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When Lamar Taylor walked out on stage as the lead player and captivated the audience with his larger-than-life personality, Ben knew what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. The theatre became his home and there was no turning back. During his high school years Ben was in such shows as “Two by Two,” “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “The Four Poster,” “The Diviners” and many other shows around town.
As high school ended it was time to further his education and skill level at college. Ben’s dream was to attend the conservatory program at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His parents had other ideas. They wanted him to attend a liberal arts program, as a safety net, if the “acting thing” didn’t work out. Ben’s Uncle Chipper, the first in the family to graduate from college, had attended the University of Pittsburgh. Ben’s parents felt that Pitt was the clear choice and since they were footing the bill, Ben was off to Pitt.
The campuses of the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University were separated by a small bridge. With the help of Dr. Vernell Lillie, Ben would eventually cross that bridge. Dr. Lillie, one of Ben’s professors at Pitt, was a Carnegie alum and founder of the Kuntu Repertory Theatre. Dr. Lillie spoke to Ben’s parents and convinced them that Ben should be attending CMU. The faculty of CMU agreed, and Ben enrolled that fall. Before he made it to the campus he booked his first professional job in CMU alum Andy Wolks’ HBO film “Criminal Justice.”
At CMU Ben appeared in main stage shows like “Romeo and Juliet,” “The Threepenny Opera,” Arthur Giron’s “Gifts,” and Sybil Berry’s “Public Images, Private Lives.”
After four years of intense training Ben graduated in 1994 with a BFA in Acting and moved to New York City. He booked many roles in film and television, including “Law and Order,” “New York Undercover,” “Homicide: Life on the Street,” “The Corner,” “The Homeboy,” “Dogma,” and the Emmy-winning made-for-TV movie “The Temptations.”
