Richard Abanes--known as Richie Abanes in connection to his work as a professional singer, dancer, and actor--is a bestselling and award-winning American writer. As an author/journalist, Abanes specializes in the area of socio-religious issues, cults, the occult, world religions, the entertainment industry, and pop culture. Since 1994 he has authored/co-authored twenty books (as of 2009) covering a broad range of topics.

In 1997, for his work on "intolerance" in North America (see American Militias: Rebellion, Racism, and Religion), he received an award from The Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights. Also in 1997, Abanes won the EV Press Association's Higher Goals In Journalism Award for his article on various religions in America.

As a lecturer on diverse social, religious, and historical topics, he has been a guest speaker at various institutions, including the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Caltech University, The Mensa Society, Oxford Univeristy (via tele-conferencing), and Biola University. Abanes also has been interviewed on hundreds of radio/TV programs and networks including BBC, MSNBC, CNN, and Hard Copy as an authority on cults/religion, pop culture, and the entertainment industry.

From 1998 to 2000, Abanes served on staff as Creative Arts Director for Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California.  

Early Career

Abanes began his career as a professional singer, dancer, and actor in local theater (Rockford, Illinois) at the age of thirteen. He began doing semi-professional theater within a year, and during his high school years he was featured in many productions throughout Northern Illinois. He also became a featured dancer in the Rockford Dance Company, while studying dance in Chicago with professional companies such as The Hubbard Street Dancers and Joel Hall Studios.

After graduating, Abanes moved to Nashville, where he worked at Opryland U.S.A. (eventually starring as George M. Cohan in For Me and My Gal). During the next two years, he also appeared as a dancer in several Nashville-based TV specials such as “Merry Christmas from the Grand Ole Opry," “Opryland: Night of Superstars and Future Stars,” and  “The 14th Annual Music City News Country Music Awards.” He was also a featured dancer for the weekly NBC variety series Nashville Palace.

Abanes subsequently moved to New York, where he landed a role in the “International” and “Bus & Truck” companies of the Broadway hit musical A Chorus Line (see official revival site and original cast site), which became the longest running Broadway show of that era. Soon afterward, Abanes was given a featured dance role on Broadway in the musical Dreamgirls. 

While in New York, he continued his studies in dance at American Dance Machine (with Lee Theodore), the Alvin Ailey Dance Center, American Ballet Theater, Luigi’s Jazz Center, as well as with Rick Atwell, Ann Reinking, and assorted other teachers throughout New York. In the years that followed, Abanes was featured in national television commercials, played the lead role in an ABC After School Special, co-starred in the film Rappin’, and starred in the Bill Moyers PBS special “The Constitution.”

Abanes eventually began to pursue a second career as a full-time freelance journalist. This led to his first book, Prophets of the Apocalypse: David Koresh and Other American Messiahs, which was co-authored with three other writers and published in 1994 (Baker Books). 

As of 2009, in addition to being an active author/journalist, Abanes was again working in field of show business as a singer, dancer, and actor.

• Religions of the Stars: What Hollywood Believes and How It Affects You (ISBN 978-0764206481, 2009)
• A New Earth, An Old Deception: Awakening to the Dangers of Eckhart Tolle’s #1 Bestseller (ISBN 978-0-7642-0664-1, 2008)
• He Is Risen: Reflections On Easter & the Forty Days of Lent (ISBN 978-0-446-69679-1, 2008)
• Homeland Insecurity: A Novel (ISBN 0-7369-1469-2, 2007)
• What Every Parent Needs to Know About Video Games: A Gamer Explores the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of the Virtual World (ISBN 0-7369-1740-3, 2006)
• Rick Warren and the Purpose that Drives Him: An Insider Looks at the Phenomenal Bestseller (ISBN 0-7369-1738-1, 2005)
• Harry Potter, Narnia, and The Lord of the Rings: What You Need to Know About Fantasy Books and Movies (ISBN 0-7369-1700-4, 2005)
• The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code: A Challenging Response to the Bestselling Novel (ISBN 0-7369-1439-0; 2004)
• Becoming Gods: A Closer Look at 21st Century Mormonism (ISBN 0-7369-1355-6; 2004); re-titled and re-covered as Inside Today’s Mormonism (ISBN 0-7369-1968-6, 2007)
• One Nation Under Gods: A History of the Mormon Church (ISBN 1-56858-219-6; 2002); paperback edition (ISBN 1-56858-283-8, 2003)
• Fantasy and Your Family: Exploring the Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and Modern Magick (ISBN 0-87509-975-0, 2002); revised, updated, and expanded into Harry Potter, Narnia, and The Lord of the Rings (see above).
• Harry Potter and the Bible: The Menace Behind the Magick (ISBN 0-88965-201-5; 2001)
• Defending the Faith: A Beginner’s Guide to Cults and New Religions (ISBN 0-8010-5782-5, 1998)
• Cults, New Religious Movements, and Your Family: A Guide to Ten Non-Christian Groups Out to Convert Your Loved Ones (ISBN 0-89107-981-5, 1998)
• End-Time Visions: The Road to Armageddon? (ISBN 0-8054-1769-9); paperback edition titled End-Time Visions: The Doomsday Obsession (ISBN 0-8054-1965-9, 1998)
• American Militias: Rebellion, Racism & Religion (ISBN 0-8308-1368-3; 1996)
• Journey into the Light: Exploring Near-Death Experiences (ISBN 0-8010-5480-X, 1996)
• The Less Traveled Road and the Bible: A Scriptural Critique of the Philosophy of M. Scott Peck (ISBN 0-88965-117-5; 1995)
• Embraced by the Light and the Bible: Betty Eadie and Near-Death Experiences in the Light of Scripture (ISBN 0-88965-111-6, 1994)
• Prophets of the Apocalypse: David Koresh and Other American Messiahs (ISBN 0-8010-8367-2, 1994)