A Biography of Ken Steadman

Who Was Ken Steadman?

by Carl M. Prince

Ken was born in Aberdeen, Washington on June 26,1969. He was a lot like any other child. He was pretty happy most of the time. His parents got divorced shortly after he was born but he maintained a strong relationship with both natural parents his whole life. Both parents remarried and in the end Ken had two sets of parents that truly cared and loved him deeply. He spent time with each as he grew up and had a strong foundation to build on. School was not easy for Ken but he maintained a B average. He was active in skiing, football and track and still holds the high school pole vault record to this day. He was the typical high school student with girlfriends, acne problems, and a love of life.

His stepfather managed a park on the saltwater while Ken was growing up and he loved the outdoors and especially loved the Orcas that swam by the park in the spring and summer. He had incredible determination and once he decided on a goal there was nothing that could stop him. He came to us during high school and told us he wanted to get his pilot's license so he could eventually become an astronaut. We told him that was a great idea but we didn't have the money to pay for such an expensive goal. He then asked if he could earn the money would we let him get his license. We said sure knowing in our mind that would be impossible for a 15-year-old to earn enough money to get the flying lessons he needed. Well at the age of 16 he had his pilots license and he paid for 90% of it himself. It wasn't easy and he sacrificed a lot but he knew becoming a pilot was what he wanted more than anything else at that time.

He went off to college where he participated in the Navy ROTC program but after completing a year of college he decided to take off some time to decide what he wanted to do with his life. At this time he moved to Bullhead City, Nevada to work in a casino and spend some time with his father and step mom. It was here that he started meeting people from the Entertainment Industry. Because of this contact he decided he wanted to be an actor and despite our misgivings he went to Hollywood. He had never acted before, had never been involved in drama or school plays nor had he ever taken a speech class but being an actor is what he decided he wanted to do.

We figured he would go to Hollywood, fail in a few months and then come home and go back to college to study for a real career. Well he did come home but it was only to visit and share with us the trials and tribulations of becoming an actor. He worked as a waiter, a bouncer at a nightclub, a carpenter, and any other opportunity that presented itself. He did all this because he needed money for acting lessons, speech lessons, head shots, and agents, managers, and all the other thousands of things it takes to become an actor. He learned how to ride horses and actually got paid to do jousting at a couple of locations.

He was a kid from a small town and the odds were a million to one that he would make it but he was determined and that determination is what got him through those first few years. He would not give up. Gradually he got better, he honed his skills, his acting abilities came out, he had confidence and believed in himself, he worked hard at improvement, and he had that special spark that carried him through the difficult times.

He created his own new Hollywood family of friends, managers, actors, a girlfriend, and a cat named Perry. He found some managers, Susan and Daniel and Adam, that believed in him and saw his talent and he finally started to get the parts he wanted. He was getting guest star appearances on a lot of TV series and as his managers put it "he had broken away from the pack and was ready for the big time".  Then on September 20, 1996 his life ended in an accident that could have been prevented.  He lost his life, we lost a son, and the world lost an amazing individual who in his short time here impacted the lives of many individuals.