Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Real Name: Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt

Quick answer: Joseph Gordon-Levitt's real name is Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt. He was born on February 17, 1981, in Los Angeles, California.

Real name and early life

The Library of Congress name authority records Gordon-Levitt, Joseph, 1981-. Golden Globes and major film references give full name Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt, born February 17, 1981, in Los Angeles (some entertainment bios misstate the year as 1982; LOC's 1981 heading is treated as authoritative here). He began acting as a child, including A River Runs Through It (1992), and became a TV star on 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996–2001).

Quick facts

• Real name: Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt
• Known as: Joseph Gordon-Levitt; often abbreviated JGL
• Born: February 17, 1981, in Los Angeles, California
• Known for: Actor, filmmaker
• Notable work: (500) Days of Summer, Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, Don Jon
• Sources checked: Library of Congress Name Authority, Golden Globes

Career highlights

After leaving sitcom fame he rebuilt as a film lead with (500) Days of Summer (2009), earning a Golden Globe nomination. Christopher Nolan cast him in Inception (2010) and as John Blake in The Dark Knight Rises (2012). Other high-profile roles include 50/50 (2011; another Globe nomination), Looper (2012), Lincoln (2012), The Walk (2015), Snowden (2016), and The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020).

He wrote, directed, and starred in Don Jon (2013). Later TV includes creating and starring in Mr. Corman (2021) and playing Travis Kalanick in Super Pumped (2022). He also founded the online creative community hitRECord, extending his work beyond traditional studio acting. HitRECord collaborations and variety-show hosting gigs have kept him connected to online creators between studio features.

Name notes

Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt is his birth name; the hyphenated surname is family, not a stage construction. "JGL" is a fan/press abbreviation only. Fan sites often copy names from one another, so we checked this page against the Library of Congress and Golden Globes listings.