Dave Stann

Birthday: 12 November 1974, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Birth Name: David C. Stann

Dave Stann is an actor well known for the risks he takes portraying edgy, quirky, and irreverent characters. Equally at home playing attention deficit disorder-riddled cyberpunks as he is embracing th ...Show More

Dave Stann is an actor well known for the risks he takes portraying edgy, quirky, and irreverent characters. Equally at home playing attention deficit disorder-riddled cyberpunks as he is embracing the more intense demands of Shakespeare's Hamlet, Dave always seeks out the more unconventional and extreme roles.Originally a classically trained theater actor, he earned his Honors BFA Theater degree from Kent State University. While there, he was drawn to explore fringe theater, creating staged productions of John Waters' Pink Flamingos alongside hyperreal examinations of Harold Pinter. His senior thesis, "Directing Postmodern Ibsen," presented Dave's fragmented adaptation of An Enemy of the People, which featured modern dance, a techno soundtrack, and non-linear staging. While at Kent -- where 4 students were shot and killed by the National Guard on May 4th, 1970 for protesting the war in Vietnam -- he also developed a great respect for the power the arts have in giving voice to political ideology.Never one to speak softly, his art became increasingly graphic and non-traditional. Soon he formed boygirl productions, a performance company that "explores the boundaries of artistic expression through the often experimental, explicit, unexpected, and unusual lens of cutting edge theater and film" (from mission statement); the name comes from the androgyny inherent within all of us, the similarities that make us human. Many projects involve original adaptations of classics or new performance art pieces that deal unflinchingly with sexual inhibition, `new world order' paranoia, and other political modes of control. Currently in development is a multimedia one-man show based on the prison experience in America today.After gaining experience with dozens of Cleveland-area films, commercials and plays (while signed with the prestigious Ford Agency), he relocated to Hollywood in order to pursue expanded acting opportunities. Immediately he found success in the independent film world, playing leading roles in many edgy, festival-bound projects. He has stayed active, building an impressive resume of LA-based theater (Shakespeare at The Actors' Gang, for one), cult movie hits (like the slasher horror flick, Goth), cyberhacker gems (Corbin Bernsen's Bellacam), as well as countless breakout roles in films that are still flying low under the Hollywood radar, awaiting their day in the sun.A member of MENSA (but too cool to hang out with those brainiacs), Dave found early in his acting career -- when the money wasn't always as plentiful as the acting gigs -- that he could make a lucrative income playing blackjack and counting cards. He had just the right combination of acting ability, intelligence, and a trademark spark of in-your-face attitude to be successful at this cloak-and-dagger enterprise. His alter-ego `Hollywood Dave' was born and for years made quite a supplemental income off the green felts of Las Vegas; eventually (like many before him) the casinos caught on and made it increasingly difficult for him to play without getting barred. Currently he plays professional poker and is considered one of the best tournament blackjack players in the world, earning the title "the undisputed Bad Boy of Blackjack" for his play at the 2004 World Series of Blackjack, where he placed second in a photo finish that came down to the very last card dealt. As a result, he has become well known as a gambling celebrity, finding himself on-call for hosting and expert commentator roles on such shows as 'Celebrity Blackjack' (two seasons), 'Vegas Challenge', and other programs now in development. Like all endeavors he is passionate about, Dave is driven to succeed and uses his intense devotion for the arts and an irrepressible punk-rock attitude to do just that! Hide