Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ben Tinsley. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
BEN, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
I’ve known all my life, really, but it was working with some of the greatest, most talented fellow student actors in junior college (Tarrant County Junior College South Campus in Fort Worth, Texas circa 1986) that really turned me into a believer.
That’s not where my show biz career began, however.
For me, it began at age 9, when I joined the Texas Boys Choir of Fort Worth. As a second soprano, I toured across the country singing and dancing with them until age 11.
From the Texas Boys Choir, I learned all about:
1. Reading and performing classical music..
2. Stagecraft and stage performance and …
3. The art of traveling across the country while doing homework. (This was in the 1970s.)
After aging out of the boys choir, I did some stage performing locally, including at Fort Worth’s Casa Manana.
My very first television appearance ever was singing with a small Texas Boys Choir group on the old Charlie Rose show in Fort Worth in the 1970s. My first SOLO TV appearance was later in rhe 1970s — in service of the premiere Fort Worth, Texas playhouse Casa Manana. I was promoting “The King And I” production. I interviewed with Bill Kelley, host of the old TV kid’s show “The Children’s Hour,,” which ran on KXAS. I was there as a cast member (a prince) to promote the Casa Manana show “The King And I.”
In 1985 I graduated from high school and almost immediately started basic training for the Texas Army National Guard at Fort Leanard Wood, Missouri.
I had just finished Advanced Individual Training at Fort Gordon, Georgia, when I returned to Fort Worth to start junior college.
At TCJC, I studied under drama professor Patty McCormick. I learned from her (and never forgot what she taught me) alongside such amazing stage actors/Patty students as the late Jim Cain, Charley Rubey. Rodney Honeycutt and his future wife Cindy Curtis.
BUT! My late parents, God bless them, were less than impressed with my acting when they saw me perform at the TCJC South Campus theater, the Carillon.
Mom and Dad tried their best to dissuade me from acting for a living. They were worried I would starve. They insisted I get my college degree in something other than acting.
So I did as they wished. I hit the books, and graduated from Tarleton State University in 1991 with a degree in English and a minor in journalism.
I dove into the journalism industry and kept at it with a vengeance for many years. Three decades.
I worked as a newspaper reporter for numerous publications,including the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Texas Jewish Post and the Arlington Morning News for years. (And many more.)
But I never shook the acting bug. NEVER. By 2017, I concluded I had sufficiently honored my parents’ wishes.
So in 2017 I dove full-throttle back into acting. This time it was mostly film acting. Also, I was also writing and publishing comic books with my son Jake, now 30, and singing.
I have been in many commercials and films since 2017, most notably 2020’s “AMARAICA,” directed by Tim Sparks. I portray an immigration attorney. (“Amaraica” is still streaming on MAX. ) My 13-year-old son CAMDEN LEE, acts with me in several of these projects.
I was also in the mob series “A Family Thing” that originally aired on Amazon Prime.
This list of my movies on IMDB is constantly updated and current:
https://m.imdb.com/name/nm8008358/
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
It’s my job to get my face and personality OUT THERE however I can. Film, commercials, social media and stage. Magazines. In song.
And if I am so blessed as to be cast in a film role, It’s my job to GIVE IT EVERYTHING I HAVE.
As an actor, my film career has to be …
1 The first thing I think of when I wake up (CHECK THOSE AUDITIONS!) and …
2…. the last thing I think of before I m go to sleep.
At the same time, I HAVE TO remember to find a way not to take my setbacks too seriously. OTHERWISE IT COULD EAT ME ALIVE.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
I try to remember my grandfather Ray Miller, my grandmother Cloteele Miller and the many others whose love and encouragement made all of this possible.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
Find ways to help them. Feed them. Clothe them. House them. Encourage
them and give them positive energy.
The actor you help might one day cheer you up during your darkest hour.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bentinsleydramashaman/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ben.tinsley.12/
Image Credits
Jrnie Jade (photos) Jason Dube art for NIGHT OWL and Jack B. Tinsley (Ben’s Dad) for military photo with Ben and his Mom, Anne Miller Tinsley.