Matthew Douglas Salinger (/ˈsælɪndʒər/ SAL-in-jər; born February 13, 1960) is an American actor. He is known for his appearances in the films Revenge of the Nerds and Captain America.

Salinger was born February 13, 1960, in Windsor, Vermont, the son of author J. D. Salinger and psychologist Alison Claire Douglas.^[1][2] Salinger's maternal grandfather was British art critic Robert Langton Douglas.^[3] He has a sister, Margaret Salinger.^[4][5] His father was of paternal Lithuanian-Jewish descent.^[6][7][8]

Salinger attended North Country School in Keene, New York for junior high school. Salinger graduated from Phillips Academy Andover and attended Princeton University before graduating from Columbia University with a degree in art history and drama.^[1]

Salinger made his film debut in 1984's Revenge of the Nerds. He played Captain America in the 1990 film Captain America.^[9]

Salinger subsequently appeared in films including What Dreams May Come^[10] and episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit^[11] and 24.^[12]

Salinger has produced several independent films, including Let the Devil Wear Black^[13] and Mojave Moon.^{[citation needed]}

Salinger made his Broadway debut in 1985, in Bill C. Davis's short-lived Dancing in the End Zone,^[14] performing at the Ritz Theater alongside veteran actresses Pat Carroll and Dorothy Lyman. In 2000, he produced the off-Broadway play The Syringa Tree,^[15][16][17] which won a Drama Desk Award, the Drama League Award, the Outer Critic's Circle Award,^[18][19] and the Village Voice Obie Award for Best Play of the Year in 2001.^[20]

J. D. Salinger continued to write throughout his life, although he did not publish any works after 1965. His widow, Colleen O'Neill, and Matt Salinger prepared this work for publication after his death, announcing in 2019 that "all of what he wrote will at some point be shared", but that it was a big job and not yet ready.^[21]

Salinger married jewelry designer Betsy Jane Becker in 1985. They live in Fairfield County, Connecticut, and have sons Gannon and Avery.^[22]

In contrast to his sister, Margaret, who wrote a 1999 memoir about her childhood titled Dream Catcher, Salinger is a devoted protector of his father's privacy.^[4] A few weeks after Margaret's book was published, Salinger wrote a letter to The New York Observer, disparaging his sister's "gothic tales of our supposed childhood."^[5]

• Matt Salinger at IMDb
• Matt Salinger at AllMovie