Heidi Gardner

Heidi Lynn Gardner (born July 27, 1983) is an American actress, comedian, and writer, who currently works as a cast member on Saturday Night Live. She also voices the anthropomorphic cat Cooch on the Crackle series SuperMansion, which was later broadcast under a secondary license by U.S. cable network Adult Swim.

Heidi Gardner
Born
Heidi Lynn Gardner

(1983-07-27) July 27, 1983
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Occupation
  • Actress
  • comedian
Years active2014–present
Spouse(s)
​
(m. 2010)​

Early life

Gardner was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, where she was born on July 27.[1] She grew up with an older brother Justin.[2]

Growing up, Gardner worked part-time at the Tivoli Theater where she did everything "from selling tickets to making popcorn." She later credited the theater as "setting the tone in her life."[3] Gardner was not interested in acting as a child, only performing on stage as a flutist for the school band and doing comedy sketches in school talent shows.[4] Gardner graduated from the all-girls Catholic high school Notre Dame de Sion in 2001. In her senior year, she was voted by her classmates as "Most likely to be a cast member of “Saturday Night Live.”[2] Upon graduating from high school, Gardner followed in the footsteps of her friend and enrolled at the University of Kansas for two years before transferring to the University of Missouri. Although she became uninterested in school and often skipped classes, Gardner discovered a fondness for haircutting.[4]

Career

At the age of 21, Gardner dropped out of college and left Missouri to move to Los Angeles, where she worked at a salon for nine years.[5] Prior to the move, she saved up $600 over one summer.[6] She was encouraged by a friend to attend a performance at The Groundlings theatre where she became inspired to become an actress.[5] Due to her lack of acting experience, Gardner enrolled in community workshops to learn the basics of improvising. Once she was comfortable, Gardner auditioned into the Groundlings basic class and was accepted.[4]

In 2014, Gardner joined the Sunday Company, and a year later she was promoted to the Main Company resulting in her quitting her job as a hairstylist to focus on acting.[4] During that time, she became a voice actress,[7] regularly appearing on animated series such as Bratz, SuperMansion, and Mike Tyson Mysteries.[8] In 2017, Gardner joined the cast of Saturday Night Live (SNL) for its forty-third season.[6]

Following her first year on SNL, Gardner was hired to play the supporting role of Leonor in the Ben Falcone-directed film Life of the Party, alongside Melissa McCarthy.[4] On August 28, 2019, TVLine reported that Gardner would have a guest role on the NBC comedy series Superstore playing Dina Fox's nemesis Colleen who is transferred to Store 1217 after Cloud 9’s Bel-Ridge location gets shut down.[9] In 2019, Gardner made her stage debut in Michael Frayn's Noises Off at The Cape Playhouse in Dennis, Massachusetts.[10]

Recurring characters on Saturday Night Live[11]
  • Angel (Every Boxer’s Girlfriend), a distressed woman who tries to give "Weekend Update's Good News Report," but inevitably derails into melodramatic rants about her boyfriend's dangerous boxing career.
  • Bailey Gismert, a teen film critic who gives awkward reviews.
  • Brie Bacardi, one half a shallow couple always on the brink of an argument, who runs a relationship-themed Instagram account with her boyfriend Nico Slobkin (Mikey Day).

Personal life

Gardner met her future husband, Marvel Comics writer Zeb Wells, while a member of Groundlings.[12]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2014 Dibs! Erica
2018 Life of the Party Leonor
2018 Making Babies Meg
2019 Otherhood Erin

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2017 Mike Tyson Mysteries Old Woman (voice) Episode: "Love Letters"
2017–present Saturday Night Live Various 71 episodes
2019 The Other Two Mona Episode: "Chase Turns Fourteen"
2019 Veep Amanda White Episode: "Discovery Weekend"
2019 Alien News Desk Tuva Van Void (voice) 12 episodes
2019 American Dad! Various voices Episode: "Lost Boys"
2019 Mike Tyson Mysteries Jennifer (voice) Episode: "The Yung and The Restless"
2019 Superstore Colleen Episode: "Forced Hire"
2020 Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Jenny Special: "Kimmy vs the Reverend"

Web

Year Title Role Notes
2015 Adult Wednesday Hairdresser Episode: "The Haircut"
2015 Bratz Yasmin (voice) 8 episodes
2015–19 SuperMansion Various voices 46 episodes
2016 CollegeHumor Originals Patient Episode: "Why Are My Nipples Pixelated?"

Audio

Year Title Role Notes
2020 Heads Will Roll Various voices 10 episodes

Writing credits

Web

Year Title Notes
2015 Bratz 3 episodes
2015–17 SuperMansion 11 episodes

References
  1. "HEIDI GARDNER". nbc.com. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  2. Gutierrez, Lisa (September 27, 2017). "This KC native is being hailed as the next household name on 'Saturday Night Live'". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  3. Diana Lambdin Meyer. "MY KANSAS CITY: INTERVIEW WITH SNL'S HEIDI GARDNER". visitkc.com. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  4. Cizmar, Martin (August 21, 2019). "How Heidi Gardner went from a hair stylist taking improv classes to Saturday Night Live star". kansascitymag.com. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  5. Coy Dugger. "How Kansas City Native Heidi Gardner Ended Up On Saturday Night Live". kcur.org. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  6. Steinberg, Brian (November 22, 2019). "'SNL': Heidi Gardner's Kooky 'Weekend Update' Characters Make News". variety.com. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  7. Bradley, Nina (September 26, 2017). "Who Is Heidi Gardner? The New 'SNL' Cast Member Is Someone You Should Get To Know ASAP". Bustle.
  8. Hatchett, Keisha (October 13, 2016). "TMS Interviews the SuperMansion Cast About Santa's Existential Crisis and Jordan Peele's Get Out". The Mary Sue. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  9. Schwartz, Ryan (28 August 2019). "Superstore Season 5: Justina Machado to Recur, SNL's Heidi Gardner Also Cast". TVLine. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  10. Gans, Andrew (August 7, 2019). "Jeremy Webb, Janine LaManna, Jennifer Cody Join SNL's Heidi Gardner in Noises Off at Cape Playhouse". Playbill. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  11. Steinberg, Brian (2019-11-22). "'SNL': Heidi Gardner's Kooky 'Weekend Update' Characters Make News". Variety. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
  12. Hoedel, Cindy (August 1, 2019). "IN Conversation with Heidi Gardner". inkansascity.com. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
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