Ben Blair

A Midwest native, Ben was raised in a few different cities including Ekalaka, MT; then Wall and Fort Pierre, SD. A rambunctious kid, Ben was involved in a ton of extra-curricular activities. He played several sports, was active in music, band and choir, school plays and whatever else seemed to catch his attention for the moment. After attending Stanley County High School, he attended the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities where he studied public relations, organizational communication, journalism & leadership. Perhaps the most defining element of Ben's collegiate career was the three years he spent as "Goldy Gopher", Minneota's fiery mascot. Ben was even part of the team that won the 1999 ESPN Mascot of the Year award. Ben's involvement in the theatre and arts, along with his experience as a mascot fittingly led to desire to pursue a career in the entertainment field as an actor, writer, director and producer. Ben's theatre career started after college with the esteemed Minneapolis Children's Theater Company. Ben was hired as a performing apprentice for the 2002-2003 season where he got to work with many talented performers including director Graciela Daniel & Eric Simonson, writers Jeffrey Hatcher & Nilo Cruz, and actors Mark Linn-Baker, Danielle Ferland, Frank Vlastnik, Barbara Kingsley, Claudia Wilkens, Richard Ooms, Isabell O'Connor and Julio Monge. While at CTC, Ben also got the chance to work with members of Anne Bogart's SITI Company and develop, write and perform an original project in collaboration with a small Minnesota town called "Stories From Montevideo". While working in the vibrant Minneapolis/St. Paul theatre community, Ben secured his first agent, booked his first commercial, and got his taste for on-camera performance. After a couple years, Ben followed John B. L. Soule's advice and the "young man went west" toward Los Angeles. After only a few months in Los Angeles, Ben found commercial representation, booked his first national TV commercial and originated the role of "Dr. Vinnie" as a guest star on the Discovery/TLC network children's television program, "Hip Hop Harry." In the summer of 2010, Ben started his own production company, Golden Rodent Productions. Golden Rodent will focus on producing, writing & directing comedic content or the web, television and film.