Saved by the Dell

DUDE! Curtis is busted for pot

BEN CURTIS
AGE 20
WHERE YOU'VE SEEN HIM As Steve, Dell computer's smarmy teen pitchman
EDDIE HASKELL, ANYONE? The Chattanooga, Tenn., native -- who's the son of a preacher man -- says Steve is ''the kid next door that you either love to bring to your house or try to avoid at all costs.''
YOUNG GUN Answering a casting call that asked for 12- to 17-year-olds, Curtis showed up at his audition acting like ''the more cheesy, in-your-face, obnoxious surfer version of me at age 16.''
MATH WHIZ Dell's consumer revenue grew 46 percent in last year's fourth quarter -- right when Steve began popping up on TV spots.
FREEBIES? No free Dell computer yet: ''I used my roommate's computer all year, which is actually a Dell. So, I guess that works.''
NEXT His third year at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and continued studies at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute. Possibly a fifth Dell spot.