This stage-trained actor won a Theatre World Award in 1989 for his Off-Broadway debut in Paul Zindel's "Amulets Against the Dragon Forces". Loren Dean made his film debut in Martha Coolidge's teen comedy "Plain Clothes" (1988) and played a spaced-out West Coast high schooler in "Say Anything" (1989). He went on to land the title role in Robert Benton's film adaptation of E L Doctorow's "Billy Bathgate" (1991), playing the 15-year-old flunky and protege of legendary gangster Dutch Schultz (Dustin Hoffman). The film's mixed critical and audience reception stalled the rising actor's career,
