Library of Congress Life · CC0

Broderick became a defining face of 1980s American comedy at 24, playing the title role in Ferris Bueller's Day Off after breakout parts in WarGames and Ladyhawke. He built a parallel career on Broadway, winning Tony Awards twelve years apart — for Brighton Beach Memoirs in 1983 and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying in 1995 — and later starred opposite Nathan Lane in stage and screen versions of The Producers. He also voiced Simba in Disney's The Lion King and Adam in Bee Movie.