Robert Benedict Browder (born December 11, 1962) is an American actor, writer and film director, known for his roles as John Crichton in Farscape and Cameron Mitchell in Stargate SG-1.

Ben Browder
Browder in 2018
Born
Robert Benedict Browder

(1962-12-11) December 11, 1962 (age 61)
Alma materFurman University
Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
Occupations
  • Actor
  • writer
  • film director
Years active1978–present
Spouse
(m. 1989)

Early life

edit

Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Browder grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina. His parents were race car owners and operators.[1] He attended Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, and graduated with a degree in psychology. He was a star player on the Furman football team. Browder met his wife, actress Francesca Buller, while studying at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London.

Career

edit

Browder appeared as a recurring guest on the U.S. television show Party of Five as Sam Brody in its 3rd season in 1997. Browder and Buller moved with their two children to Australia during the production of Farscape (1999–2003), on which Browder starred as American astronaut John Crichton. Buller played several guest roles on the show. The two returned to the United States in 2003 following the cancellation of Farscape. He has received two Saturn Awards for Best Actor in a Television Role for his acting in Farscape. He appeared in the 2004 film A Killer Within, co-starring C. Thomas Howell and Sean Young. Also in 2004, he portrayed fellow actor Lee Majors in the television film Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Charlie's Angels.

 
Claudia Black with Ben Browder at San Diego Comic-Con in 2004

He returned to play John Crichton in the 2004 SciFi Channel miniseries Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars. The miniseries wrapped up the remaining plotlines of Farscape, while leaving open the possibility of future adventures.

October 2003 marked the audiobook release of Interlopers, a novel written by Alan Dean Foster and narrated by Browder.

 
Ben Browder at Dragoncon 2010

In January 2005, Browder voiced the character Bartholomew Aloysius "Bat" Lash in an episode of the animated series Justice League Unlimited entitled "The Once and Future Thing, Part 1: Weird Western Tales".

Browder returned to the SciFi Channel as he joined the cast of Stargate SG-1 for its ninth season in 2005.[2] He played the character of Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell, the new commanding officer of SG-1. Browder's former Farscape co-star Claudia Black appeared on SG-1 in the eighth-season episode entitled "Prometheus Unbound" and again during the first episodes of the ninth season before becoming a regular cast member on the series at the beginning of its tenth season in 2006. Several episodes of Stargate SG-1, most notably "200", comically alluded to Farscape during Browder and Black's time on the series. In addition to being a series regular on Stargate SG-1, Browder also performed many of his own stunts.[3]

In 2012, Browder was cast in a series 7 episode of Doctor Who, "A Town Called Mercy". It was filmed in Almeria, Spain, in March 2012.[4]

Browder played the role of Max the Janitor in the 2012 live-action feature film Bad Kids Go to Hell, based on the graphic novel of the same name. He reprised the role and made his directorial debut in the 2017 sequel Bad Kids of Crestview Academy.[5]

Filmography

edit

Film

edit
Year Title Role Notes
1978 Duncan's World Gates
1990 Memphis Belle Rookie Captain
1991 Daughters of Privilege Randy Television film
A Kiss Before Dying Tommy Roussell
1992 Secrets Bill Warwick Television film
1995 Big Dreams and Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story Al Winters Television film
1996 Innocent Victims Gary Eatburn Television film
1997 Nevada Shelby
Steel Chariots D.J. Tucker Television film
Bad to the Bone Brent Television film
1998 The Sky's on Fire Racer Television film
Boogie Boy Freddy
2004 A Killer Within Sam Moss
Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars John Crichton Television film
Saturn Award for Best Actor on Television
2008 Stargate: The Ark of Truth Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell
Stargate: Continuum Colonel Cameron Mitchell
2012 Bad Kids Go to Hell Max
2014 The Adventures of RoboRex Robert Miller
Dead Still Brandon Davis Television film
2016 Outlaws and Angels George Tildon
2017 Bad Kids of Crestview Academy Max Directorial debut
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Sovereign Admiral
Hoax Rick Paxton
2018 Being Agent Dixon
God Bless the Broken Road Sergeant Price
2021 Iké Boys Wayne Gunderson

Television

edit
Year Title Role Notes
1992 The Boys of Twilight Tyler Clare Unknown episodes
1993 Grace Under Fire Eric Episode: "Grace Undergraduate"
1994 Melrose Place Adam Episode: "The Two Mrs. Mancinis"
Thunder Alley Marcus Episode: "Girls' Night Out"
Murder, She Wrote Ollie Rudman Episode: "Murder by Twos"
1996 Strangers Eric Episode: "My Ward, My Keepers"
1996–1997 Party of Five Sam Brody 10 episodes
1999–2003 Farscape John Crichton 88 episodes
Saturn Award for Best Actor on Television
Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actor on Television (2000–01, 2003)
2003 CSI: Miami Danny Maxwell Episode: "Tinder Box"
2005 Justice League Unlimited Bat Lash Voice, episode: "The Once and Future Thing, Part One: Weird Western Tales"
2005–2007 Stargate SG-1 Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell 40 episodes
Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actor on Television
2012 Chuck Ron Episode: "Chuck vs. The Bullet Train"
Doctor Who Isaac Episode: "A Town Called Mercy"
2013–2014 Arrow Ted Gaynor 2 episodes
2014 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Randy Pruitt Episode: "Dead Woods"
2018 Criminal Minds Police Chief Steve Gaines Episode: "Full-Tilt Boogie"
2020 All Rise Ephraim Bowles Episode: "My Fair Lockdown"
S.W.A.T. Sergeant Tim Davis Episode: "Fracture"
2022 Walker Nate Smith 2 episodes
2023 Station 19 Fire Captain Episode: "We Build Then We Break"
2024 Landman Colonel Ivey 3 episodes

Video game

edit
Year Title Role Notes
2002 Farscape: The Game John Crichton Voice
2015 Call of Duty: Black Ops III Player (Male) Voice and motion capture

Awards

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Ben Browder Biography (1962-)". Filmreference.com.
  2. ^ "Breaking News - Beau Bridges Joins the Cast of 'Stargate Sg-1' | TheFutonCritic.com". www.thefutoncritic.com. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  3. ^ Eramo, Steven (December 2005). "Ben Browder – Hero In The Making". TV Zone (Special 67): 24–28.
  4. ^ tardistime.com Archived May 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Ain't It Cool News
edit