Ben Steel

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Ben Steel
Birth name	Ben Steel
Born	October 09, 1975 (age 31) Melbourne, Australia
Years active	2000-present
Spouse(s)	Previously engaged to Deni Hines (2002-2004)
Notable roles	Jude Lawson in Home & Away

Ben Steel (born October 9, 1975) is an Australian actor and director who is most known for his regular role in Australian soap Home & Away.

Steel’s career as an actor, writer and director has achieved an impressive momentum. Appearing in television commercials at 11, Steel quickly moved on to more significant television guest roles, and at the age of fifteen he purchased his first video camera to explore life on the other side of the lens. Steel studied media & film studies at high school then moved to Sydney to pursue full time work in the film industry. Steel's tenacity paid off when he scored a lighting job on the high-rating ABC program Heartbreak High. This was the break Steel needed, giving him enough technical experience to work behind-the-scenes on bigger projects such as the feature films Doing Time for Patsy Cline, Dark City and Oscar and Lucinda.

Taking a side step in the position of Production Runner enabled Steel to absorb new skills at very close range to master filmmakers. The position offered an insight into everything from pre to post production, as he worked on IMAX: The Story of a City with Bruce Beresford; First Daughter (1999 film); Bootmen with Dein Perry; and finally hit the jackpot with Moulin Rouge! and director Baz Lurhmann.

Then Steel was hurtled back in front of the camera and into the spotlight. On 31st of October 2001 Steel made his first appearance as Jude Lawson in the hugely successful Australian soap Home & Away. He played the popular character for three seasons and appeared in more than 160 episodes.

In addition to his acting commitments on Home & Away, Steel continued to develop several feature film projects while refining his directing skills on short films. He has since completed more than twenty short films including 'Airhead' starring Andrew Hill and 'Mum's the Word' starring Chris Egan, both winners of best comedy at 'The Shootout 24hour Filmmaking Festival', and in 2002 Steel took filmmaking to new extremes, when he rose to the challenge to make 'Diagnosis Narcolepsy' a 16mm, 7-minute film, starring Scott Major, Eric Thompson, Sal Coco, Lara Cox, Jeremy Kewley, Deni Hines, and the film was completed in just 24 hours.

After finishing Home & Away Steel went to the UK to play Prince Valentine in the pantomime Snow White. Steel subsequently starred in his first independent feature film 'The Bitten Tongue', where he had fun playing a cross-dressing, money laundering gangster. His next project was another bad guy abducting David Beckham's hairdresser in 'Unfashionable Tramps' followed by a successful season at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival starring in 'This is Soap' and presenting 2 music festivals for Five (channel). Then Steel went to the US and spent a few months studying acting at 'Playhouse West' under the eye of founders Jeff Goldblum and Robert Carnegie.

2004 saw Steel return to Australia to star in the classic cult theatrical production of 'Debbie Does Dallas: the musical' which received high critical praise and a sold out season. He then went behind the camera again in his music video directorial debut making 'Shower the People' for Australian singing legend Marcia Hines and Belinda Emmett. Steel then flew to New Zealand to direct the short film 'Pullin Roots' starring Beau Brady and Clayton Watson.

2005 saw Steel depart to the UK to revise his character of Prince Valentine in the pantomime Snow White, it also marked the year that Steel made his West End Theatre debut. Steel headed up the cast of The Vegemite Tales, an Australian play that is set in a share-house in London. The play was extremely successful and ran for 12 weeks to sellout audiences. Next Steel continued performing in theatre in 'Serial Killers' a New Zealand play written by James Griffen performed at the Darby Playhouse.

2006 brought Steel back to Australia where he worked with director Spike Jonze on the movie Where the Wild Things Are.

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life and education

Steel's parents are Glenys Steel and Ray Steel. He has two older sisters, Nicole Simpson (Steel) and Kara Joiner (Steel). Steel moved to Sydney after completing his high school studies in 1993. His family remained in Melbourne.

Steel started taking acting lessons when he was eleven. This later led to studies at Sydney's Australian Theatre for Young People and The Actor's Centre. It was at The Actor's Pulse in Sydney that Steel discovered the Meisner acting technique. Steel continued his studies with the Meisner technique overseas at The Impulse Company in London, and Playhouse West in Los Angeles. Steel is currently studying at The Prague Playhouse in the Czech Republic.

[edit] Early career

His first appearance on tv came in 1992 when, as a seventeen year-old, he appeared in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation television series Phoenix (TV series).

[edit] Acting Filmography

[edit] Directing Filmography

[edit] Personal life

[edit] Relationships

Steel met Deni Hines on the set of the Seven Network Perth Telethon in 2001. Hine's sang her then current single Frenzy while sitting on the knee of Steel. The couple were reported as dating several months later, and were seen travelling to many destinations around the world. Their engagment was announced in the social pages of Australian newspapers in 2003. The reason for their 2004 break-up has never been made public.

[edit] Charitable work

Steel attended Good Friday Appeal 2001-2002. The Good Friday Appeal is a fundraising activity that brings together people from all parts of the community in a very special way. The common goal is to raise money for The Royal Children's Hospital, in Melbourne, and to ensure that all children with life threatening illnesses receive the best possible medical and clinical care.

Good Friday Appeal phone room as well as Channel 7 studio setup of the telethon panel featuring personalities such as Andrew O'Keefe

[edit] Trivia

• In Home & Away Steel had to dye his hair black.
• Steel was rumored to have an affair with Nicole Kidman in 2000 while working on the film Moulin Rouge!.
• Steel writes and directs films.
• Steel directed a music video starring Australian Idol judge Marcia Hines and Belinda Emmett in 2004.

[edit] Awards nominated for

Logie Award:

• Best New Talent nomination Home & Away (2002)

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Ben Steel

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Ben Steel

• Ben Steel at the Internet Movie Database

/ The Actor's Pulse