Life and Career
Benben was born in Winchester, Virginia, the son of a produce buyer. He later lived and attended high school in Marlboro, New York, followed by two years at Ulster County Community College in Stone Ridge, New York, after which he moved to New York City, where he worked various jobs while auditioning and acting.
In 1982, he married Madeleine Stowe, whom he met filming The Gangster Chronicles. Together they have one child, daughter May Theodora Benben (b. 1996). Benben and Stowe have a ranch home in Johnson City, Texas, west of Austin.
In 1983, Benben appeared in the Broadway play Slab Boys with Kevin Bacon, Sean Penn, Val Kilmer and Jackie Earle Haley. The play received tepid reviews and only ran on Broadway for 48 performances.
Although his first national exposure was in the 1981 NBC miniseries-then-series The Gangster Chronicles, Benben is perhaps best known for his leading role in the 1990-96 HBO television series, Dream On. He played a "by the book" FBI agent in the 1990 film Dark Angel (known in the U.S. as I Come in Peace). He had a starring role in the 1994 film Radioland Murders playing Mary Stuart Masterson's estranged husband. In September 1998, he starred in an eponymous primetime CBS sitcom, The Brian Benben Show, which lasted only one month on the air.
Benben is currently featured on Private Practice. His character, Dr. Sheldon Wallace, was first introduced in December 2008, later becoming a recurring character, and finally a featured series regular.
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