Eric Stonestreet

Eric Allen Stonestreet (born September 9, 1971)[1] is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for portraying Cameron Tucker in the ABC mockumentary sitcom Modern Family, for which he received two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series out of three nominations.

Eric Stonestreet
Stonestreet at the 2015 PaleyFest
Born
Eric Allen Stonestreet

(1971-09-09) September 9, 1971
Kansas City, Kansas, U.S.
Alma materKansas State University (1996)
OccupationActor, comedian
Years active1999–present

Stonestreet first rose to prominence in a recurring role on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. He has appeared in films and telefilms including; Bad Teacher (2011), Identity Thief (2013), The Loft (2013), and Confirmation (2016). He also provides the voice of Duke in The Secret Life of Pets film franchise (2016, 2019). He also filled in as a judge on America’s Got Talent in 2020 when Heidi Klum became ill. He has also appeared on Malcolm in the Middle, season 1 episode 5, for which he plays the pest exterminator.

Early life

Stonestreet was born in Kansas City, Kansas , the son of Jamey Anne (née Ball), a teacher's aide, and Vincent Anthony "Vince" Stonestreet, who owned a retail business.[2]

During his childhood, he wanted to become a clown.[3] As a child, he created a clown character named Fizbo, and by age 11 was performing at 6- and 7-year-olds' birthday parties; Stonestreet recalled in 2012, "I don't know where the name Fizbo came from. I do know one day that's what my dad was calling me and that's the name that I printed on my business cards."[4] The name Fizbo was used for a clown character he periodically played on Modern Family.

Stonestreet graduated from Piper High School and Kansas State University where he was a brother of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity,[4] graduating with a degree in sociology in 1996.[5]

While at KSU, he performed in plays including his first, Prelude to a Kiss, for which he auditioned on a dare and won the smallest role; All My Sons; and Twelfth Night.[5] He went on to study improv at ImprovOlympic and The Second City Training Center in Chicago, and moved to Los Angeles to begin his professional acting career.[5]


Career

Stonestreet played Cameron Tucker in ABC's Modern Family.[3] He is also notable for his role as Ronnie Litre on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. He also guest starred in television shows, such as Dharma & Greg, ER, Malcolm in the Middle, The Mentalist, NCIS, Nip/Tuck, Party of Five, Spin City, The West Wing, Pushing Daisies, Greg the Bunny, Providence, Close to Home, Crossing Jordan, Bones, Monk, and American Horror Story. Early on in his career, Stonestreet was featured in Northwestern University's 1996 football TV commercial campaign as the "purple pride guy."[6]

He made his film debut in Almost Famous, as desk clerk Sheldon. He also played Dr. Benson in Girls Will Be Girls, Ed the Trucker in The Island, and Courtney's Neighbor in Ninja Cheerleaders. In 2007, Stonestreet appeared in the short film "Vinny's Vault," which was produced during the reality show On the Lot. He also appeared in the movies Identity Thief as Big Chuck, and Bad Teacher as Kirk.

In his role as Cameron on Modern Family, Stonestreet earned three consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (2010, 2011 and 2012), winning the award in 2010 and 2012. He also received three Golden Globe Award nominations (2010, 2011 and 2013) for his work on the series.

In 2013, he appeared in a series of advertisements for Australian retail store Big W.[7] In the fall of the same year, Stonestreet played the "Fan Coach" in the AT&T "Be A Fan" commercial series that ran during the college football season, in addition to appearing in a MasterCard/Stand Up 2 Cancer commercial as himself.[8] In 2014, he performed in "Weird Al" Yankovic's music video for "Tacky," a parody of Pharrell's "Happy". In the same year, he also starred in the remake of the Belgian thriller The Loft.[9][10] He regularly appears onstage at IO West improv Theatre in Los Angeles.[11]

In 2017, Stonestreet began starring as the host of the ABC reality series The Toy Box.[12]

In 2020, Stonestreet appeared as a guest judge for a taping of auditions for the fifteenth season of America's Got Talent, in place of Heidi Klum.[13]

Personal life

Despite his most prominent role being a gay character, Stonestreet is heterosexual and has lightheartedly described himself as "openly straight".[14] His gay co-star, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who plays Stonestreet's character's husband Mitchell Pritchett, jokingly called Stonestreet "gay-for-pay".[3][15] Stonestreet is a supporter of the LGBT community; he declined to be photographed with Rick Santorum, an opponent of same-sex marriage.[16]

Stonestreet enjoys attending sporting events and has driven the pace car at several NASCAR events.[17] He continues to frequent football games at his alma mater and stays active with several organizations there.[18] In 2019, it was announced that Stonestreet was part of the new ownership group of the American baseball team the Kansas City Royals.[19]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2000 Almost Famous Sheldon the Desk Clerk
2003 F.A.T. Ranger
2003 Girls Will Be Girls Dr. Benson
2003 Street of Pain Floyd Short film
2004 Straight-Jacket Labor Organizer
2004 Knuckle Sandwich Bill
2005 Saddam 17 The Clerk Short film
2005 The Island Ed the Trucker
2007 The Drifter Delivery Guy Short film
2007 Stories USA Floyd Segment: "Street of Pain"
2008 Ninja Cheerleaders Beergut
2008 American Crude Phil
2010 Father vs. Son Doug
2011 Bad Teacher Kirk
2013 Identity Thief Big Chuck
2014 The Loft Marty Landry
2016 The Secret Life of Pets Duke (voice)
2019 The Secret Life of Pets 2

Television
Year Title Role Notes
1999 Dharma & Greg Chester Episode: "See Dharma Run"
2000 I've Got a Secret Himself Unknown episodes
2000 Malcolm in the Middle Phil Episode: "Malcolm Babysits"
2000 Party of Five Irv 2 episodes
2000 Spin City The Dentist Episode: "Smile"
2000 ER Willie Episode: "Mars Attacks"
2001 The West Wing Staffer #1 Episode: "Bad Moon Rising"
2002 Greg the Bunny Wilson (uncredited) Episode: "Welcome to Sweetknuckle Junction"
2002 Providence Ted Stout Episode: "Eye of the Storm"
2001–2005 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Ronnie Litre 12 episodes
2005 Close to Home Andrew Morgan Episode: "Under Threat"
2006 13 Graves Andrew Schoch Television film
2007 Crossing Jordan Steve Anderman Episode: "D.O.A."
2007 Bones D.C. Cop 2 episodes
2007 On the Lot Actor 2 episodes
2007 American Dad! Brett Episode: "Dope & Faith"
2008 The Mentalist Malcom Boatwright Episode: "Red Hair and Silver Tape"
2008 Pushing Daisies Leo Burns Episode: "Comfort Food"
2008 NCIS Harvey Ames Episode: "Silent Night"
2009 This Might Hurt Brad Maynard Television film
2009 Monk Boom Boom Episode: "Mr. Monk and the UFO"
2009 Scare Tactics Eric the Paranormal Guy Episode: "28 Minutes Later"
2009 Nip/Tuck Wesley Clovis Episode: "Wesley Clovis"
2009–2020 Modern Family Cameron Tucker Main role
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (2010, 2012)
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2011–14)
Nominated—Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film (2011–13)
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series (2012–13, 2015)
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2010, 2015)
Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Comedy Actor
Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Male Scene Stealer
Nominated—Television Critics Association Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy
2010 Good News Week Himself Episode: "8.37"
2011 American Horror Story: Murder House Derrick Episode: "Piggy Piggy"
2013–2018 Sofia the First Minimus (voice) 16 episodes
2014 Sesame Street Himself Episode: "Hansel & Gretel Playdate"
2015 Jeopardy! Himself 2 episodes
2016 Blue Peter[20] Himself Episode: "4915"
2016 Confirmation Kenneth Duberstein Television film
2017 The F Word Himself "Episode Seven"
2017 The Toy Box[12] Himself (host) 16 episodes
2019 What Just Happened??! with Fred Savage Himself Episode: “Neighbor”
2020 America's Got Talent Guest Judge Season 15; Filling in for Heidi Klum[13]
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Himself (contestant) Episode: "In The Hot Seat: Eric Stonestreet and Will Forte"

References
  1. "Eric Stonestreet". TV Guide. Archived from the original on June 18, 2016. Retrieved July 14, 2015.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. "Actor Eric Stonestreet, From Kansas Farm to Sitcom Star". Wall Street Journal. March 28, 2017. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved February 8, 2020.
  3. Stated on Inside the Actors Studio, 2011
  4. Engle, Time (September 21, 2012). "Eric Stonestreet talks Emmys, clowns, gay marriage and Tonganoxie". Kansas City Star. Kansas City, Kansas. Archived from the original on June 20, 2014. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  5. Maullar, Marci (n.d.). "K-State Alum wins an Emmy for his role in ABC Comedy Series" (Press release). Kansas State University Theatre Dept. Archived from the original on June 22, 2016. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  6. Berkman, Seth (April 3, 2019). "Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet of Modern Family". Boston.com. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  7. Lynchy (April 9, 2013). "Big W recruits Modern Family's Eric Stonestreet for latest campaign via Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney". Campaign Brief. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  8. "30 Amazing Things You Probably Didn't Know About Eric Stonestreet". BoomsBeat.com. March 23, 2019. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  9. Moore, Debi (December 22, 2014). "The Loft Arriving One Week Later than Originally Announced". Dreadcentral.com. Retrieved July 7, 2016.
  10. Sneider, Jeff (May 11, 2011). "Eric Stonestreet, Wentworth Miller in 'Loft'". Variety. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  11. Gropman, Adam (February 21, 2018). "End Scene: L.A.'s iO West Theater to Close Suddenly After 21 Years". LA Weekly. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  12. "ABC Announces Expert Mentors and Young Judges Appearing on Upcoming Toy-Competition Series 'The Toy Box,' Premiering Friday, April 7" (Press release). ABC. January 4, 2017. Archived from the original on April 8, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
  13. "Actor Eric Stonestreet to Fill in For Heidi Klum at "AGT" Taping". www.msn.com.
  14. "Oprah talks to the cast of Modern Family". The Oprah Winfrey Show. p. 2. Archived from the original on August 21, 2016. Retrieved September 13, 2014.
  15. "All In The Family". Out.com. Archived from the original on September 19, 2011. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  16. Reynolds, Daniel (July 25, 2014). "Modern Family's Gay Dad Says NO WAY to Rick Santorum Photo". The Advocate. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  17. Burns, Hilary (October 29, 2014). "Jill Gregory took a bunch of NASCAR drivers to Hollywood. Here's what she's planning next". bizwomen. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  18. "Eric Stonestreet makes an 'official' recruiting visit to K-State football team". The Kansas City Star. August 20, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  19. KMBC 9 News Staff (November 26, 2019). "Eric Stonestreet part of new Royals ownership group". kmbc.com. KMBC 9 News. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
  20. "Blue Peter - what time is it on TV? Episode 4915 Series 0 cast list and preview". Radiotimes.com. Retrieved July 7, 2016.
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