Dean Cain

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Dean Cain

Dean Cain in Iraq, May 13, 2005
Born Dean George Tanaka
July 31, 1966 (1966-07-31) (age 41)
Mount Clemens, Michigan, USA
Occupation Actor, Presenter, Producer, Writer, Voice-over, Director
Years active 1976-present

Dean George Cain (born July 31, 1966) is an American actor who played Clark Kent/Superman in the American television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Cain was born Dean George Tanaka in Mount Clemens, Michigan, to actress Sharon Thomas and U.S. Army serviceman half Japanese Roger Tanaka, he is one quarter Japanese. His parents divorced before he was born. His mother later married film director Christopher Cain, and the family moved to Malibu, California. Christopher Cain adopted Dean and his brother, musician Roger Cain. The couple later had a daughter, Dean's half-sister, actress Krisinda Cain who also attended Santa Monica High.

[edit] High School

At Santa Monica High School, Cain excelled in sports. He played on the baseball team, and Chad and Rob Lowe and Charlie Sheen — who played on the baseball team — were among his classmates. When Cain graduated high school in 1984, he turned down 17 athletic scholarships to attend Princeton University, where he went on to be captain of the volleyball team and play free safety (Defensive Back) on the football team, where he had 12 interceptions in a single season, in addition to joining the Zeta Psi fraternity and the Cap & Gown eating club. He also dated actress Brooke Shields, who was one year ahead of him at the university. Cain graduated from Princeton in 1988 with a BA in History; the title of his senior thesis was The History and Development of the Functions of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Immediately after graduating, Cain signed on as a free agent with the Buffalo Bills, an NFL football team, but a knee injury during training camp ended his football career before it began. With little hope of returning to sports, he turned to screenwriting and then acting, shooting dozens of commercials and appearing on popular television shows like Grapevine, A Different World and Beverly Hills 90210. In 1993, Cain took on the role of Superman in the television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, which ran until 1997.

In 1998, Cain started the Angry Dragon Entertainment production company, which produces the new TBS Superstation television series Ripley's Believe It or Not!. He has also starred in several films, including The Broken Hearts Club (2000), Out of Time (2003) and Bailey's Billions (2004). In 2004, he portrayed Scott Peterson in the fact-based made for television movie The Perfect Husband: The Laci Peterson Story. He has also appeared in a recurring role as Casey Manning in the television series Las Vegas. Recently, Cain guest-starred in a seventh season episode of Smallville as the immortal Dr. Curtis Knox.

[edit] Background and family life

Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher at the 1993 Emmy Awards.
Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher at the 1993 Emmy Awards.
Dean Cain rehearsing with his Lois & Clark co-star Teri Hatcher at the 45th Emmy Awards, September 19, 1993
Dean Cain rehearsing with his Lois & Clark co-star Teri Hatcher at the 45th Emmy Awards, September 19, 1993
Dean Cain, 1993
Dean Cain, 1993

Dean Cain is of Japanese, French Canadian, Irish and Welsh descent. His last name, Tanaka, is a Japanese family name.

He has a son named Christopher Dean Cain (b. June 11, 2000) with former girlfriend and Playboy model Samantha Torres. His son is named after his stepfather, film director Christopher Cain.

He was previously engaged to country singer Mindy McCready in the late 1990s.

While promoting the television show, Ripley's Believe It or Not, on the Howard Stern Show on January 10, 2001, Cain said that his biological father lied to the National Enquirer by saying that Dean's mother left him while he was serving in the Vietnam War. Dean stated that the truth is his father never served in the war but instead cheated on his mother, with this being the real reason why they divorced.

[edit] Filmography

  • Elmer (1976) .... Dean Russell
  • Charlie and the Talking Buzzard (1979) .... Joe
  • The Stone Boy (1984) .... Eugene Hillerman
  • Christine Cromwell: Things That Go Bump in the Night (1989) (TV)
  • Write to Kill (1990) .... Parking Valet
  • Going Under (1990) .... Guy in Bar
  • Grapevine (1992) (TV) .... Joey
  • Miracle Beach (1992) .... Volleyball Player #1
  • Beverly Hills, 90210 (1992) (TV) .... Rick
  • The 45th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (1993) (TV) .... Presenter
  • Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993) TV Series .... Clark Kent/Superman
  • Touchdown: Football Goes to the Movies (1993) .... Host
  • Off Camera with Dean Cain (1995) TV Series .... Host (also produced and directed)
  • Cutty Whitman (1996) (TV) (uncredited) .... Clark Kent
  • Rag and Bone (1997) (TV) .... Tony Moran (also produced)
  • Eating Las Vegas (1997) .... Frank
  • Best Men (1997) .... Sergeant Buzz Thomas
  • Dogboys (1998) (TV) .... Julian Taylor
  • Futuresport (1998) (TV) .... Tremaine 'Tre' Ramzey
  • Ripley's Believe It or Not! (1999/I) TV Series .... Host (also produced)
  • Final Encounter (2000)
  • The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy (2000) .... Cole
  • No Alibi (2000) .... Bob Valenz
  • Flight of Fancy (2000) .... Clay Bennett
  • Militia (2000) .... Ethan Carter
  • For the Cause (2000) .... Gen. Murran
  • The Runaway (2000) (TV) .... Sheriff Frank Richards
  • Just Shoot Me! (2001) .... Chris Williams
  • Phase IV (2001) .... Simon Tate
  • Firetrap (2001) .... Jack/Max Hooper (also produced)
  • Rat Race (2001) .... Shawn Kent
  • A Christmas Adventure From a Book Called Wisely's Tales (2001) (V) (voice) .... Donner
  • Grandia Xtreme (2002) (VG) (voice) .... Evann
  • Boa (dvd) (2002)(V) .... Dr. Robert Trenton
  • Gentle Ben (2002) (TV) .... Ben
  • New Alcatraz (2002) .... Dr. Robert Trenton
  • Dark Descent (2002) .... Will Murdack
  • The Glow (2002) (TV) .... Matt Lawrence
  • Christmas Rush (2002) (TV) .... Lt. Cornelius Morgan
  • Frasier (2002) (TV) .... Rick
  • Dragon Fighter (2003) (V) .... Capt. David Carver (also produced)
  • Gentle Ben 2: Danger on the Mountain (2003) (TV) .... Jack Wedloe
  • Out of Time (2003/I) .... Chris Harrison
  • Grandpa's Place (2004) .... Special Appearance (Short)
  • P.I.: Post Impact (2004) .... Sargent/Captain Tom Parker
  • I Do (But I Don't) (2004) (TV) .... Nick Corina
  • Clubhouse (2004) TV Series .... Conrad Dean
  • Lost (2004) .... Jeremy Stanton
  • The Perfect Husband: The Laci Peterson Story (2004) (TV) .... Scott Peterson
  • Bailey's Billion$ (2005) .... Theodore Maxwell
  • Mayday (2005) (TV) .... Cmdr. James Slan
  • Firedog (2005) (filming) (voice) .... Tom
  • 10.5: Apocalypse (2005) (TV) .... Brad
  • Wrinkles (2005) (pre-production)
  • Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2005) (TV)
  • Las Vegas (2005) .... Casey Manning (TV)
  • Dead & Deader (2006) (TV) .... Lt. Bobby Quinn
  • September Dawn (2006) .... Joseph Smith
  • A Christmas Wedding (2006) (TV) (post-production) .... Tucker
  • Urban Decay (2007) (post-production) .... Stan
  • Five Dollars a Day (2008) (filming)
  • Crossroads: A Story of Forgiveness (2007) (TV) ....Bruce Murakami
  • Final Approach (2007) (TV) .... Jack Bender
  • Smallville (2007) (TV) ....the immortal Dr. Curtis Knox
  • CSI:Miami (2007) (TV) .... Roger Partney
  • Making Mr. Right (2008) (TV) .... Eddie
  • Five Dollars a Day (2008) .... TBA

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Preceded by
Gerard Christopher
Played Superman/Clark Kent
1993-1997
Succeeded by
Timothy Daly