Ben Mittleman

Ben Mittleman was born in 1950, and died in 2017. His Linked In account is still available and we’ve copied his bio from that website in its entirety…

I was raised near Levittown, Long Island. While studying at Franklin and Marshall College, the theater seduced me to raise my voice and confront issues around the Vietnam War. My virgin exposure, a staged reading of “The Trial of the Catsonville Nine,” revealed a passion and potential to affect the social conscience.

After graduating, I trained professionally as an actor in NYC and began my career. I appeared in classical productions at The Circle in the Square Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Long Wharf Theatre and Colorado Shakespeare Festival, as well as in contemporary works with numerous off-Broadway theatre companies and regional theatres.

In 1980 I moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film and television. I worked in Hollywood as a character actor for 20 years on shows including “Cheers”, “Frasier”, Cagney and Lacey”, “L.A. Law”, “Wings”, “Hooperman”, and “Remington Steele”. I starred in the feature films “Moving Violations” for 20th Century Fox & HBO’s “The Heist”.

After years working on commercial ventures, I returned to work that reflected my commitment to making a social impact. From this resolve came my company “Action for Kids,” (AFK) producing theatrical programs that cultivate positive values in children and families. AFK found acclaim in collaborations with the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Museum of Tolerance, The Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, the U.S. Committee for UNICEF, and the FBI.

I first stepped behind the camera for AFK in a joint venture with Ruben Preuss on the documentary “The Youngest Guns” about two NBA rookies, who jump to the pros from high school and before finishing college foregoing further formal education. Sports Illustrated named that documentary one of the best in 2005.

“Dying to Live” marks my solo directional debut. Currently, I am searching for distributors as I am committed to having my documentary film reach those who will benefit most.

NFT Credits

Credit Type	Production	Season
Actor	After Crystal Night	1987-88 Season