Editing Matt Damon (section)

== Early life and education ==
Matthew Paige Damon was born in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], on October 8, 1970,<ref>{{cite news|title=Monitor|newspaper=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|date=Oct 12–19, 2012|issue=1228/1229|page=23}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2022/10/08/Famous-birthdays-for-Oct-8-Bella-Thorne-Chevy-Chase/4741665185464/ |title=Famous birthdays for Oct. 8: Bella Thorne, Chevy Chase |work=UPI |date=October 8, 2022 |access-date=February 2, 2023 |archive-date=October 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221008075151/https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2022/10/08/Famous-birthdays-for-Oct-8-Bella-Thorne-Chevy-Chase/4741665185464/ |url-status=live }}</ref> the second son of Kent Telfer Damon, a stockbroker, and Nancy Carlsson-Paige, an early childhood education professor at [[Lesley University]].<ref name="KentReal">{{cite magazine|last=Luscombe|first=Belinda|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|title=Matt Damon Acts Out|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,36294,00.html|date=December 19, 1999|access-date=March 1, 2020|archive-date=March 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301235348/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,36294,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="LiveCambridge">{{cite news|last=Givens |first=Ron |author2=Michele McPhee |work=[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]]|title=Two Hollywood Prizefighters 'Hunting' for Stardom Pays Off for Matt Damon |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/entertainment/1998/03/22/1998-03-22_two_hollywood_prizefighters_.html |date=March 22, 1998 |access-date=April 5, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090921162214/http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/entertainment/1998/03/22/1998-03-22_two_hollywood_prizefighters_.html |archive-date=September 21, 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/12/23/matt-damon-father-dies-age/1uTaOyDq5Bp7vLHPRncU7O/story.html|title=Matt Damon's father dies at age 74|work=The Boston Globe|access-date=January 29, 2018|archive-date=January 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180126182947/http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/12/23/matt-damon-father-dies-age/1uTaOyDq5Bp7vLHPRncU7O/story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> His father had English and Scottish ancestry, while his mother is of Finnish and Swedish descent; her family surname had been changed from [[Pajari]] to Paige.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/largest-ethnic-groups-in-america-2013-8 |title=The Largest Ancestry Groups in the United States |author1=Liz O'Connor |author2=Gus Lubin |author3=Dina Spector |name-list-style=amp |date=August 13, 2013 |newspaper=Business Insider |access-date=October 2, 2014 |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006140844/http://www.businessinsider.com/largest-ethnic-groups-in-america-2013-8 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.huffpost.com/author/matt-damon| title=Matt Damon| newspaper=HuffPost| access-date=March 1, 2020| archive-date=August 3, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803211416/https://www.huffpost.com/author/matt-damon| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hometownfocus.us/articles/matt-damon-makes-headlines-in-finland/|title=Matt Damon makes headlines in Finland|work=Hometown Focus|date=May 16, 2014 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141107081048/http://www.hometownfocus.us/news/2014-05-16/Features/Matt_Damon_makes_headlines_in_Finland.html|archive-date=November 7, 2014}}</ref> Damon and his family moved to [[Newton, Massachusetts|Newton]] for two years. His parents divorced when he was two years old, and he and his brother returned with their mother to Cambridge,<ref name="LiveCambridge"/><ref name="ParentsDivorce">{{cite news|work=[[The Independent]]|title=Matt Damon: A true Hollywood player|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/matt-damon-a-true-hollywood-player-418808.html|date=October 4, 2006|access-date=April 5, 2009|location=London|archive-date=September 23, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090923013833/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/matt-damon-a-true-hollywood-player-418808.html|url-status=live}}</ref> where they lived in a six-family communal house.<ref name="ParadeProfile03">{{cite news|last=Raider |first=Dotson |work=[[Parade (magazine)|Parade]]|title="My Goals Have Changed" (Actor Matt Damon) |url=http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2003/edition_11-30-2003/featured_0 |date=November 30, 2003 |access-date=April 21, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100110054833/http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2003/edition_11-30-2003/featured_0 |archive-date=January 10, 2010 }}</ref><ref name="NeutralNarrate">{{cite news|last=Crust |first=Kevin |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |title='Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train,' 'Hair Show,' 'The Hillside Strangler,' 'The Dust Factory' and 'Stephen King's Riding the Bullet' |url=http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-capsules15oct15,2,1749015.story |date=October 15, 2004 |access-date=April 5, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080604162332/http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-capsules15oct15%2C2%2C1749015.story |archive-date=June 4, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> His brother, Kyle, is a sculptor and artist.<ref name="LiveCambridge"/><ref name="Animation">{{cite news|last=Ball|first=Ryan|work=[[Animation Magazine]]|title=Matt Damon Animated for Arthur|url=http://www.animationmagazine.net/article/7229|date=August 15, 2007|access-date=October 10, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009070139/http://www.animationmagazine.net/features/matt-damon-animated-for-arthur/|url-status=live|archive-date=October 9, 2014}}</ref> Damon has said that, as a teenager, he had felt lonely, as if he did not belong,<ref name="ParadeProfile03"/> and that his mother's by-the-book approach to child-rearing<ref name="ParadeProfile03"/> had made it hard for him to define his own identity.<ref name="ParadeProfile03"/>

Damon attended Cambridge Alternative School and [[Cambridge Rindge and Latin School]], and was a good student.<ref name="WTprofile97"/> He acted in several high-school theater productions,<ref name="LiveCambridge"/> and has credited his drama teacher, Gerry Speca, as having had an important artistic influence on him, although noting wryly that Speca had given [[Ben Affleck]] (Damon's close friend and schoolmate) the "biggest roles and longest speeches".<ref name="WTprofile97">{{cite news|last=Arnold|first=Gary|work=[[The Washington Times]]|title=Boyhood friends are stars on the rise|date=December 26, 1997}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=<!--- staff writer, no byline ---> |url=https://www.aintitcool.com/node/351 |title=Interview with Matt Damon and Minnie Driver!!! - Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news |publisher=Aintitcool.com |access-date=August 13, 2014 |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006111744/http://www.aintitcool.com/node/351 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{#tag:ref|Another neighbor of Damon's was historian and author [[Howard Zinn]],<ref name="UnholyAlliance">{{cite book|last=Horowitz|first=David|title=Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam And The American Left|publisher=Regnery Publishing|year=2004|page=102|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=azE5qoXTgoAC&q=matt+damon+howard+zinn+neighbor&pg=PA102|isbn=0-89526-076-X|access-date=April 5, 2009|archive-date=January 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104083828/https://books.google.com/books?id=azE5qoXTgoAC&q=matt+damon+howard+zinn+neighbor&pg=PA102|url-status=live}}</ref> whose biographical film ''You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train'' and audio version of ''[[A People's History of the United States]]'' Damon later narrated.<ref name="NeutralNarrate"/>|group="nb"}} He attended [[Harvard University]] as a member of the class of 1992, residing in [[Lowell House]], but left before receiving his degree to take a lead role in the film ''[[Geronimo: An American Legend]]''. While at Harvard, as an exercise for an English class, Damon wrote an essay in the form of a [[film treatment]] which was later developed into the screenplay ''[[Good Will Hunting]]'' (for which he received an Academy Award).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sege |first=Irene |date=1998-03-25 |title=Oscar joins the family |url=http://cache.boston.com/globe/living/packages/oscars98/titanicwins.html |access-date=2025-03-14 |website=[[The Boston Globe]]}}</ref> At Harvard, Damon was a member of [[Delphic Club|the Delphic Club]], one of the university's elite [[Final Clubs]]. In 2013, he was awarded the Harvard Arts Medal.<ref>[http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2013/04/matt-damon-on-his-craft/ "Matt Damon on His Craft" Colleen Walsh, ''The Harvard Gazette'' April 25, 2013] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160926235908/http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2013/04/matt-damon-on-his-craft/ |date=September 26, 2016 }}</ref>