Ben Stein | |
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Ben Stein speaking at a gala in honor of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, or TAPS, Washington, D.C. in 2008
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Born |
Benjamin Jeremy Stein November 25, 1944 Washington, D.C., United States |
Residence |
Beverly Hills, California, Malibu, California, Washington, D.C. Sandpoint, Idaho |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater |
Columbia University (B.A.) Yale Law School (J.D.) |
Occupation | Author, commentator, lawyer, teacher, actor, voice actor, humorist, game show host, comedian, screenwriter, speechwriter, producer, consultant, composer |
Years active | 1970–present |
Net worth | US$20 million |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse(s) | Alexandra Denman (1968–1974; 1977–present) |
Children | 1 |
Parent(s) |
Herbert Stein Mildred (née Fishman) Stein |
Website | http://www.benstein.com |
Benjamin Jeremy "Ben" Stein (born November 25, 1944) is an American writer, lawyer, actor, and commentator on political and economic issues. He attained early success as a speechwriter for American presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Later, he entered the entertainment field and became an actor, comedian, and Emmy Award-winning game show host. He is most well-known on screen as the economics teacher in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
Stein has frequently written commentaries on economic, political, and social issues, along with financial advice to individual investors. He is the son of economist and writer Herbert Stein, who worked at the White House under President Nixon. His sister, Rachel, is also a writer. While as a character actor he is well known for his droning, monotonous delivery, in real life he is a public speaker on a wide range of economic and social issues.
Stein was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Mildred (née Fishman), a homemaker, and Herbert Stein, a writer, economist, and presidential adviser. He is Jewish and grew up in the Woodside Forest neighborhood of Silver Spring, Maryland. Stein graduated from Montgomery Blair High School in 1962 along with classmate journalist Carl Bernstein (class of 1960); actress Goldie Hawn (class of 1963) was one year 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, graduating in June 1970. He says that he did not have the highest grades in his class at Yale "by a long shot", but claims to have been voted valedictorian by the students because he was the "most popular".