Labyorteaux was born in Los Angeles and adopted by interior designer and talent agent Ronald Labyorteaux (1930–1992) and actress Frances Marshall, born Frances Newman (1927–2012). He is the younger brother of Patrick, also adopted and an actor, and Jane.
Labyorteaux began working in commercials at the age of seven, having been discovered while accompanying his older brother, Patrick Labyorteaux, to a casting call. He shortly thereafter landed his first dramatic role in A Woman Under the Influence, directed and written by John Cassavetes, where he played one of the children of Peter Falk and Gena Rowlands’s characters.
Aside from his tenure as Albert Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie, Labyorteaux also starred in the short-lived television series The Red Hand Gang (1977) and Whiz Kids (1983–1984), in addition to several made-for-television movies. His most prominent film role was in Wes Craven’s Deadly Friend (1986) as Paul Conway, a young genius who resurrects a dead girl using an artificial intelligence microchip from a robot he created that had previously been destroyed by a malicious neighbor.
He made guest appearances on numerous television shows, including The Rookies, The Bob Newhart Show, Mulligan’s Stew, Lou Grant, Here’s Boomer (spin-off of The Red Hand Gang), The Love Boat, Simon & Simon (crossover episode with Whiz Kids), Highway to Heaven, Night Court, Paradise, and Silk Stalkings.
More recently, Labyorteaux has worked as a voice actor, providing characterizations in video games and animated features, additional dialogue recording in film and television, and voice-over in advertisements. Notable roles include Jaden Yuki, Jaden / Yubel, Supreme King Jaden in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX series and the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links video game, Nabu in Winx Club, Scott Abernathy in G.I. Joe: Sigma 6 and as Attros Finn, Vanto Fuse Bazren, and Gaden-Ko in Star Wars: The Old Republic.
Labyorteaux is a skilled video game player. In October 1981, he finished in 10th place for Centipede at the Atari, Inc. world championships. In April 1982, he became the United States Pac-Man champion at a People-sponsored tournament, with a score of 1,200,000.
Labyorteaux married his wife Leslie in 2020. Matthew is the stepfather to Leslie’s two children.
