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Dean Cain
American actor (born 1966) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Dean George Cain (né Tanaka; born July 31, 1966) is an American actor who is most known for portraying Superman in the 1990's television show Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Cain was also the host of Ripley's Believe It or Not! and appeared in the sports drama series Hit the Floor.
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Early life
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Dean George Tanaka[1] was born on July 31, 1966,[2] at Selfridge Air Force Base in Harrison Township, Michigan.[3][4] His father, Roger Tanaka, was an American serviceman, and his mother was actress Sharon Thomas.[5] Dean Cain's biological father, Roger Tanaka, was the son of John Megumi Tanaka and Miyoko Tanaka. Cain has stated that several members of his family were interned at the Minidoka War Relocation Center in Idaho.[6] Through his biological father, Cain is of partly Japanese descent, the rest of his ancestry being Welsh, Irish and French Canadian.[7] 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.[8][5]
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 majored in American history.[9] He dated actress Brooke Shields, whom he met in a religion class at the university.[10][8][11] Cain graduated in 1988 with a bachelor of arts in history. His senior thesis was "The History and Development of the Functions of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences".[12]
Football
At Princeton, Cain starred as a free safety on the football team. He began his career as a cornerback, making his first start during his sophomore year in 1985.[13] In the season opener, he contributed to Princeton's 10–3 victory over Dartmouth by diving for an underthrown pass that would have resulted in a Dartmouth touchdown to record his first interception.[14] Against Cornell in the final game of 1985, he intercepted Marty Stallone thrice to help the Tigers win 33–27.[15] At the end of the season, he was an honorable mention on the All-Ivy League team.[16] Cain switched to safety for 1986, a position he preferred since it had "a lot of action", and led the Tigers in tackles.[13][17]
As a senior in 1987, he set the NCAA Division I-AA record for most interceptions in a season with 12, surpassing the 11 by Bill McGovern in 1984.[18] His record stood until Rashean Mathis had 14 in 2002.[19] Cain began the year with a two-interception performance against Dartmouth, then had his school-best 13th career pick the following week versus Davidson.[20][17] In the season finale, Cain picked off Cornell three times in a seven-interception performance for the Princeton defense.[18] The Associated Press named him a first team I-AA All-American, and he also received the John P. Poe–Richard W. Kazmaier Jr. Football Trophy for the year.[21][22] He finished his collegiate career with a school-record 22 interceptions in 30 games.[23]
After his graduation in 1988, he signed on as a free agent with the National Football League's Buffalo Bills.[24] He hurt his right knee during training camp, which prevented him from playing in the preseason and he underwent an arthroscopy in late July.[25][26] Cain was placed on the Bills' injured reserve list for the season.[25][27] The injury ended his football career prematurely.[28]
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Career
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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 such popular television shows as Grapevine, A Different World, and Beverly Hills, 90210.
Cain and Teri Hatcher at the 45th Primetime Emmy Awards rehearsal, September 19, 1993
In 1993, Cain took his biggest role to date, that of Superman in the television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. At the height of its popularity, the program drew 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;[29][30] 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.[31]
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), Out of Time (2003), and Bailey's Billion$ (2004). In 2004, he played 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 also has the lead role in the VH1 hit series Hit the Floor, that of 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.[32] 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.[33]
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.[citation needed] 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.[34][35]
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.[36] 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.[37]
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.[38]
In June 2021, it was announced that he would make his directorial debut with Little Angels and star in it.[39]
Cain is the Actor in Residence at High Point University.[40]
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Personal life
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For two years in the 1980s, Cain dated Brooke Shields, an actress, while they were attending Princeton University.[8] In 1992, he dated Gabrielle Reece, a professional beach-volleyball player and model [41][42] In 1997, Cain became engaged to Mindy McCready, a singer;[43] they broke up in 1998.[44]
He has a son, Christopher Cain, born June 11, 2000, with one of his ex-girlfriends, Samantha Torres, a Playboy Playmate and model.[8] Cain named his son after his adoptive father, Christopher Cain, a film director.
On June 19, 2018, Cain was sworn in as a reserve police officer for the St. Anthony Police Department in Idaho.[45] In 2020, he joined the Pocatello Police Department in Idaho as a reserve police officer.[46] He also subsequently joined the Frederick County, Virginia Sheriff's Office as a reserve deputy sheriff.[47]
Political views
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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.[48]
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.[38] He supported John McCain in the 2008 election, and supported Rick Perry in the 2012 election.[49] In 2016, 2020, and 2024, he endorsed and voted for Donald Trump.[50][51][52]
In 2018, Cain was elected to the board of directors of the National Rifle Association of America.[53][54]
In August 2025, Cain released a video on X indicating that he had joined ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and encouraged others to join the agency as well.[55]
Filmography
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Film
Television
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References
External links
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