Ben Shields was raised in eastern Kansas, finally landing in suburban Kansas City - on the Kansas side.  His mother is a critical care nurse, and his father is a senior partner in a law firm.  He is a great, great grandson of an undertaker who created one of the first mortuaries in Kansas in 1890, and a grandfather was a decorated WWII pilot.  He is a distant nephew of the legendary Betsy Ross.  Shields began acting at the age of eleven, when he was cast as an understudy in "Oliver" at Kansas City's Starlight Theatre.  He went on to perform in every major production in school, then went on to college and received a theatre degree from Northwestern University.

After college Ben worked in theatre, television, film, and voiceover.  He attended The Second City Training Center in Chicago and also received training from acclaimed teacher and actress, Uta Hagen.  While in Chicago, he was seen at the Royal George Theatre, Shakespeare Repertory, Organic Theater, Apple Tree Theatre, Victory Gardens, among many others.  Ben was among the cast of two productions that received Jeff Awards for Best Production.  He followed these up with moving to Los Angeles, where he has since appeared on television series, including House M.D., Eleventh Hour, The Unit, Jericho, among others, as well as appearing and voicing on commercials, video games, and L.A. theatre stages.