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Ben Stein

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Ben Stein
Benjamin Jeremy Stein (born November 25, 1944 in Washington, D.C.) is a lawyer, economist, law professor, actor, comedian and former White House speechwriter. He is the son of noted economist and writer Herbert Stein. His sister Rachel is a writer.

Contents

Early years

Ben Stein was born to American Jewish parents and grew up in the neighborhood Woodside Forest in Silver Spring, Maryland. He graduated from Montgomery Blair High School, where his classmates included journalist Carl Bernstein and actors Goldie Hawn and Sylvester Stallone. He went on to major in economics at Columbia University's Columbia College. He graduated with honors in 1966, and then enrolled in Yale University Law School, graduating as the valedictorian in 1970.

Legal and academic career

Ben Stein was first a poverty lawyer in New Haven, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. before becoming a trial lawyer for the Federal Trade Commission.

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.

In addition, Stein is very interested in American Civil War history, and is a strong supporter of the Civil War Preservation Trust.

Political career

Ben Stein began his political career as a speechwriter and lawyer for United States President Richard Nixon, and later for President Gerald Ford. Stein was one of many public figures speculated to have been Deep Throat. As far back as May 3, 1976, Time magazine had speculated on the possibility of Stein being Deep Throat. See [link].

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." [link]

On June 17, 2002, CNN aired a clip of Stein stating, "I'm sure there was no Deep Throat. I'm absolutely sure of it. I've got a million dollars there's no Deep Throat." [link]

On May 13, 2003 he told David and Tom Gardner of the Motley Fool,

"There was no Deep Throat, I'm sure of it. I certainly wasn't. At the time Deep Throat was operating, I was a hippie in the woods of Santa Cruz, California—so it wasn't me. And I don't think there was any Deep Throat. I think it was somebody Bob Woodward made up in one of his more imaginative moments." [link]
When W. Mark Felt finally admitted to being the famous informant on May 31, 2005, Stein stopped denying the existence of Deep Throat and began expressing contempt toward Felt and his role in exposing the Watergate scandal. Stein said, "If there is such a thing as justice in this life or the next, Mark Felt has bought himself the worst future of any man on this earth," in part because he felt Nixon would not have allowed the rise of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.

Some have called Stein a "Nixon apologist" due to his fervent defense of Nixon's legacy. As recently as 2005, in the American Spectator, Stein said:

"Nixon was a peacemaker. He was a lying, conniving, covering-up peacemaker. He was not a lying, conniving drug addict like JFK, a lying, conniving war-starter like LBJ, a lying, conniving seducer like Clinton—a lying, conniving peacemaker."
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.

Writing career

A frequent writer, Ben Stein has authored books on several topics, including economics. He writes a regular column in the conservative magazine The American Spectator. He has also written for numerous publications including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, New York Magazine, Los Angeles Magazine and Barron's Magazine, where his discussion of the Michael Milken Drexel Burnham Lambert junk bond situation, as well as the ethical dimensions of management buyouts, attracted heavy US national attention in the 1980s and 1990s. He currently writes a regular column for the Sunday New York Times Business Section and for Yahoo! Finance online.

Stein's book titles to date (7 fiction, 20 nonfiction) include:

Career in the media

Despite his prominence as a commentator on politics and economics, Ben 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. (The only scripted lines are those in which he calls attendance.)

Stein excelled at playing these bland and unemotional characters, and was subsequently typecast into many roles, mainly as a nerd. He had a recurring role in the TV series The Wonder Years and played himself in Dave. He also appears in television commercials for Murine Clear Eyes ("The difference is clear...Dry Eyes? Clear Eyes.")--many ads spoof movies of the day, such as one where Stein is a painter (a play on The Da Vinci Code). Stein's deadpan, monotone deliveries stand in stark contrast to the more typical enthusiasm of commercial personalities, making the Clear Eyes advertisements unusual and memorable.

In 1993 Stein also appeared as Elliot Warner in a episode of Full House. He appeared in the episode "Another Opening, Another No Show." In it Jesse is opening the Smash Club and Elliot Warner (Stein) has come as a critic to report on the club in the newspaper.

Among Stein's voice roles are The Pixies on the hit animated series The Fairly OddParents and Pip on Animaniacs. He once made a cameo appearance in the comic book Young Justice; Ali Ben Styn was the sheik of an Arabian castle in a snowy area in the middle of the Middle Eastern desert. After his palace was rescued from certain doom via lava flow, he promised the heroes anything they wanted, except his money.

In 1997 Stein was given his own game show by Comedy Central titled Win Ben Stein's Money along with co-host Jimmy Kimmel. True to its name, the money that contestants won on the show was subtracted from the $5000 Ben earned (in addition to his salary). If any contestant dared to respond to a question in the "What is…" style of Jeopardy!, Stein would force him or her to wear a dunce cap. The show won seven Emmy awards before ending its run in 2003. [as ofAs of] 2006, re-runs air on the American Game Show Network.

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. Until her death after the second season of the show (she was run over by a car at Stein's home), Puppy Wuppy could be seen running around the studio during interviews and occasionally relieved herself on the set ("Puppy Wuppy" was eventually stuffed and put in Stein's study which he revealed in an episode of I've Got A Secret) Turn Ben Stein On lasted for three seasons.

In 2003 and 2004, Stein judged for Star Search. In 2005 he hosted the Game Show Moments Gone Bananas specials on VH1. Despite having appeared in many "Hollywood" movies, he is a noted critic of many attitudes found among film studio leaders, but not of the "rank and file" of the film industry itself.

Stein currently appears on Fox News Channel as a regular member of the Cavuto on Business panel. He has been a guest of Bill O'Reilly on The O'Reilly Factor concerning economics. He is also a frequent commentator on the CBS Sunday Morning News and continues to appear in commercials for Murine Clear Eyes.

In addition, Stein has written for the television industry. He is noted for his outlines for the TV movie Murder in Mississippi and for the lengthy ABC miniseries Amerika. He has also contributed to the creation of the well-liked TV comedy Fernwood 2-Night.

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. This may indicate a departure from pure conservative economics on Stein's part.

Ben Stein is noted for his investment advice. Ben recognized that there was something fishy going on with the accounting at MCI Worldcom and shorted the stock. Ben is now a featured writer at Yahoo Finance.

In 2009, his new movie Ben Stein's Movie will be released starring him in three roles and co-starring Garry Shandling and Michael Lerner.

Personal life

Today Stein is married to entertainment lawyer Alexandra Denman [link], whom he once divorced and later remarried. He resides with Denman and their son in Beverly Hills, California. He lives part-time in Malibu, California, in a house with a Pacific Ocean view, while teaching at Pepperdine University. In an interview he stated that he asked his wife to have his grave say, "Loved dogs, and Bueller...Bueller." He also said, "When I die, which I feel will be soon, I have a feeling my grave will say 'Bueller...Bueller.'"

External links

 

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