Ben Ryan-Steele

Ben was born in Dover, Kent, the son of actress and photographer Karol Steele and former journalist Andy Steele. Ben became a member of the newly-founded Blackfish Academy in Dover in 2005, and won a small role in their first show, "The Musical Hood". From there, Ben won starring roles in the Academy's productions of "Alice the Musical", playing "the March Hare"; "Scrooge", playing "Topper"; "The Jungle Book", playing "Colonel Haithi"; "Fame", playing "Goody"; and "The Runaways", playing "Rocco the Pimp". He has also been in a number of Dover Youth Theatre productions, including "The Boy Who Fell into a Book", playing "Rockfist Slim"; Agatha Christie's "An Appointment With Death", playing "Colonel Carberry"; and three workshop productions which allowed him, in 2010, to be the first actor to play "Shrek", on the English stage, in a scene from "Shrek the Musical". Ben was an original member of The Canterbury-based Unfinished Business Theatre Company, and was a huge hit in their debut