Ben Stein
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Benjamin Jeremy Stein (born November 25, 1944, in Washington, D.C.) is an American actor, writer, economist, lawyer, and television personality. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Columbia University in 1966 and a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 1970, where he was elected class valedictorian. Before entering entertainment, he worked as a poverty lawyer and trial attorney for the Federal Trade Commission, then as a speechwriter for Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.
In Ghostbusters II (1989), Stein appeared as a Public Works Official. His deadpan delivery and physical appearance were later the basis for a ghost character in IDW Publishing's Ghostbusters comic series: in Ghostbusters #9, one of the ghosts guarding the Fort Wayne Army gate is visually based on him, and the same comic notes that Stein and Eugene Levy, who appeared in a deleted scene from the film, share that distinction.
Stein is best known to broader audiences for his cameo as the memorably monotone economics teacher in John Hughes's Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986). From 1997 to 2003, he hosted the Comedy Central game show Win Ben Stein's Money alongside Jimmy Kimmel, which won five Daytime Emmy Awards. He has written extensively for publications including The Wall Street Journal and The American Spectator and has authored sixteen books.