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.
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] His autism symptoms were allegedly managed via changes in his diet[7] and gradually began to disappear by the time he was seven.[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 intelligencemicrochip from a robot he created that had previously been destroyed by a malicious neighbor.[10]
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young people in crisis, and have since engaged in fundraising for youth shelters across the U.S. The organization is no longer active.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]