It was like sitting on a powder keg smoking a cigarette.” His acting career took off from there. But Matthew just got up and followed her into the room. He would throw a tantrum if anyone touched him. “One day a casting director asked Frankie if she would allow him to audition for a commercial. Frankie described how, “… when anyone would try to pick him up, he would scream and try to get away. He did not walk until age three or talk until age four. Days before his eighth birthday, Patrick was cast in “ Mame” with Lucille Ball. Patrick started acting as therapy, and by seven was a veteran of Cheerios and McDonald’s commercials. The boys were introduced to acting when their actress mother took them to her auditions. The minute we corrected his diet, the change was drastic and immediate. Frankie noted, “ Sugar had been as poisonous to his system as alcohol or dope. The hole healed, but doctors diagnosed Matthew as autistic or retarded and suggested he be institutionalized, which was unacceptable to his parents, who later discovered he suffered from low-blood sugar. Matthew (born December 8, 1966) was adopted at ten months with a hole in his heart. With a lot of love and a firm, gentle hand, his symptoms had disappeared in a couple of years.” He would break out in a cold sweat when anyone tried to touch him. When we got him, he was suffering from malnutrition and was exhausted. His mother remembered, “… he was so high-strung he couldn’t keep food down. Patrick (born July 22, 1965) was adopted at nine months and was inappropriately labeled as ‘psychotic’ by doctors and welfare workers. Each overcame health challenges as young children with the love and care of their adoptive parents, Ronald Laborteaux and Frances “Frankie” Marshall. If ever there were icons of perseverance in the face of adversity, it would be brothers Patrick and Matthew Laborteaux (or Labyorteaux they used both spellings).
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