Ben Stein grew up in the Woodside Forest neighborhood of Silver Spring. He attended Montgomery Hills Junior High with Sylvester Stallone in the late 50s. Stein then moved on to Blair High School, where he was a year ahead of Goldie Hawn and graduated with journalist, Carl Bernstein (teamed with Bob Woodward to do much of the original reporting on the Watergate Scandal, which led to the eventual resignation of President Richard Nixon).
He majored in economics at Columbia University’s Columbia College and graduated with honors before graduating as valedictorian from Yale Law School.
After a stint as a lawyer in Connecticut and Washington D.C., he became a college professor at American University, Cal, and Pepperdine.
Stein jumped into politics as a speechwriter and lasers for President Richard Nixon and President Gerald Ford. Time magazine even speculated that he could be Deep Throat, but it was later revealed to not be the case.
His acting career took off when he portrayed a teacher who spoke in monotone in the 80s hit Comedy, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, with Matthew Broderick. He played a similar monotonous character in for a decade or so in Clear Eyes commercials before landing his own game show, Win Ben Stein’s Money, on Comedy Central.
Though He currently lives in California, Ben Stein still owns an apartment at Watergate building in Washington D.C.
Photos courtesy of the 1961 Montgomery Blair High School yearbooks.
The following is a statement from Montgomery County Councilmember (At-Large), Wil Jawando addressing a student-involved stabbing incident at Montgomery Blair High School on Monday, November8, 2021:
Rockville, MD — “This morning there was an altercation leading to a student at Montgomery Blair High School being stabbed by another student in the school’s parking lot. I am praying the student that was attacked makes a full recovery and my heart goes out to the students, staff, and family impacted by this incident. I commend the quick actions of the school’s security staff, our Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Emergency Medical Technicians and Montgomery County Police officers who responded to the scene.
“This incident comes ahead of a briefing the Council’s Joint Committee on Education & Culture and Health & Human Services will be receiving related to the Student Wellness Action Group (SWAG), which has highlighted the need for more mental health support and investments in student wellbeing. We created the SWAG group as part of an effort to address disparities in student arrests and discipline in schools, and to improve student well-being.
While some may use this incident to push back on this effort, I see this incident as an example of
appropriate involvement of our police department at one of our schools, as we work to address the underlying causes.
“We must continue to address the growing mental health crisis for students following the pandemic. Like many adults, kids are also readjusting to a post-quarantine experience, including being face-to-face with their peers in school. This is an unprecedented moment that deserves unprecedented funding, resources and creativity in the delivery of services and support. Re-acclimating our children to school and social settings is an important task in re-acclimating them to in-person learning.
This is why the County Council is working to add funding for mental health supports and expanded staff to address student needs, including investments in community-based, trauma informed systems that address the environmental harm that are often the root causes of interpersonal conflict.
“As more details from the situation become available, I will pay close attention to updates. I will be meeting with MCPS Superintendent McKnight to review this incident and general operations.
“Today we are reminded of the strength of Montgomery County and our residents. I encourage anyone struggling in the aftermath of the incident at Blair High School to reach out to the EveryMind hotline at 301.738.2255.”
His first television role was as Joey Grimaldi for two episodes on the NBC series Homicide: Life on the Streets. He then went on to more prominent roles like Sgt. Jay Landsman in The Wire, defense attorney John Buchanan in Law & Order: SVU, and a lot more. The Actor and acting coach grew up in Silver Spring and even played the role of the Russian constable in Montgomery Blair High School’s 1978 production of Fiddler on the Roof…back when he went by Bill Delaney.
In featured below, courtesy of Delaney Williams’ Instagram, you’ll see him in a YMCA Silver Spring shirt. He is Delaney Williams.
