–2006 G.I. Joe: Sigma 6 Scott Abernathy Voice
2005–2008 Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Jaden Yuki/The Supreme King
2007 Winx Club Nabu

Video games

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Year Title Role
2003–2004 .hack series Additional voices
2006 Thrillville Adult #1, Announcer
2007 Thrillville: Off the Rails Accountant, Adult #1, Announcer, Tank player
2011 Star Wars: The Old Republic Additional voices
2012 Kinect Star Wars Gold 5, Padawan #2
2013 Gangstar Vegas Male casino dealer, Radio ads
2017 Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links Jaden Yuki, Jaden / Yubel, Supreme King Jaden

Accolades

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Year Association Category Show Result
1983 Young Artist Awards Best Young Actor in a Drama Series Little House on the Prairie Nominated
1984 Best Young Actor in a New Television Series Whiz Kids
Best Young Actor in a Drama Series Little House on the Prairie

References

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  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. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
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