John Mark Galecki (born April 30, 1975)
is an American actor, In television, he played
Leonard Hofstadter on ''
The Big Bang Theory
''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady for CBS. It aired from September 24, 2007, to May 16, 2019, running for 12 seasons and 279 episodes.
The show originally centered on five charact ...
'' (2007–2019) and
David Healy in ''
Roseanne
''Roseanne'' is an American television sitcom created by Matt Williams (producer), Matt Williams that originally aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from October 18, 1988, to May 20, 1997, and briefly revived from March 27, 2018, to May ...
'' (1992–1997; 2018) and ''
The Conners
''The Conners'' is an American television sitcom created by Matt Williams and developed by Bruce Helford, Bruce Rasmussen, and Dave Caplan for ABC as a direct continuation of the series '' Roseanne''. The series is produced by Werner Enter ...
'' (2018–2019). Galecki also appeared in the films ''
Prancer'' (1989), ''
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation'' (1989), ''
Suicide Kings'' (1997), ''
I Know What You Did Last Summer'' (1997), ''
Bookies'' (2003), ''
In Time
''In Time'' is a 2011 American science fiction action film written, produced, and directed by Andrew Niccol. Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried star as inhabitants of a society that uses time from one's lifespan as its primary currency, wi ...
'' (2011), and ''
Rings'' (2017).
Galecki was one of the
highest paid television actors in the world, with his role in ''The Big Bang Theory'' earning him approximately US$900,000 per episode between 2017 and 2019. In 2018, he was estimated to be the world's second highest-paid male TV actor by ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'' (behind only his ''The Big Bang Theory'' co-star
Jim Parsons
James Joseph Parsons (born March 24, 1973) is an American actor. From 2007 to 2019, Parsons played Sheldon Cooper in the CBS sitcom ''The Big Bang Theory''. He has received various awards, including four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstandin ...
), earning $25 million. The accolades he has received include a
Satellite Award
The Satellite Awards are annual awards given by the International Press Academy that are commonly noted in entertainment industry journals and blogs. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards. The award ceremonies take place ...
, alongside nominations for a
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...
,
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...
, and six
Screen Actors Guild Awards
Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards) are accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). The award was founded in 1995 to recognize outstanding performances in movie an ...
.
Early life
Galecki was born in
Bree,
Limburg,
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
, to American parents of
Polish,
Irish, and
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
descent.
His mother, Mary Louise "Mary Lou" Noon, was a mortgage consultant, and his father, Richard Galecki, was a member of the
U.S. Air Force stationed in Belgium and worked as a rehabilitation teacher. Galecki is the eldest of three children with a sister, Allison, and a brother, Nick, who he describes as a "mechanical genius" in the
automotive industry
The automotive industry comprises a wide range of company, companies and organizations involved in the design, Business development, development, manufacturing, marketing, selling, Maintenance, repairing, and Custom car, modification of motor ve ...
. Galecki grew up in
Oak Park, Illinois
Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, adjacent to Chicago. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, 26th-most populous municipality in Illinois, with a population of 54,318 as of the 2020 census. Oak Park was first se ...
. He dropped out of school after 8th grade, attending high school for only one day.
During an interview with
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
radio station
ZM, Galecki recalled his childhood relationship with his mother. As a child, he was well known for making up long 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

After working in the Chicago theatre scene as a young child, Galecki made his onscreen acting debut in the 1987 CBS miniseries ''
Murder Ordained'' with
JoBeth Williams
Margaret JoBeth Williams (born December 6, 1948) is an American actress. She rose to prominence appearing in such films as '' Kramer vs. Kramer'' (1979), '' Stir Crazy'' (1980), ''Poltergeist'' (1982), '' The Big Chill'' (1983), '' The Day After' ...
and future ''Roseanne'' co-star
John Goodman
John Stephen Goodman (born June 20, 1952) is an American actor. He rose to prominence in television before becoming an acclaimed and popular film actor. Goodman has received List of awards and nominations received by John Goodman, various acc ...
. In 1989, Galecki portrayed Rusty Griswold in ''
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation''. In 1990, he was cast as Danny Nash, the son of
Robert Urich
Robert Michael Urich (December 19, 1946 – April 16, 2002) was an American film, television, and stage actor and television producer. Over the course of his 30-year career, he starred in a record 15 television series.
Urich began his car ...
's lead character, on the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
comedy ''
American Dreamer''; the following season, he was a regular cast member on the ABC sitcom ''
Billy'', a spin-off from ''
Head of the Class
''Head of the Class'' is an American sitcom television series that ran from 1986 to 1991 on the ABC television network.
The series follows a group of gifted students in the Individualized Honors Program (IHP) at the fictional Millard Fillm ...
''. He appeared in one episode of
''Blossom'' in 1991, opposite his future ''
The Big Bang Theory
''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady for CBS. It aired from September 24, 2007, to May 16, 2019, running for 12 seasons and 279 episodes.
The show originally centered on five charact ...
'' co-star
Mayim Bialik
Mayim Chaya Bialik ( ; born December 12, 1975) is an American actress, author, and former game show host. From 1991 to 1995, she played the title character of the NBC sitcom ''Blossom (American TV series), Blossom''. From 2010 to 2019, she play ...
. He played a young delinquent in ''
A Family Torn Apart'', a 1993 TV movie based on a true story about a
serial killer
A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone:
*
*
*
*
* (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...
.
During his run on ''Billy'', Galecki began making guest appearances on the hit ABC sitcom ''
Roseanne
''Roseanne'' is an American television sitcom created by Matt Williams (producer), Matt Williams that originally aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from October 18, 1988, to May 20, 1997, and briefly revived from March 27, 2018, to May ...
'' as the younger brother of Mark Healy (
Glenn Quinn), who began a relationship with Darlene Conner (
Sara Gilbert). Introduced in his first appearance as Kevin Healy, his name was soon changed to
David
David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament.
The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...
. After a few more guest shots, Galecki was named a permanent ''Roseanne'' cast member from the fall of 1992 onward, after the cancellation of ''Billy''. He would remain in the role of David Healy until the end of ''Roseannes run in 1997, with the character eventually marrying Darlene and fathering two children with her. Galecki's character on ''The Big Bang Theory'' would also have a short-lived relationship with Gilbert's character on the same show.
Galecki also appeared in the 1995 music video for the
Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band (also known as DMB) is an American rock band from Charlottesville, Virginia. The band's lineup consists of Dave Matthews (lead vocals, guitar), Stefan Lessard (bass), Carter Beauford (drums), Tim Reynolds (lead guitar), R ...
song "
Satellite
A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...
".
After ''Roseanne'' ended, Galecki had small roles in a string of films, including the 1997 summer
slasher film
A slasher film is a subgenre of horror films involving a killer or a group of killers stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a generic ...
''
I Know What You Did Last Summer'' (as the killer's first victim), ''
Bean
A bean is the seed of some plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying (a ''pulse''), but fresh beans are also sold. Dried beans are traditi ...
'' (1997), ''
The Opposite of Sex'' (1998), ''
Bounce'' (2000) and ''
Vanilla Sky
''Vanilla Sky'' is a 2001 American science fiction psychological thriller film directed, written, and co-produced by Cameron Crowe. It is an English-language remake of Alejandro Amenábar's 1997 Spanish film '' Open Your Eyes'', which was writ ...
'' (2001). He had larger roles in the 1997 film ''
Suicide Kings'' and the 2003 film ''
Bookies'', a comedy thriller film about four college students. Galecki appeared as a golfer in a 2005 episode of ''
My Name Is Earl
''My Name Is Earl'' is an American television sitcom created by Greg Garcia (producer), Greg Garcia for NBC. It aired for four seasons from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, with a total of List of My Name Is Earl episodes, 96 episodes. It wa ...
'' entitled "Stole Beer from a Golfer".
In 2005, Galecki played Mark Corrigan in a pilot for a US adaptation of the British sitcom
''Peep Show''. He played a character named Trouty on
TBS's sitcom ''
My Boys
''My Boys'' is an American television sitcom that debuted on November 28, 2006, on TBS (American TV channel), TBS. The show deals with a sports columnist in Chicago, Illinois, played by Jordana Spiro, and the men in her life, including her brot ...
'', and the half-brother of the main characters, sisters Hope Shanowski and Faith Fairfield, in the sitcom ''
Hope & Faith''. Galecki originated the role of Alex, a male prostitute, in the play ''
The Little Dog Laughed'' by
Douglas Carter Beane, in 2006 at
Second Stage Theater. He stayed in the role for the play's
Broadway run at the
Cort Theatre
The James Earl Jones Theatre, originally the Cort Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 138 48th Street (Manhattan), West 48th Street, between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater ...
in late 2006 and early 2007. Galecki said at the time, "At its core, the play is about what we all sacrifice to be successful, whatever our careers or goals." The play was a critical success, and Galecki won a
2007 Theater World Award for his performance.

Galecki played
Leonard Hofstadter in the
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
sitcom ''
The Big Bang Theory
''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady for CBS. It aired from September 24, 2007, to May 16, 2019, running for 12 seasons and 279 episodes.
The show originally centered on five charact ...
'', which ran from 2007 to 2019 and was, for most of its run, among the top three most popular television comedies in the US. Galecki was originally asked to play the role of
Sheldon Cooper
Sheldon Lee Cooper, B.S., M.S., M.A., Ph.D., Sc.D., is a fictional character and one of the protagonists in the 2007–2019 CBS television series ''The Big Bang Theory'' and its 2017–2024 spinoff series ''Young Sheldon'', portrayed by act ...
, but he felt he was better suited for the role of Leonard, and Sheldon's role was eventually given to
Jim Parsons
James Joseph Parsons (born March 24, 1973) is an American actor. From 2007 to 2019, Parsons played Sheldon Cooper in the CBS sitcom ''The Big Bang Theory''. He has received various awards, including four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstandin ...
. During the show's run, two of Galecki's former ''Roseanne'' co-stars appeared on the show:
Sara Gilbert (as
Leslie Winkle, Leonard's colleague) and
Laurie Metcalf
Laura Elizabeth "Laurie" Metcalf (born June 16, 1955) is an American actress and comedian. Known for her complex and versatile roles across the stage and screen, she has received various accolades throughout a career spanning more than four d ...
(as Mary Cooper, Sheldon's mother). Galecki is a
cellist
The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...
, a talent that was used on the show. Until 2013, Galecki and his ''Big Bang'' co-stars
Kaley Cuoco
Kaley Christine Cuoco ( ; born November 30, 1985) is an American actress. She starred as Bridget Hennessy on the ABC sitcom '' 8 Simple Rules'' (2002–2005), Penny on the CBS sitcom ''The Big Bang Theory'' (2007–2019), and as the title ch ...
and Jim Parsons each earned US$325,000 per episode. By 2014, the three were earning US$1 million per episode.
Galecki appeared briefly in the 2008 superhero comedy ''
Hancock'', alongside
Will Smith
Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor, rapper, and film producer. Known for his work in both Will Smith filmography, the screen and Will Smith discography, music industries, List of awards and nominations re ...
and
Jason Bateman
Jason Kent Bateman (born January 14, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Michael Bluth in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox / Netflix sitcom ''Arrested Development'' (2003–2019) and Marty Byrde in the Netflix crime drama s ...
. In July 2011, he played a parody version of himself in three episodes of ''
Entourage''. He also appeared in the film ''
In Time
''In Time'' is a 2011 American science fiction action film written, produced, and directed by Andrew Niccol. Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried star as inhabitants of a society that uses time from one's lifespan as its primary currency, wi ...
'' (2011) with
Justin Timberlake
Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and dancer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Prince of Pop", ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' honored him as the b ...
and
Amanda Seyfried.
Galecki appeared in one episode of the
2018 revival of ''Roseanne'' on ABC, which premiered in March. It was canceled that May after
Roseanne Barr
Roseanne Cherrie Barr (born November 3, 1952), also known mononymously as Roseanne, is an American actress, comedian, writer, and producer. She began her career in stand-up comedy before gaining acclaim in the television sitcom ''Roseanne'' (19 ...
posted a controversial and racist tweet about
Valerie Jarrett. ''Roseanne'' was replaced by a new program, ''
The Conners
''The Conners'' is an American television sitcom created by Matt Williams and developed by Bruce Helford, Bruce Rasmussen, and Dave Caplan for ABC as a direct continuation of the series '' Roseanne''. The series is produced by Werner Enter ...
'', which premiered in October 2018 and featured the same cast without Barr. Galecki has occasionally appeared as David on ''The Conners''.
Personal life
As a teenager, Galecki dated his ''Roseanne'' (and later ''The Big Bang Theory'') co-star
Sara Gilbert (their characters also dated). During their relationship, Gilbert came out as lesbian. They remain close friends.
While working on ''The Big Bang Theory'', Galecki dated co-star
Kaley Cuoco
Kaley Christine Cuoco ( ; born November 30, 1985) is an American actress. She starred as Bridget Hennessy on the ABC sitcom '' 8 Simple Rules'' (2002–2005), Penny on the CBS sitcom ''The Big Bang Theory'' (2007–2019), and as the title ch ...
for about two years until December 2009 while the two also played a couple on the show. Cuoco told ''
CBS Watch'' that they have remained on good terms since ending their relationship.
In late June 2017, Galecki's ranch, a property that is not his primary home was destroyed in a major
wildfire
A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...
known as the
Hill Fire.
In 2018, Galecki started dating Alaina Meyer. Their son was born in November 2019. In November 2020, it was reported that Galecki and Meyer had separated. He is now married to Morgan Galecki, who in 2024 gave birth to their daughter.
Filmography
Film
Television
Music videos
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
Playbill article about the end of ''The Little Dog Laugheds run at The Cort TheatreMovieline interview with Johnny Galecki
{{DEFAULTSORT:Galecki, Johnny
1975 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American people of Irish descent
American people of Italian descent
American people of Polish descent
Male actors from Oak Park, Illinois
Theatre World Award winners