Biography
Ben Shields was raised in eastern Kansas, finally landing in suburban Kansas City - on the Kansas side. His mother is a critical care nurse, and his father is an attorney. He is a great, great grandson of an undertaker who created one of the first mortuaries in Kansas in 1890 and had a grandfather who was a decorated WWII pilot. He is a distant nephew of Betsy Ross. Shields began acting at the age of eleven, when he was cast as an understudy at Kansas City's Starlight Theatre. He went on to perform in every major production in school, then went to college at and received a theatre degree from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
After college Ben worked in theatre, television, film, and voice-over in Chicago. Training includes The Second City Training Center in Chicago, from seasoned actor, director, teacher, and writer, Allan Miller, and from acclaimed teacher and actress, Uta Hagen. While in Chicago, he was seen at the Royal George Theatre, Shakespeare Repertory, Organic Theater, Apple Tree Theatre, Victory Gardens, among many others. Ben was among the cast of two productions that received Jeff Awards for Best Production. He then moved to Los Angeles, where he has appeared on television series, including Wonder Man, Lessons in Chemistry, Perry Mason, House M.D., Eleventh Hour, The Unit, Jericho, among others, as well as appearing and voicing on films, commercials, video games, and L.A. theatre stages. Ben now makes his home in London.
