Dean Cain Biography

Dean George Cain (born Dean George Tanaka; July 31, 1966) is an American actor. He is most widely known for his role as Clark Kent / Superman in the popular American television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

Early life

Cain was born as Dean George Tanaka in Mount Clemens, Michigan, the son of Sharon Thomas, an actress, and Roger Tanaka. He is of French Canadian, Irish, Welsh, and Japanese (from his paternal grandfather) descent. In 1969, Cain's mother married film director Christopher Cain, who adopted Dean and his brother (musician Roger Cain), and the family moved to Malibu, California. The couple later had a daughter, Dean's half sister, actress Krisinda Cain. Both attended Santa Monica High School, where he excelled in sports.

He played baseball as a child, and Chad and Rob Lowe and Charlie Sheen – who played on the same team – were among his schoolmates. Cain graduated from high school in 1984 and was offered athletic scholarships to 17 universities, but decided to attend Princeton University. At Princeton he was also a member of the Zeta Psi fraternity and the Cap & Gown eating club. He dated actress Brooke Shields while at Princeton. Cain graduated from Princeton in 1988 with a BA degree in History; his senior thesis was titled "The History and Development of the Functions of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences."

Career

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 including a famous volleyball one for Kellogg's Frosties and appearing on popular television shows like Grapevine, A Different World and Beverly Hills, 90210. In 1993, Cain took on his biggest role to date as Superman in the television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. At the height of its popularity, it would bring in an average of at least 15 million viewers per episode. The series ran for four seasons, ending in 1997.

In 1998, Cain started the Angry Dragon Entertainment production company, which produced the 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 Billion$ (2004) (co-starred Laurie Holden, Jennifer Tilly, and Tim Curry). In 2004, he portrayed Scott Peterson in the fact-based made for television movie The Perfect Husband: The Laci Peterson Story. He appeared in a recurring role as Casey Manning in the television series Las Vegas. Cain made a return to the Superman franchise, with a special guest role in a seventh season episode of Smallville as the immortal Dr. Curtis Knox, a character based upon the DC Comics villain Vandal Savage. He's #33 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of the '90s. Cain has also made an appearance in Internet Explorer 8 commercials.

Cain was also a contestant in a NBC celebrity reality competition series called Stars Earn Stripes. He won 4 out of 6 missions on the show, though came only 3rd in the final. In 2012, he participated in Fox's dating game show The Choice.

Personal life

In 1997, Cain became engaged to singer Mindy McCready. The couple broke up the following year. Cain has a son named Christopher Dean Cain (born June 11, 2000) with former girlfriend and Playboy Playmate Samantha Torres. His son is named after his father, film director Christopher Cain. 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 when he stated that Cain's mother left him while he was serving in the Vietnam War. Cain stated his father never served in the war but instead cheated on his mother, which was the real reason they divorced. Dean Cain supported Rick Perry for President in the 2012 election.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1976	Elmer	Dean Russell
1979	Charlie and the Talking Buzzard	Joe
1984	The Stone Boy (film)	Eugene Hillerman
1990	Write to Kill	Parking Valet
	Going Under	Guy in Bar
1992	Miracle Beach	Volleyball Player #1
1997	Eating Las Vegas	Frank
	Best Men	Sergeant Buzz Thomas
2000	The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy	Cole
	No Alibi	Bob Valenz
	Flight of Fancy	Clay Bennett
	Militia	Ethan Carter
	For the Cause (a.k.a. Final Encounter)	Gen. Murran
2001	Phase IV	Simon Tate
	Firetrap	Jack/Max Hooper	Also produced
	Rat Race	Shawn Kent
	A Christmas Adventure From a Book Called Wisely's Tales	Donner	Voice
2002	New Alcatraz (Boa)	Dr. Robert Trenton
	Dark Descent	Will Murdack
2003	Dragon Fighter	Capt. David Carver	Also produced
	Breakaway	Morgan	Co-stars with Erika Eleniak and Eric Roberts
	Out of Time	Chris Harrison
2004	Grandpa's Place	Special Appearance	Short
	Post Impact	Sargent/Captain Tom Parker
	Lost	Jeremy Stanton
2005	Truth	Peter
	Bailey's Billion$	Theodore Maxwell
	Wrinkles
2006	Max Havoc: Ring of Fire	Roger Tarso
	September Dawn	Joseph Smith
2007	Urban Decay	Stan
2008	Ace of Hearts	Daniel Harding
	$5 a Day	Rick Carlson
2009	Aussie and Ted's Great Adventure	Michael Brooks
	Maneater	Harry
2010	Circle of Pain	Wyatt
	Abandoned	Kevin Peterson
	Hole in One	Repo Man
	Kill Katie Malone	Robert
	Pure Country 2: The Gift	Director	Gold Award Theatrical Feature Film (Shared w/producers)
	A Nanny for Christmas	Danny Donner
	Subject: I Love You	James Trapp
	Bed & Breakfast	Jake
2011	5 Days of War	Chris Bailot
	A Mile in His Shoes	Arthur 'Murph' Murphy
	At the Top of the Pyramid	Jefferson Parker
	Home Run Showdown	Rico Deluca
	Dirty Little Trick	Michael
	The Fallen	Cole
	Latin Quarter	Appolinaire
	Vacation	Bryce
	The Sandy Creek Girls	Jared
2012	Doorway to Heaven	Leo	Completed
	Meant to Be	Mike	Completed

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	Christine Cromwell: Things That Go Bump in the Night
1992	A Different World	Eddie
	Grapevine	Brian
	Beverly Hills, 90210	Rick	4 episodes
1993	Touchdown: Football Goes to the Movies	Himself " Host
1993-1997	Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman	Clark Kent/Superman	87 episodes
1995	Off Camera with Dean Cain	Himself " Host	TV Series / Host / Also Produced and Directed
1996	Cutty Whitman	Clark Kent	Uncredited
1997	Rag and Bone	Tony Moran	Also produced
1998	Dogboys	Julian Taylor
	Futuresport	Tremaine 'Tre' Ramzey
1999-2003	Ripley's Believe It or Not!	Himself " Host	TV Series/Host/Also produced
2000	The Runaway	Sheriff Frank Richards
2001	Just Shoot Me!	Chris Williams
2002	Gentle Ben	Jack Wedloe
	The Glow	Matt Lawrence
	Christmas Rush	Lt. Cornelius Morgan
	Frasier	Rick
2003	Gentle Ben 2: Danger on the Mountain	Jack Wedloe
2003-2004	The Division	Insp. Jack Ellis	8 episodes
2004	I Do (But I Don't)	Nick Corina
	The Perfect Husband: The Laci Peterson Story	Scott Peterson
2004-2005	Clubhouse	Conrad Dean	11 episodes
2005	Mayday	Cmdr. James Slan
	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Dr. Mike Jergens
	Hope & Faith	Larry Walker	4 episodes
2005-2006	Las Vegas	Casey Manning	9 episodes
2006	10.5: Apocalypse	Brad
	Dead And Deader	Lt. Bobby Quinn
	A Christmas Wedding	Tucker
2007	Hidden Camera	Dan Kovacs
	Crossroads: A Story of Forgiveness	Bruce Murakami
	Final Approach	Jack Bender
	Smallville	Dr. Curtis Knox
	CSI: Miami	Roger Partney
2008	Making Mr. Right	Eddie
2009	The Gambler, the Girl and the Gunslinger	Shea McCall
	The Dog Who Saved Christmas	Ted Stein
	The Three Gifts	Jack Green
2010	Frost Giant	JC
	The Way Home	Randy Simpkins	Nominated - Movieguide Awards Most Inspiring Television Acting
	The Dog Who Saved Christmas Vacation	Ted Stein
2011	The Dog Who Saved Halloween	Ted Stein
	Burn Notice	Ryan Pewterbaugh
2012	Criminal Minds	Curtis Banks
	Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23	Himself
	Stars Earn Stripes	Himself	5 episodes
	The Dog Who Saved the Holidays	Ted Stein	Completed
	The Choice	Himself
	Bloopers	Himself
2013-present	Hit the Floor	Pete Davenport	Post-production; Main Cast

Video Games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	Grandia Xtreme	Evann	Voice