# Dean Cain

Dean George Cain (né Tanaka; born July 31, 1966) is an American actor. From 1993 to 1997, he played Clark Kent / Superman in the TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Cain was the host of Ripley's Believe It or Not! and appeared in the sports drama series Hit the Floor.

## Early life

Dean George Tanaka was born on July 31, 1966, in Michigan to Roger Tanaka, a U.S. serviceman, and actress Sharon Thomas. Through his biological father, Cain is partly of Japanese descent, with the rest of his ancestry being Welsh, Irish and French Canadian. Cain has said of his biological father, whom he never met: "He's not the kind of man I want to be. He was an unfaithful husband and not much of a father." Soon after Dean's birth, his mother, pursuing an acting career, moved him and his older brother Roger to Los Angeles. In 1969, Sharon married film director Christopher Cain, who adopted Dean and Roger. The couple moved to Malibu, California, and later had a daughter, Krisinda.
Cain attended Santa Monica High School, where he excelled in sports. Among his schoolmates were Charlie Sheen, who played on the same baseball team as Cain when they were children, as well as Rob Lowe and his brother, Chad. Cain graduated from high school in 1984 and attended Princeton University, where he starred as a free safety on the football team, set a Princeton season record with 12 interceptions (in just ten games) during the 1987 season, and finished his collegiate career with 22 interceptions in 30 games. During his senior year, Cain was awarded the John P. Poe–Richard W. Kazmaier, Jr. Football Trophy. He dated actress Brooke Shields while at the university. Cain graduated in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts in history. His senior thesis was titled "The History and Development of the Functions of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences".

### NFL

After graduating, Cain signed on as a free agent with the NFL's Buffalo Bills, but a knee injury during training camp ended his football career prematurely.

## Career

With little hope of returning to sports, Cain turned to screenwriting and then acting, shooting dozens of commercials including a volleyball-themed spot for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes and appearing on popular television shows like Grapevine, A Different World, and Beverly Hills, 90210.
In 1993, Cain took on his biggest role to date as Superman in the television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. At the height of its popularity the program brought in an average of at least 15 million viewers per episode. The series ran for four seasons, ending in 1997. Cain later made his first return to the Superman franchise with a special guest role in a season seven episode of Smallville as the immortal Dr. Curtis Knox, a character based upon the DC Comics villain Vandal Savage; Cain returned to the Superman universe again between 2015 and 2017, in a recurring role on Supergirl, as the title character's foster father, Jeremiah Danvers.
In 1998, Cain started the Angry Dragon Entertainment production company, which produced the TBS Superstation television series Ripley's Believe It or Not! He has also starred in several films, including The Broken Hearts Club (2000), Rat Race (2001), Out of Time (2003), and Bailey's Billion$ (2004). In 2004, he portrayed Scott Peterson in the made-for-television movie The Perfect Husband: The Laci Peterson Story. He appeared in a recurring role as Casey Manning in the television series Las Vegas. He is also the star of the VH1 hit series Hit the Floor as Pete Davenport, who is the new head coach of a fictional NBA team and has an illegitimate daughter who is a cheerleader for his NBA team.
In 2009, Cain was ranked No. 33 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of the '90s. Cain was a contestant in an NBC celebrity reality competition series called Stars Earn Stripes. He won four out of six missions on the show, though he came in third in the finals. In 2012, he participated in Fox's dating game show The Choice.
In 2013, Cain hosted a reality show about Bigfoot titled 10 Million Dollar Bigfoot Bounty, where he offered contestants $10 million to prove the existence of Bigfoot. Cain later appeared in the mid-season premiere of Comic Book Men, appearing at Kevin Smith's Secret Stash where the crew was celebrating 75 years of Superman, where it was claimed that his portrayal of the character helped people care about Superman again. Cain appeared in the film God's Not Dead, in which he plays an arrogant businessman. In 2016, Cain played a guest role on the Netflix original series Lady Dynamite as Graham the ex-fiancé of Maria Bamford.
Cain is known for appearing in 16 Christmas films and several faith-based films.
As of 2018, Cain is hosting a television infomercial for The National Real Estate Network, an entity which seeks to persuade individuals to attend meetings where they can learn about flipping real estate. In October 2018, it was learned that Ronnie Mund (Ronnie the Limo Driver), the personal driver and bodyguard of radio DJ Howard Stern, had been using a photoshopped picture of Cain as a publicity photo. Specifically, Mund's head had been transposed onto the body of Cain. Mund initially denied the photo was altered but eventually acknowledged he had been using the fraudulent photo for over five years. Mund claimed he was unaware the photo was not genuine. Cain co-starred in the 2018 film Gosnell: The Trial of America's Biggest Serial Killer about the investigation and trial of Kermit Gosnell. He starred in the film Andy the Talking Hedgehog.
In 2019, Cain starred in the play FBI Lovebirds alongside Kristy Swanson, a play that mocked Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, two FBI agents who were briefly on the team investigating Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.
In June 2021, it was announced that he would make his directorial debut with Little Angels and star in it.
Cain is the Actor in Residence at High Point University.

## Personal life

During the 1980s, Cain dated actress Brooke Shields for two years while they were both attending Princeton University. In 1992, he dated professional beach volleyball player and model Gabrielle Reece. In 1997, Cain became engaged to singer Mindy McCready; the couple split the following year.
He has a son named Christopher Dean Cain (born June 11, 2000) with ex-girlfriend and Playboy Playmate and Spanish model Samantha Torres. Cain named his son after his stepfather, film director Christopher Cain.
On June 19, 2018, Cain was sworn in as a reserve police officer for the St. Anthony Police Department in Idaho.

### Political views

Cain said in 2018 that he was once a registered Republican, but later became a registered Independent, feeling that the Republican Party did not fully represent his views.
Cain voted for Bill Clinton twice, and voted for Al Gore in the 2000 United States presidential election, the latter of which he later said he regretted. He supported John McCain in the 2008 election, and supported Rick Perry in the 2012 election. In 2016 and 2020, he endorsed and voted for Donald Trump. He also endorsed him for the 2024 election.
Cain has stated he is "very leftist" on social issues, citing his support of marijuana legalization, and conservative on economic and foreign policy issues.
In 2018, Cain was elected to the board of directors of the National Rifle Association of America.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1976 | Elmer | Dean Russell | |
| 1979 | Charlie and the Talking Buzzard | Joe | |
| 1984 | The Stone Boy | Eugene Hillerman | |
| 1990 | Write to Kill | Parking valet | |
| 1990 | Going Under | Guy in bar | |
| 1992 | Miracle Beach | Volleyball player no.1 | |
| 1997 | Eating Las Vegas | Frank | Short film |
| 1997 | Best Men | Sergeant 'Buzz' Thomas | |
| 2000 | The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy | Cole | |
| 2000 | No Alibi | Bob Valenz | |
| 2000 | Flight of Fancy | Clay Bennett | |
| 2000 | Militia | Ethan Carter | Direct-to-video |
| 2000 | For the Cause | General Murran | Direct-to-video |
| 2001 | Phase IV | Simon Tate | Direct-to-video |
| 2001 | Fire Trap | Jack / Max Hooper | Also producer |
| 2001 | Rat Race | Shawn Kent | |
| 2001 | A Christmas Adventure ...From a Book Called Wisely's Tales | Donner (voice) | Direct-to-video |
| 2002 | New Alcatraz | Dr. Robert Trenton | Direct-to-video |
| 2002 | Dark Descent | Will Murdack | |
| 2003 | Breakaway | Morgan | |
| 2003 | Out of Time | Chris Harrison | |
| 2003 | Grandpa's Place | Special appearance | Short film |
| 2004 | Post Impact | Tom Parker | |
| 2004 | Lost | Jeremy Stanton | |
| 2004 | The Perfect Husband: The Laci Peterson Story | Scott Peterson | |
| 2005 | Truth | Peter | |
| 2005 | Bailey's Billion$ | Theodore Maxwell | |
| 2005 | Wrinkles | | |
| 2006 | Max Havoc: Ring of Fire | Roger Tarso | |
| 2006 | September Dawn | Joseph Smith | |
| 2007 | Urban Decay | Stan | |
| 2008 | Ace of Hearts | Daniel Harding | |
| 2008 | Five Dollars a Day | Rick Carlson | |
| 2009 | Aussie and Ted's Great Adventure | Michael Brooks | |
| 2009 | Maneater | Harry | Direct-to-video |
| 2010 | Circle of Pain | Wyatt | |
| 2010 | Abandoned | Kevin Peterson | |
| 2010 | Hole in One | Repo Man | |
| 2010 | Kill Katie Malone | Robert | |
| 2010 | Pure Country 2: The Gift | Music Video Director | Also co-writer with his father |
| 2010 | A Nanny for Christmas | Danny Donner | |
| 2010 | The Way Home | Randy Simpkins | |
| 2010 | Subject: I Love You | James Trapp | |
| 2010 | Bed & Breakfast | Jake | |
| 2011 | 5 Days of War | Chris Bailot | |
| 2011 | Home Run Showdown | Rico Deluca | |
| 2011 | Dirty Little Trick | Michael | |
| 2011 | The Fallen | Cole | |
| 2011 | Latin Quarter | Appolinaire | |
| 2011 | Vacation | Bryce | |
| 2011 | The Sandy Creek Girls | Jared | |
| 2012 | Meant to Be | Mike | |
| 2012 | I Am... Gabriel | Sheriff Brody | |
| 2013 | Heaven's Door | Leo | |
| 2013 | Man Camp | Luke | |
| 2013 | Defending Santa | Sheriff Scott Hanson | |
| 2013 | The Tale of the Princess Kaguya | The Mikado (voice) | English dub |
| 2014 | At the Top of the Pyramid | Jefferson Parker | |
| 2014 | God's Not Dead | Marc Shelley | |
| 2014 | The Appearing | Dr. Shaw | |
| 2014 | Airplane vs. Volcano | Rick Pierce | |
| 2014 | A Belle for Christmas | Glenn Barrows | |
| 2014 | Small Town Santa | Sheriff Rick Langston | originally titled Holiday Miracle; known as Christmas Miracle in the UK |
| 2014 | Mind's Eye (aka The Black Hole) | Mark Willis | |
| 2014 | A Horse for Summer | Kent Walsh | |
| 2014 | A Dog for Christmas | Earl | |
| 2014 | Horse Camp | Luke | |
| 2014 | The Three Dogateers | Matt | |
| 2015 | Vendetta | Mason Danvers | |
| 2015 | The Dog Who Saved Summer | Ted Stein | Direct-to-video |
| 2015 | Deadly Sanctuary | Roy Hollingsworth | |
| 2016 | DC Super Hero Girls: Hero of the Year | Jonathan Kent | |
| 2016 | The Black Hole | Mark Willis | |
| 2017 | Illicit | Felipe | |
| 2018 | The Incantation | Abel Baddon | |
| 2018 | Gosnell: The Trial of America's Biggest Serial Killer | Detective James 'Woody' Wood | |
| 2018 | Megan's Christmas Miracle | John | |
| 2018 | Andy the Talking Hedgehog | Bob (dad) | |
| 2018 | 2050 | Maxwell | |
| 2018 | Prolonged Exposure | Detective Jaime Montenegro | |
| 2019 | The Challenger Disaster | Larry Arnold (Lawyer) | |
| 2019 | Sweet Inspirations | Greg | |
| 2019 | Ria | Vice President Flemming | |
| 2019 | 90 Feet from Home | Raymond Fuller | |
| 2019 | The Seven | High Priest Asael | |
| 2019 | The Follower | Sheriff | |
| 2019 | A Promise To Astrid | Pastor Scott Seabury | |
| 2019 | Madness in the Method | Dean | |
| 2020 | OBAMAGATE : The Movie | Peter Strzok | |
| 2020 | Skydog | Neil Glasswell | |
| 2021 | Break Every Chain | Pastor Gabe | |
| 2021 | Trail Blazers | Haden | Pre-production |
| 2021 | A Parent's Worst Nightmare | John Belton | |
| 2022 | No Vacancy | Cliff Lea | |
| 2023 | Miracle at Manchester | Dr. Getty | |
| 2023 | R.A.D.A.R.: The Adventures of the Bionic Dog | Mayor | |
| 2024 | Letters at Christmas | TBA | Post-production |
| TBA | Faith Under Fire | Pastor Dan Underwood | Post-production |
| TBA | Baby Bulldog | Judge Kelly | Post-production |
| TBA | Little Angels | Jake Rogers / director | Post-production, first directorial |
| TBA | The Ride | Mark Smith | Post-production |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1989 | Christine Cromwell: Things That Go Bump in the Night | Unknown | Movie |
| 1990 | Christine Cromwell: In Vino Veritas | Unknown | Movie |
| 1990 | Life Goes On | Kimo | Season 2 Episode 2: "Corky and the Dolphins" |
| 1992 | A Different World | Eddie | Episode: "The Cat's in the Cradle" |
| 1992 | Grapevine | Brian | Episode: "The Janice and Brian Story" |
| 1992 | Beverly Hills, 90210 | Rick | 4 episodes |
| 1993 | Touchdown: Football Goes to the Movies | Himself/host | Documentary |
| 1993–1997 | Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman | Clark Kent / Superman | Also writer on two episodes |
| 1995 | Off Camera with Dean Cain | Himself/host | Also director and producer |
| 1995 | Living Single | Himself | Episode 11: "Mommy Not Dearest" |
| 1996 | Cutty Whitman | Clark Kent | Movie; uncredited |
| 1997 | Rag and Bone | Tony Moran | Movie; also producer |
| 1998 | Adventures from the Book of Virtues | King Charlemagne (voice) | Episode: "Integrity" |
| 1998 | Futuresport | Tremayne 'Tre The Pharaoh' Ramzey | Movie |
| 1999–2003 | Ripley's Believe It or Not! | Himself/host | Also producer |
| 1998 | Dogboys | Julian Taylor | Movie |
| 2000 | The Runaway | Sheriff Frank Richards | Movie |
| 2001 | Just Shoot Me! | Chris Williams | Episode: "Maya Stops Thinking" |
| 2002 | Gentle Ben | Jack Wedloe | Movie |
| 2002 | The Glow | Matt Lawrence | Movie |
| 2002 | Frasier | Rick | Episode: "We Two Kings" |
| 2002 | Christmas Rush | Lieutenant Cornelius Morgan | Movie |
| 2003 | Gentle Ben 2: Danger on the Mountain | Jack Wedloe | Movie |
| 2003 | Dragon Fighter | Captain David Carver | Movie; also producer |
| 2003–2004 | The Division | Inspector Jack Ellis | 8 episodes |
| 2004 | I Do (But I Don't) | Nick Corina | Movie |
| 2004 | The Perfect Husband: The Laci Peterson Story | Scott Peterson | Movie |
| 2004–2005 | Clubhouse | Conrad Dean | 11 episodes |
| 2005 | Mayday | Commander James Slan | Movie |
| 2005 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Dr. Mike Jergens | Episode: "Starved" |
| 2005 | Hope & Faith | Larry Walker | 4 episodes |
| 2005–2006 | Las Vegas | Casey Manning | 9 episodes |
| 2006 | Dead and Deader | Lieutenant Bobby Quinn | Movie |
| 2006 | 10.5: Apocalypse | Brad | Miniseries |
| 2006 | A Christmas Wedding | Tucker | Movie |
| 2007 | Crossroads: A Story of Forgiveness | Bruce Murakami | Movie |
| 2007 | Final Approach | Jack Bender | Movie |
| 2007 | Hidden Camera | Dan Kovacs | Movie |
| 2007 | Smallville | Dr. Curtis Knox | Episode: "Cure" |
| 2007 | CSI: Miami | Roger Partney | Episode: "Permanent Vacation" |
| 2008 | Making Mr. Right | Eddie | Movie |
| 2009 | The Gambler, the Girl and the Gunslinger | Shea McCall | Movie |
| 2009 | The Three Gifts | Jack Green | Movie |
| 2009 | The Dog Who Saved Christmas | Ted Stein | Movie |
| 2009 | Entourage | Dean Cain | Episode: "Scared Straight" |
| 2010 | Frost Giant | J.C. | Movie |
| 2010 | The Dog Who Saved Christmas Vacation | Ted Stein | Movie |
| 2011 | A Mile in His Shoes | Arthur 'Murph' Murphy | Movie |
| 2011 | Burn Notice | Ryan Pewterbaugh | Episode: "Fail Safe" |
| 2011 | The Dog Who Saved Halloween | Ted Stein | Movie |
| 2011 | The Case for Christmas | Michael Sherman | TV movie Kris Kringle's Lawyer |
| 2012 | Operation Cupcake | Griff Carson | Movie |
| 2012 | Criminal Minds | Curtis Banks | Episode: "Snake Eyes" |
| 2012 | Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 | Himself | 3 episodes |
| 2012 | Stars Earn Stripes | Himself | 5 episodes |
| 2012 | The Choice | Himself / Contestant | |
| 2012 | Bloopers | Himself/host | |
| 2012 | The Dog Who Saved the Holidays | Ted Stein | Movie |
| 2013–2016, 2018 | Hit the Floor | Pete Davenport | |
| 2013 | Texas Takedown: The Real Men in Black | Narrator | |
| 2014 | Merry Ex-Mas | Jessie Rogers | Movie |
| 2014 | Mulaney | Himself | Pilot episode |
| 2014 | The Dog Who Saved Easter | Ted Stein | Movie |
| 2014–present | Masters of Illusion | Himself/host | |
| 2015 | A Wish Come True | Himself | Movie |
| 2015 | The Dog Who Saved Summer | Ted Stein | Movie |
| 2015 | Beverly Hills Christmas | Archangel Gabriel | Movie |
| 2015–17 | Supergirl | Jeremiah Danvers | 6 episodes |
| 2016 | Broadcasting Christmas | Charlie Fisher | Hallmark Channel Original Movie |
| 2016 | The Jump | Himself | |
| 2016 | Lady Dynamite | Graham | 6 episodes |
| 2016 | Good Morning Christmas | Charlie Fisher | Movie |
| 2018 | Winter's Dream | Ty | Movie |
| 2023 | The Curse | Mark Rose | 2 episodes |

### Video games

| Year | Title | Voice role | Notes |
| 2002 | Grandia Xtreme | Evann | |