Joey Lawrence

Joseph "Joey" Lawrence (born April 20, 1976) is an American actor, singer, and TV host. He is known for his roles in the TV series Gimme a Break!, Blossom, Brotherly Love, and Melissa & Joey. --- 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. 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. --- 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 has two daughters, Charleston (born 2006) and Liberty Grace (born March 2010).