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Ben Stein

Ben Stein built a screen career around one of comedy’s most useful contradictions: a delivery so dry and controlled that it could make even the dullest subject funny. Born in Washington, D.C., on November 25, 1944, Stein arrived in movies and television with an unusually broad background spanning economics, law, teaching, political speechwriting and journalism. That experience gave his best-known role its extra edge. As the monotonous economics teacher in 1986’s Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Stein lectures his indifferent class on the Smoot-Hawley Tariff and supply-side economics. The scene turned his measured, unemotional manner into a comic signature. He later brought a similar tone to The Wonder Years as recurring science teacher Mr. Cantwell, whose narration of classroom films made boredom part of the joke. Stein’s screen work has ranged comfortably between live action, animation and appearances as himself. His film credits include Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Ghostbusters II, The Mask, Richie Rich, Casper and Dave. On television, he appeared in series including Seinfeld, Full House, MacGyver and Married... with Children. His unmistakable voice also found a natural home in animated projects such as The Fairly OddParents, Animaniacs, Duckman, Rugrats and The Emperor’s New School. He became a game-show host with Win Ben Stein’s Money, which ran from 1997 to 2003, and later hosted Turn Ben Stein On and America’s Most Smartest Model. Away from performing, Stein has worked as a lawyer, teacher, screenwriter, non-fiction writer and political and economic commentator. He graduated from Columbia University with a degree in economics and earned a law degree from Yale Law School before working in legal, academic and political roles. Across those different careers, Stein’s screen identity has remained remarkably specific: formal, cerebral and almost aggressively calm. Filmmakers and television producers repeatedly found comedy in that restraint, making his voice and manner as important as the lines themselves.