Ben Stein (Benjamin J. Stein) was born on Nov. 25, 1944 in Washington, D.C. The son of noted economist and writer Herbert Stein, he grew up in Silver Spring, Md., and attended Montgomery Blair High School. Some of his classmates included journalist Carl Bernstein, and actors Goldie Hawn and Sylvester Stallone. He graduated from Columbia University in 1966 with honors in economics and as valedictorian of the 1970 Yale Law School class. He has worked as a poverty lawyer, a trial lawyer, a university adjunct (American University, University of California at Santa Cruz and Pepperdine University), a speech writer for Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford and a columnist for The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Herald Examiner, King Features Syndicate, Los Angeles Magazine, New York Magazine, E! Online and The American Spectator. He also writes frequently for The Washington Post. Stein has written and published 16 books (seven novels, nine nonfiction books), the most recent of which is about life with his 12-year-old son, Tommy. He has been a longtime screenwriter and was one of the creators of the TV series Fernwood 2Night. He has acted and made guest appearances in numerous movies and TV series, appears in many TV commercials and is the host of two Comedy Central TV series, Win Ben Stein's Money (October, 1997-2002) and Turn Ben Stein On. He is married to entertainment-industry attorney Alexandra Denman.


2000: Appeared at the Republican National Convention honoring George W. Bush in a spoof of his game show, "Win Ben Stein's Money" (1997). Schoolmate of Sylvester Stallone and Goldie Hawn. Wrote an article in a woman's magazine (Cosmo?) about his life as a nerd, and the advantages in dating nerds. Has a son, Tommy (b. 1987). Best known in the 1980s for his bit role as the repetitive teacher in Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986). The only actor to appear in The Mask (1994), Son of the Mask (2005), plus the animated TV-series "The Mask" (1995), reprising his role of Dr. Arthur Neuman. Twenty years after his Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) part as the economics teacher, Stein made a 2006 commercial with the old 1986 footage from the movie. He used make-up to stay accurate, while adding new comedic material. Has been stripped of his Sunday New York Times business column because of his work as a pitchman for FreeScore.com, a credit monitoring company [August 8, 2009].