Matthew Laurance is an American actor and comedian best known for starring as Ben Coleman in the

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

sitcom ''

Duet A duet (italian language, Italian: ''duo'') is a musical composition for two Performing arts, performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a har ...

'' and for his recurring role as Mel Silver on ''

Beverly Hills, 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to as ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling via his production company Spelling Television. The series ran for 10 seasons on Fo ...

''.

Early life, family and education

Matthew Dickoff was born in

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and raised in suburban Hewlett, Long Island. He has an

identical twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two ...

brother, Mitchell (born four minutes earlier), who is also a professional actor. Both brothers are graduates of

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...

Career

Laurance appeared on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' during its sixth season. He left ''SNL'' after one season (albeit a short season, only 13 episodes). Laurance portrayed bass player Sal Amato in the 1983

cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...

hit '' Eddie and the Cruisers'', and he was the only cast member besides

Michael Paré Michael Kevin Paré (born October 9, 1958) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the films '' Eddie and the Cruisers'' (1983), '' Streets of Fire'' (1984), and '' The Philadelphia Experiment'' (1984), and on the series '' Star ...

and Michael Antunes to appear in the 1989 sequel, '' Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives!'' He also had a role in ''

Streets of Fire ''Streets of Fire'' is a 1984 American action crime neo-noir film directed by Walter Hill, from a screenplay by Hill and Larry Gross. Described on the poster and in the opening credits as "A Rock & Roll Fable", the film combines elements of ...

'', as one of the two Ardmore police officers who enter the bus Tom Cody (Michael Paré) was on, making this the third film he appeared in with Paré. He starred as detective novelist Ben Coleman in the sitcom ''

'' on

, which ran from 1987 to 1989 for three seasons, at the time, one of few original programs during the Fox network's debut. He also appeared on television in ''

thirtysomething ''Thirtysomething'' is an American drama television series created by Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz for United Artists Television (under MGM/UA Television) and aired on ABC from September 29, 1987, to May 28, 1991."The 'don't trust a ...

''. From 1991 through 2000, he performed the recurring role of Mel Silver, father of David Silver and Erin Silver on ''

''. He is currently the host of The Matthew and Jimmy Show on local Lexington, Kentucky’s ESPN Radio 1300am.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Laurance, Matthew Living people American male film actors American male television actors 1950 births American sketch comedians Male actors from Queens, New York Comedians from Queens, New York 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American comedians Identical twin male actors American twins Tufts University alumni People from Jewell County, Kansas People from Hewlett, New York American male comedians