The Life of Ben Stein

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Author: Anyomous

Born: 25-Nov-1944
Birthplace: Washington, DC

Gender: Male
Religion: Jewish
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Game Show Host, Actor, Attorney

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Host of Win Ben Stein's Money

To most people, Ben Stein is the host of Win Ben Stein's Money or the boring teacher in Ferris Bueller's Day Off and The Wonder Years. Before he was famous, though, Stein was class valedictorian at Yale Law School. He's written seven novels, and one was made into a James Woods movie, The Boost. He was co-creator of Fernwood 2Nite, and taught ethics and securities law at Pepperdine University.

Ben Stein's father, Herb Stein, was Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors under President Richard M Nixon, which presumably helped young Stein, just a few years out of law school, get hired as a Nixon speechwriter. After Nixon resigned, Stein became a columnist for The Wall Street Journal, where he wrote a piece harshly criticizing Norman Lear, the then-darling of liberals responsible for All in the Family and The Jeffersons. Lear thought Stein's column was funny, and hired him to write for All's Fair, a Lear sitcom with Richard Crenna and Bernadette Peters, which quickly tanked.

Stein's high school classmates include Carl Bernstein, Connie Chung, Goldie Hawn, and Sylvester Stallone. He loved his wife so much he's married her twice. He is widely considered the funniest Republican in Hollywood. But still, Stein is more Republican than funny. Emceeing the National Right to Life's Proudly Pro-Life Awards Dinner a few months after September 11, Stein spoke somberly of the 3,000 people who lost their lives that day, then added that many more lives than that are taken each day by abortion. "Abortion", said Stein, "is the worst form of terrorism because it is against the most innocent of lives, the unborn".

Father: Herbert Stein (economist, b. 1916, d. 8-Sep-1999)
Mother: Mildred Stein (d. Apr-1997 age 81)
Sister: Rachel Stein (writer)
Wife: Alexandra Denman (b. 1947, m. 1968, div. 1974; remarried 1977)
Son: Tommy Stein (adopted, b. 1987)

    High School: Montgomery Blair High School, Silver Spring, MD (1962)
    University: BS Economics, Columbia University (1966)
    Law School: JD, Yale University (1970)
    Teacher: American University, Washington DC
    Teacher: Visiting Lecturer, University of California at Santa Cruz
    Teacher: Pepperdine University

    Barron's Contributor
    The American Spectator Columnist
    The Wall Street Journal Columnist
    U.S. Federal Trade Commission trial lawyer
    National Right to Life Committee 
    Emmy Outstanding Game-Show Host, Win Ben Stein's Money 1999
    Endorsement of DirecTV 2006
    Endorsement of Yahoo! 
    Mugged

    TELEVISION
    Win Ben Stein's Money Host (1997-2002)
    The Wonder Years Mr. Cantwell (1989-91)
    Star Search Judge (2002-3)
    Fernwood 2 Nite

    FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
    Son of the Mask (2004) 
    Wakko's Wish (26-Jul-1999) [VOICE]
    Casper Meets Wendy (8-Sept-1998) 
    Men in White (19-Aug-1998) Himself
    Casper: A Spirited Beginning (21-Oct-1997) 
    A Smile Like Yours (22-Aug-1997) 
    House Arrest (14-Aug-1996) 
    Casper (26-May-1995) 
    Miami Rhapsody (27-Jan-1995) 
    Richie Rich (21-Dec-1994) 
    The Mask (29-Jul-1994) 
    North (22-Jul-1994) 
    My Girl 2 (11-Feb-1994) 
    Me and the Kid (22-Oct-1993) 
    Dennis the Menace (24-Jun-1993) 
    Dave (7-May-1993) Himself
    Honeymoon in Vegas (28-Aug-1992) 
    Soapdish (31-May 1991) 
    Ghostbusters II (16-Jun-1989) 
    Planes, Trains & Automobiles (25-Nov-1987) 
    Ferris Bueller's Day Off (11-Jun-1986) 
    The Wild Life (28-Sep-1984)