Ben Koldyke

Biography

Ben Koldyke is an American actor, director & writer. He used to be a football coach and English teacher at a High School. 

Ben is known for playing Lee Standish in "Work It", Paul Edley in "Masters of Sex", Dick Slingbaugh in "Back in the Game", Donald Bangs in The Finest Hours (2016), Jimmy Hooper in "Mr. Robinson".

Recently he has appeared in "The Good Place" as Brent Norwalk, in "Carol's Second Act" as Coach Dean.

Family- Childhood

Ben Koldyke was born on born 27th March 1968 in Chicago, Illinois, United States to Martin J Koldyke (Father)- an investment banker & Patricia Blunt Koldyke(Mother)- an educator, he grew up in Kenilworth with 3 siblings

Father- Martin J Koldyke

Ben's father Martin J. Koldyke aka "Mike" is a retired banker, He founded the Chicago-based private equity firm "Frontenac Company" in 1971 (The company had invested $1.5 billion by 2017)

Martin is a lifetime trustee of Northwestern University.

Mother- Patricia Blunt Koldyke

Mother Patricia Blunt is an educator, her extended family owns "Laird Norton Company", a 7th generation family held diversified equity firm which began as a timber industry in the Pacific Northwest.

Siblings

Ben is the youngest of four children of his parents:

Laird Koldyke

Laird, the oldest of Koldyke children was born in 1962. He has an MBA from Northwestern University (from J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management). He attended Joseph Sears Elementary School for high school.

Carl Koldyke

Carl was born in 1963, he is a cerebral-palsy victim and attended special needs children schools.

Elizabeth Koldyke

Elizabeth, the only girl among the Koldyke siblings was born in 1965. She attended Joseph Sears Elementary School for high school. She studied at Dartmouth College.

Education

• Elementary school: Ben, like all his elder siblings, attended "Joseph Sears Elementary School", a public school on the North Shore.
• High school: Ben studied at the "New Trier High school"- a four-year public high school, located in Winnetka, Illinois. Ben played football as Quarterback at the high school. He played for the team at the State Championship (and eventually lost)
• Post-graduate: He did a post-graduate year at "Choate Rosemary Hall", a prep boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut.
• College: Ben graduated from Dartmouth College (located in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States) in the year 1991. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in English. He played as a quarterback in the college football team.

Sports

Football: Ben played football both in high school as well as college, he mostly played the role of "Quarterback". He has led his team to 14-0 perfect win in one of the games.

Baseball: He has lettered in baseball, he mostly played the third baseman.

Wife- Marriage 

Ben Koldyke & Maggie Lawson

Ben and Maggie met while acting on the sets of the ABC sitcom show 'Back In The Game', they got engaged on November 14, 2014. The couple got married on 8th August 2015 at Ben's family ranch in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Maggie is younger than Ben by 12 years.

Image: Ben Koldyke with wife Maggie Lawson

Divorce: Maggie filed for divorce in early 2017 and they have been divorced since 2017.

Facts & Trivia

• He was an English teacher at a High school in Chicago, he has also worked as a high-school football coach. He has also worked as an "acting" teacher at KIPP charter school in Inglewood (Hollywood).
• Ben doesn't have social media accounts, he previously had an Instagram account.
• Embarrassing scene: His previous most embarrassing scene was kissing a man on TV, he topped that by appearing nude in one of the later shows.
• Handsome: Ben is a natural athlete, tall and cute. Vulture magazine's Lauren Waterman describes him as "Square-jawed, tall, and almost cartoonishly handsome" and we agree.
• "Dickish jackass": He specializes in playing "dickish jackass" characters (as phrased by Dan Hamamura of "Pajiba"), his role as Brent Norwalk in "The Good Place" is a testament to that.
• 1923 Santa Monica Craftsman bungalow: Ben had bought the bungalow in Santa Monica’s Ocean Park neighborhood in 2009 for $1.45 million. It is 2,276 sq. ft. large and has three-bedroom and two-bathrooms.

Career

Meeting Rob McElhenney

Rob & Ben both used to be regulars at the 'Venice cafe', Ben was an admirer of the show 'It's always sunny in Philadelphia'. Once Ben wrote an appreciative note that said 'the show was fantastic' and handed it to Rob, the two eventually became friendly, it eventually led to Ben appearing on the Fox show- 'Boldly Going Nowhere' (unfortunately the show wasn't picked up, however, he went on to appear in the HBO series "Big Love" as Dale Tomasson )

Becoming an actor

Ben had written a couple of short films, had sold a few scripts too, but becoming an actor wasn't even on his mind, the opportunity just opened up. [2]

"I was interviewing to be a writer on a comedy pilot for Fox and they asked me to come in and read as an actor. I did, sort of on a whim, and I got the job. That shifted everything."

Work It(2012)

 A sitcom with a cross-dressing theme where Ben played the lead role, was pulled out after just the 2 episodes were aired, the transgender community had expressed that it was uncomfortable with the theme. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) had taken an AD in the Hollywood trade to display their displeasure at the theme of the show. An AD in the "Variety" magazine displayed statistics of violence on the transgender community (sponsored by National Gay & Lesbian Task Force) and demonstrated how the show could be misinterpreted and unwittingly lead to violence on the transgender community.

ABC replaced the show with the rerun of Tim Allen's "Last Man Standing". 

Filmography

Movies

TV Series

Short  Movies

Quotes

• I didn't think success can actually happen this late
• I was interviewing to be a writer, they asked me to come in and read as an actor. I did, on a whim, and I got the job.
• [When asked about his specialization in both Drama and comedy] My general sensibility is most certainly comedic... By no means does it (Drama) feel close to home, but I was willing to explore it [2]

References

1. Ben Koldyke wiki
2. Vulture Magazine interview
3. Chicago Tribune coverage of Mike Koldyke
4.