Dean Cain (born Dean George Tanaka; July 31, 1966) is an American actor. His mother, actress Sharon Thomas, married his adoptive father, director Christopher Cain, when Dean was three years old. Although he grew up in Malibu and attended Santa Monica High School, his career plans favored professional football over acting. While studying at Princeton, he majored in history, dated Brooke Shields for two years, and set an NCAA record for interceptions in a season.

After signing with the Buffalo Bills, a knee injury ended his professional career before it could begin. Although he had already played a role in his father's film Stone Boy (1984), he took the usual path through commercials and television roles (notably in Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990) in 1990) before landing his breakthrough role as Superman/Clark Kent in the series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993).