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| Birth Name(s) : Ben Stein |
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Full Ben Stein Biography
Benjamin Jeremy Stein (born November 25, 1944) is an American writer and commentator, Emmy Award-winning actor, comedian, and game show host. He was also formerly a lawyer, law professor, and White House speechwriter. He is the son of noted economist and writer Herbert Stein. His sister, Rachel, is a writer.
Ben Stein was born to American Jewish parents in Washington, D.C., and grew up in the Woodside Forest neighborhood of Silver Spring, Maryland. He was graduated from Montgomery Blair High School in 1961 along with classmate journalist Carl Bernstein; actress Goldie Hawn (class of 1963) was two years behind. Actor Sylvester Stallone was a schoolmate at Montgomery Hills Junior High School. He went on to major in economics at Columbia University's Columbia College, where he was a member of Alpha Delta Phi and the Philolexian Society. After graduating with honors from Columbia in 1966, Stein went to Yale Law School where he graduated as the class valedictorian in 1970.
Stein's first teaching stint was as an adjunct professor, teaching political and social content of mass culture at American University in Washington, D.C., and then at University of California, Santa Cruz. He also held classes on political and civil rights from the United States Constitution at UC Santa Cruz.
At Pepperdine University in Southern California, Stein taught libel law and United States securities law and its ethical aspects. He was a professor of law at Pepperdine University Law School, from about 1990 to 1997.
Stein responded over the years by not only denying he was Deep Throat, but by going further and accusing journalist Bob Woodward of falsifying the famous secret source. In the May 14–21, 1998, edition of the Philadelphia City Paper Stein is quoted saying, "Oh, I don't think there was a Deep Throat. That was a fake. I think there were several different sources and some they just made up." After Mark Felt's identity as Deep Throat was revealed, Stein stated that Nixon would have prevented the rise to power of the Khmer Rouge if he had not been forced to resign. For his actions leading to that resignation, Stein said "If there is such a thing as kharma, if there is such a thing as justice in this life of the next, Mark Felt has bought himself the worst future of any man on this earth. And Bob Woodward is right behind him, with Ben Bradlee bringing up the rear. Out of their smug arrogance and contempt, they hatched the worst nightmare imaginable: genocide."
Stein is a vocal supporter of the Republican Party. He is a pro-life activist and was given a Pro-Life Award in 2003 by the National Right to Life Educational Trust Fund.
Despite his prominence as a commentator on politics and economics, Stein is perhaps best known for his career in the entertainment industry, which began as a Hollywood consultant before he moved into acting. His film career received a boost from his famous role as the colorless and boring economics teacher in the 1986 movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off. In one scene he gives a real, unscripted economics lecture, profiting from his own economic expertise. He decided to just "run with it" when the director told him to try to be as 'boring' as possible in this scene. The only scripted lines are those in which he calls attendance, indelibly phrasing the oft-repeated monotone line: "Bueller?...Bueller?"
In 1997 Stein was given his own game show by Comedy Central titled Win Ben Stein's Money along with co-host Jimmy Kimmel (replaced by Nancy Pimental and later by Sal Iacono). True to its name, the money that contestants won on the show was subtracted from the $5000 Stein earned (in addition to his salary). The show won seven Emmy awards before ending its run in 2003 .
In 1999, during the height of Win Ben Stein's Money's popularity, Comedy Central gave Stein another show, a talk show with celebrity guests entitled Turn Ben Stein On. One of the mainstays of the show was Stein's dog, Puppy Wuppy, having free rein over the set.
Other movies and TV shows in which Ben Stein has appeared include:
- Seinfeld
- Full House
- Casper Meets Wendy
- The Mask and its sequel, Son of the Mask as well as the TV show, The Mask: The Animated Series
- Earthworm Jim, the animated TV series
- Star Search
- Game Show Moments Gone Bananas
- Cavuto on Business
- The O'Reilly Factor
- CBS Sunday Morning News
On May 14, 2006, on Neil Cavuto's Fox News show, Stein called for a tax increase of 3.5% for wealthy Americans, to be earmarked for soldiers and military initiatives. Indeed, Stein wrote an editorial for the New York Times critical of those who would rather make money in the world of finance than fight terrorism.
Ben Stein has a show on VH1 called America's Most Smartest Model, in which he is the host. The show aims to find the smartest among fourteen models through a series of challenges. Ben Stein was a special guest at the VH1 party in Malibu, celebrating the launch of his new show.
Stein is married to entertainment lawyer Alexandra Denman, whom he once divorced and later remarried. He resides with Denman and son Tommy in Beverly Hills, California. Tommy is now a student at Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina. Stein lives part-time in Malibu, California, in a house with a Pacific Ocean view. Stein also has a summer home in Sandpoint, Idaho. |
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