John Mark "Johnny" Galecki (born April 30, 1975) is a Belgian-born American actor. He is best known for his role as Leonard Hofstadter in the sitcom The Big Bang Theory since 2007 and as David Healy in the sitcom Roseanne from 1992 to 1997. He also appeared in the films National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989), Suicide Kings (1997), I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), Bookies (2003), Hancock (2008), and In Time (2011).
Early Life
Galecki was born in Bree, Belgium, to American parents of Polish, Irish, and Italian descent. His mother, Mary Lou (nƩe Noon), was a mortgage consultant, and his father, Richard Galecki, was a member of the U.S. Air Force stationed in Belgium at the time and also worked as a rehabilitation teacher. He has a younger brother, Nick, whom he describes as a mechanical genius in the automotive industry and a younger sister, Allison. Galecki grew up in Oak Park, Ill. During an interview with New Zealand radio station ZM, Galecki jokingly recalled his childhood relationship with his mother. As a child, he was well known for making up long, epic stories and tales. In such situations his mother used to make him play the "quiet game" where he had to see how long he could go without talking. He also recalled that despite being a loving mother, she was also very tough. One phrase she would lovingly use was, "I love you, now get out."
Career
Galecki made his acting debut in the 1987 CBS miniseries "Murder Ordained" with JoBeth Williams and future Roseanne co-star John Goodman. In 1989 Galecki portrayed Rusty Griswold in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. One of his best known roles was as David Healy (first introduced as Kevin Healy) in the U.S. sitcom Roseanne. Galecki was cast in the 1997 summer I Know What You Did Last Summer and the 1998 dark comedy The Opposite of Sex. In the year 2000, Galecki reunited with Opposite of Sex director Don Roos, who cast him in Bounce.
Galecki continued his film streak with roles in Suicide Kings and brief bit parts in high-profile films such as Bean and a minor supporting part in Vanilla Sky. Galecki played a young delinquent in ''A Family Torn Apart, a TV movie based on a true story about a serial killer.
Galecki appeared in the first-season episode, "Stole Beer from a Golfer", of My Name Is Earl as a golfer.
Sara and Johnny while on the "Roseanne" TV series together
He played a character named Trouty on TBS's sitcom My Boys. He also played the half-brother of the main characters, sisters Hope Shanowski and Faith Fairfield, in the TV sitcom Hope & Faith. In late 2006/early 2007, Galecki starred in the Broadway play 'The Little Dog Laughed as Alex, a male prostitute. In this role, he was required to do a full-frontal nude scene, the first of his acting career. "At its core, the play is about what we all sacrifice to be successful, whatever our careers or goals," he explains. Galecki originated the role earlier in 2006 at Second Stage Theater. The widely popular comedy by Douglas Carter Beane had a successful run at Second Stage and moved to the Cort Theater. The play closed on February 18, 2007, with Galecki taking home a 2007 Theater World Award for his performance.
Galecki currently plays the part of Leonard Hofstadter in the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory, which debuted September 24, 2007. He works alongside two of his former Roseanne cast members, Sara Gilbert, who during his role as David Healy played the role of his longtime girlfriend and later his wife, Darlene Conner, as well as Laurie Metcalf, formerly cast as the role of Rosanne Barr's fictionalized character's sister Jackie. Both have since appeared as recurring characters. Galecki is a cellist and has played cello on the show.
Galecki appeared briefly in the 2008 superhero comedy Hancock (film), alongside Will Smith and Jason Bateman. He also appears in the music video for the Dave Matthews Band song "Satellite".
In July 2011, Galecki played himself on three episodes of Entourage.
Johnny
Personal Life
Galecki owns 360 acres of land in Santa Margarita, California. There are vineyards on his property, and also a log cabin. He is also a vegetarian.
While working on The Big Bang Theory, Galecki dated co-star Kaley Cuoco for two years. They kept their relationship private until they broke up.
In February 2012, it was revealed that Galecki had been dating actress Kelli Garner since 2011.
The Big Bang Theory
- Main article: Leonard Hofstadter
Leonard is an experimental physicist from Caltech who rooms with Sheldon Cooper in their rundown apartment building in apartment 4A, in which the elevator always seems to be out of order due to both of them causing an explosion in it, located in Pasadena, California. He keeps a whiteboard in their living room on which he works on theoretical particle physics. While Sheldon's genius seems to be focused primarily in math and science, Leonard is indicated to be proficient in literature and history as well as the sciences; he is able to solve a woman's crossword puzzle in seconds, Leonard gives the answers being mostly literature based, e.g. Vladimir Nabokov. It is also suggested that Leonard's IQ is not as high as Sheldon's; Sheldon scoffs at Leonard's whiteboard theories as common enough to be "scribbled on the wall of
Stan Lee, Parsons, Helberg and Kunal Nayyar.
Johnny Galecki as Leonard Leakey Hofstader
every men's room at MIT". Most of the equations on Leonard and Sheldon's boards feature complex higher mathematics, such as virtual particles in QM, or series of Riemann zeta functions. He is originally from New Jersey and is usually seen wearing his characteristic black framed glasses, neutral colored sweat jackets, brown trousers, and physics-themed t-shirts.
Film
| Year | Film | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Murder Ordained | Doug Rule | TV movie |
| 1988 | A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon | Toby Reardon | |
| 1989 | Prancer | Billy Quinn | |
| National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation | Russell 'Rusty' Griswold | ||
| 1990 | Blind Faith | John Marshall | TV movie |
| In Defense of a Married Man | Eric | TV movie | |
| 1991 | Backfield in Motion | Tim Seavers | TV movie |
| 1993 | A Family Torn Apart | Daniel Hannigan | TV movie |
| 1994 | Without Consent | Marty | TV movie |
| 1996 | Murder at My Door | Teddy McNair | TV movie |
| 1997 | Bean | Stingo Wheelie | |
| Suicide Kings | Ira Reder | ||
| I Know What You Did Last Summer | Max Neurick | ||
| 1998 | The Opposite of Sex | Jason Bock | |
| 2000 | Playing Mona Lisa | Arthur | |
| Bounce | Seth | ||
| 2001 | Morgan's Ferry | Darcy | |
| Vanilla Sky | Peter Brown | ||
| 2003 | Bookies | Jude | |
| 2004 | Chrystal | Barry | |
| White Like Me | Marcus | Short film | |
| 2005 | Happy Endings | Miles | Uncredited role |
| 2007 | Who You Know | David | Short film |
| 2008 | Hancock | Jeremy | |
| 2009 | Table for Three | Ted | Direct-to-video release |
| 2011 | In Time | Borel |
Television
| Year(s) | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Hardball | Unknown role | Episode: "The Hunt for Honus Wagner" |
| 1991 | Blossom | Jason | Episode: "Sex, Lies and Teenagers" |
| 1990ā1991 | American Dreamer | Danny Nash | 17 episodes. |
| 1993 | Civil Wars | Student accused of cheating | Episode: "Split Ends" |
| 1992ā1997 | Roseanne | David Healy | 92 episodes. Nominated for four and winner of one Young Artist Award. |
| 2000 | Batman Beyond | Knux (voice) | Episode: "April Moon" |
| The Norm Show | Dale Stockhouse | Episode: "Norm vs. Youth: Part 1" Episode: "Norm vs. Youth: Part 2" | |
| 2004 | LAX | Leland Pressman | Episode: "Finnegan Again, Begin Again" |
| 2005 | My Name Is Earl | Scott | Episode: "Stole Beer from a Golfer" |
| Hope & Faith | Jay | Episode: "Blood Is Thicker Than Daughter" Episode: "The Restaurant" Episode: "Jay Date" | |
| 2006-2007 | My Boys | Trouty | Episode: "Clubhouse Poison" Episode: "Take One for the Team" Episode: "Ethics" |
| 2009 | Family Guy | Leonard Hofstadter | Episode: "Business Guy" (voice only) |
| 2007-present | The Big Bang Theory | Leonard Hofstadter | Starring role |
Trivia
- Johnny Galecki was originally asked to take the part of Sheldon, but felt the role of Leonard suited his acting style better. The role of Sheldon was then taken by Jim Parsons.
- His 2015-2017 contract could be worth a total of $90 million.
Gallery
External links
- Johnny Galeckion IMDb
- [1] - Wikipedia Site
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