Ben Patterson

American actor, model, musician and photographer Ben Patterson is best known for his pivotal and culturally important roles as the trans gendered brother of Dr. Ben Warren on ABC’s massively popular “Grey’s Anatomy” and the groundbreaking drama “Noah’s Arc,” is set to return to television this summer on OWN’s “Greenleaf” alongside executive producer Oprah Winfrey, who also stars on the show.

Set in Memphis,”Greenleaf” follows the unscrupulous world of the Greenleaf family with scandalous secrets and lies, and their powerful megachurch with predominantly African-American church members. The series is headed by Keith David as Bishop James Greenleaf, and Lynn Whitfield as his wife and matriarch of the family, Lady Mae Greenleaf.Merle Dandridge plays series’ protagonist, Grace Greenleaf, their estranged daughter who has returned home after 20 years following the mysterious death of her sister, Faith. Oprah stars as Mavis McCready, Lady Mae’s sister and a close confidant of Grace who is also a blues club owner.

An Oakland native, Ben grew up in a diverse neighborhood of the San Francisco Bay, playing the drums and swimming competitively through high school with future television stars Lance Gross (Tyler Perry’s “House of Payne”) and Russell Hornsby (NBC’s “Grimm”). As an aspiring musician he picked up the guitar and piano, while booking DJ gigs at house parties and local nightclubs, which continued while he was a psych major at San Diego State University. Discovered by a scout for a local modeling competition that he ultimately won as “International Model of the Year,” he quickly booked campaigns for Macy’s, Bud Light and various infomercials. Another model suggested him for a walk on role on “The Bold and the Beautiful” thus launching his acting career and the rest is history. He has since appeared on “CSI-Miami,” “Happy Endings,” “Brother and Sisters,” and “Castle” to name a few.