Robert Benedict Browder (photo ©Counse) was born on December 11, 1962, in Memphis, Tennessee.
Ben Browder studied at Furman University in Greenville, where he earned a BS in psychology. Subsequently, he studied acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. There he met Francesca Buller, who became his wife in 1989. Together they had a son and a daughter.
Ben Browder started his acting career mainly with stage plays, including Shakespeare. Over the years, he started having small roles in movies and TV shows. His first major role was in the show “Party of Five”.
In 1999, Ben Browder started playing the role for which he’s most famous, the astronaut John Crichton in the TV show “Farscape” and the miniseries “Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars” produced to close the plots still open after the show’s cancellation. During these years, he won two Saturn Awards for Best Actor. His wife Francesca has appeared in a few episodes of the show playing different characters. Their children have appeared as previews of Crichton’s children.
Ben Browder was the first candidate for the role of John Sheppard in the TV show “Stargate: Atlantis” but was busy filming “Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars”. His entry in the Stargate saga was only delayed because since 2005 he played Cameron Mitchell in the show “Stargate SG-1” covering its last two seasons but also the movies “Stargate: The Ark of Truth” and “Stargate: Continuum”. In the show, he worked again with Claudia Black, who was already his colleague in “Farscape”. In some “Stargate SG-1” episodes there are references to “Farscape”, especially in the episode “200”.
Ben Browder occasionally writes episodes of the series in which he participates: he was the author of two “Farscape” episodes and one “Stargate SG-1” episode.
In recent years, Ben Browder wasn’t very present on screen after the projects for more Stargate movies were frozen. He was writing a new mini-series for which he was supposed to be the producer as well but at the moment there’s no information about its actual developments.
This year Ben Brow appeared in the movies “Bad Kids Go to Hell” and in a “Doctor Who” episode. Let’s hope he’ll soon be a regular presence again!
