Ben McCain
Ben McCain (born 25 June 1955) is an American actor, broadcaster, producer and one half of The McCain Brothers, a singing-songwriting duo. McCain has appeared in numerous films including MGM's Bio-Dome, Roger Corman's remake Humanoids From The Deep and Bruce Campbell's My Name Is Bruce as well as recurring TV roles in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and SyFy's Black Scorpion.
Ben McCain | |
|---|---|
 Ben McCain at the Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards (2011) | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Ben McCain |
| Born | June 25, 1955 Muleshoe, Texas, U.S. |
| Origin | Bovina, Texas |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, TV host, producer, singer-songwriter |
| Years active | 1973–present |
Early life
Born in Muleshoe, Texas, and raised on a farm near Bovina in Parmer County.[1] McCain is a graduate of Bovina High School, South Plains College in Levelland, Texas, and West Texas State University now West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas.
Career
Ben McCain and his brother, Butch McCain, co-hosted a morning television program in Oklahoma City from 1981 to 1987 at KTVY (NBC affiliate) and from 1987 to 1994 the brothers hosted "Good Morning Oklahoma" and anchored the noon newscast at KOCO-TV (ABC affiliate). Ben anchored the news and Butch served as the weather anchor.[2]
While hosting their daily morning television program, the brothers appeared on the syndicated TV show Hee Haw as well as ABC soap operas General Hospital, All My Children and Loving.[3]
The McCain Brothers did live segments on the KCBS-TV morning show in Los Angeles in 2000.
The McCain Brothers have recorded four CDs on Rise and Shine Records. The country single, "If Love Was a Crime I Couldn't Get Arrested" went number one on 50,000-watt KOMA radio in 1985.[3] They also hosted a syndicated TV music show called "The McCain Brothers Show."[3]
Ben and his brother, Butch, have appeared in numerous films together including MGM's cult classic Bio-Dome,[4] Roger Corman's Humanoids from the Deep and Bruce Campbell's My Name is Bruce, where they wrote and performed the theme song, "The Legend of Guan Di".[5] In the movie, Ben plays the mayor and Butch has dual roles as the sheriff and a uni-browed farmer. In a 1997, Daily Variety article, columnist Andrew Hindes described the McCain Brothers as "multi-hyphenated".[6]
McCain has been nominated twice for Los Angeles Area Emmy awards. The first time in 2010 as Producer and Host for the program "So-Cal's Best Iconic Movie Locations"[4] and again in 2012 as Producer for the program "Leimert Park Today".[5] McCain worked as a producer, host and reporter for Time Warner Cable from 2002 to 2012.
McCain narrated the audio book NICHOLAS: The Fantastic Origins of Santa Claus in 2013.
Ben McCain is the co-anchor of "This Week in Torrance"[6] joining the city cable operation in 2000. On April 9, 2020 McCain began anchoring live Covid-19 updates for Torrance CitiCable.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985-1988 | Nashville Now | ||
| 1988 | Dark Before Dawn | (News Reporter) | |
| 1993 | General Hospital | Medical Examiner | |
| 1996 | Bio-Dome | Anchor Aries West | |
| 1996 | Humanoids From The Deep | Travis | |
| 1997 | Click (U.S. TV series) | Tofu Man #2 | |
| 1997 | Midnight Blue (film) | Second Executive | |
| 1995-1997 | Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman | Anchor | 8 episodes |
| 1997 | Two Came Back | Coast Guard Official | |
| 1998 | The Adventures of Pug and Zero | Sheriff | |
| 1998 | The Pretender | Jordon Brock | |
| 1998 | Outside Ozona | Radio Furniture Salesman | |
| 1998 | Under The Legs of Clouds | Preacher | |
| 1999 | The Sex Monster | Radio Shock Jock | |
| 1999 | Born Bad | Deputy | |
| 2000 | Martial Law | Airline Pilot | |
| 2000 | Arrest & Trial | Narrator | |
| 2001 | Skippy (2001 film) | TV Anchor | |
| 2001 | Accidents Don't Happen | Film Critic | |
| 2001 | Fire & Ice (2001 film) | Commentator | |
| 2001 | Black Scorpion | 2001 | 15 Episodes |
| 2002 | Don't Let Go | Tex | |
| 2005 | KatiBird *Certifiable Crazy Person | Groundskeeper | |
| 2005 | Blood Deep | Officer Ben Lucas | |
| 2007 | My Name Is Bruce | Mayor | |
| 2007 | Stall 60 on the Sunset Strip | The Boss | |
| 2008 | Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight | Elistan | |
| 2008 | Killer Tumbleweeds | Brock McDonald | |
| 2009 | Breaking News: The Invasion Begins! | Dack Tamblyn | |
| 2010 | Leave It on the Court | John Henderson | |
| 2010 | Love Chronicles: Secrets Revealed | Doctor | |
| 2010 | The Talking Head | Phil Rose | |
| 2011 | Fresh Starts 4 Stale People | Burt Kringle | |
| 2012 | The Amazing Adventures of the Living Corpse | Bruce | |
| 2013 | In Vacuo | Ron Shelby | |
| 2013 | Julian | Jack Cameron | |
| 2014 | "Homecoming" | Officer Ben Lucas | |
| 2016 | "House of Cards" (Season 4) | Radio Newscaster | |
| 2017 | "Call for Fire" | TV Newscaster Kevin Matney | |
| 2018 | Dead End | Cop # 2 | |
References
- "KOCO Takes McCain Brothers Off the Air". Newsok.com. 8 May 1994. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
- "McCain Duo Bringing "Jobless Tour" to Fair". Newsok.com. 16 September 1994. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
- https://www.torranceca.gov/our-city/citicable/ben-mccain