Joseph "Joey" Lawrence (born April 20, 1976) is an
Americanactor, singer, and
TV host. He is known for his roles in the TV series
Gimme a Break!,
Blossom, and
Melissa & Joey. In his most recent film,
Hit List, Joey plays a hit man out to prove his love to a woman with a lot of enemies.
Lawrence was born
Joseph Lawrence Mignogna, Jr. in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Donna Mignogna, a personnel manager and former elementary school teacher, and Joseph Lawrence Mignogna, Sr., an insurance broker. He is of Italian descent. His family's surname was changed to "Lawrence" during his childhood. He has two younger brothers,
Matthew and
Andrew, who are also actors.
He graduated from
Abington Friends School in
Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, in 1994, and later attended the
University of Southern California.Acting
Lawrence's first acting role was in a
Cracker Jack commercial. At the age of five, he appeared on
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, where he performed the song "
Give My Regards to Broadway".After appearing in guest spots on
Diff'rent Strokes and
Silver Spoons, Lawrence won the role of Joey Donovan on the hit
NBC sitcom
Gimme a Break! in 1983. He continued in that role until the series ended in 1987. Lawrence provided the voice of Oliver, the protagonist in the 1988
Disney film
Oliver & Company.
From 1991 to 1995, Lawrence co-starred in the hit TV series
Blossom, in which he played Joey Russo, a teenager who frequently said "Whoa!" which, due to the success of the show, became something of a self-conscious
catchphrase in the United States.
Lawrence has also starred in the series
Brotherly Love (which featured his real life brothers Matthew and Andrew Lawrence) and
Run of the House, and has guest starred on such programs as
American Dreams and
CSI: NY.
One of Lawrence's film credits is
Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000) in which he costarred with
Jennifer Morrison,
Matthew Davis, and
Hart Bochner.
In 2006, Lawrence appeared on
ABC's
Dancing with the Stars. Paired with professional dancer
Edyta Śliwińska, he placed third in the competition. In May 2007, he starred in the
Broadway hit
Chicago as Billy Flynn. He next hosted a dance competition show on
The Learning Channel,
Master of Dance, which premiered June 9, 2008.
In 2009, Lawrence starred in the television movie
My Fake Fiancé with
Melissa Joan Hart, which premiered on
ABC Family to 3.6 million viewers, becoming the most-watched television movie of the ratings season, sweeping top rank in its time-period in key demos. In August 2010, Lawrence returned to television in the ABC Family sitcom
Melissa & Joey, opposite Melissa Joan Hart. Hart plays a woman who hires Lawrence as a nanny to help care for her incarcerated sister's kids. Lawrence's character is a former figure in the financial industry whose company came under investigation for wrongdoing and caused his professional life to be put on hold.
In 2012, he was contracted to be a
Chippendales dancer for a special engagement in June at the
Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in
Las Vegas.
Music
Lawrence has said that music was always his passion, and at the height of his success began a recording career. Lawrence was 16 when his debut album
Joey Lawrence was released in February 1993. Produced by
Steve Barri,
Tony Peluso, Terry Lupton, Ian Prince and
Teddy Riley, Lawrence co-wrote some material, including the international hit single "
Nothin' My Love Can't Fix" (#6
Billboard Hot 100 Airplay, #10 Billboard Top 40 Mainstream, #19
Billboard Hot 100, #13 United Kingdom, #68 Australia). The song was used as the end-title theme from the movie
Cop and a Half; its music video received heavy airplay on
MTV and
MuchMusic, and Lawrence was invited to perform live on MTV's Spring Break,
The Arsenio Hall Show, and the UK's
Top of the Pops in 1993.
In July 2008, Lawrence told
TV Guide that he was working on a new album composed mostly of ballads. In June 2011 he released his new single entitled
Rolled, which was available as a free download for one week on ABCFamily's website.
In July, Joey released a second single, "Give It To Ya (Acoustic)" via
Pledge Music.
Personal life
Lawrence married Michelle Vella in 2002; the couple divorced in 2005. He met his second wife, Chandie Yawn-Nelson, while on vacation in
Disney World when the two were teenagers; they married there 13 years later, in July 2005. The couple have two daughters, Charleston (born 2006) and Liberty Grace (born March 2010).
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