Eric Stonestreet
| Eric Stonestreet | |
|---|---|
|
Stonestreet at the 2015 PaleyFest | |
| Born |
Eric Allen Stonestreet September 9, 1971 Kansas City, Kansas, United States |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1999–present |
Eric Allen Stonestreet (born September 9, 1971)[1] is an American actor. He first rose to prominence in a recurring role on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. He has appeared in the films Bad Teacher (2012), Identity Thief and The Loft (both 2013).
In 2016, he portrayed "Duke", a mongrel dog, in The Secret Life of Pets and real life politician Kenneth Duberstein in Confirmation'.
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.
Early life
Stonestreet was born in Kansas City, Kansas, the son of Jamey Anne (née Ball) and Vincent Anthony "Vince" Stonestreet. During his childhood, he wanted to become a clown.[2] 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."[3] The name Fizbo was used for a clown character he periodically plays on Modern Family. Stonestreet graduated from Piper High School and Kansas State University,[3] graduating with a degree in sociology in 1996.[4] 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.[4] 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.[4]
Career
Stonestreet plays Cameron Tucker in ABC's Modern Family.[2] 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."
His made his film debut 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. 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. 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 Dutch thriller The Loft.[5] He regularly appears onstage at IO West improv Theatre in Los Angeles.
Personal life
Despite his most prominent role being a gay character, Stonestreet is heterosexual and has lightheartedly described himself as "openly straight".[6] His gay co-star, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who plays Stonestreet's character's partner Mitchell Pritchett, jokingly called Stonestreet "gay-for-pay".[2][7] Stonestreet is a supporter of the LGBT community; he declined to be photographed with Rick Santorum, an opponent of same-sex marriage.[8]
Stonestreet is an avid fan of Kansas State University, cheering for the Wildcats on Jimmy Kimmel Live! after they had beaten the Kansas Jayhawks in men's basketball, as well as appearing on College Gameday Live on October 29, 2011, in a full Kansas State jumpsuit and incorrectly predicting that they would win. He also supports NASCAR driver and friend Kevin Harvick, and has driven the pace car at several NASCAR events. He supports the Los Angeles Kings and the Kansas City Chiefs.[9][10] In 2013, he described himself as a "huge, huge" Los Angeles Dodgers fan on the Conan show.[11] He has also called himself a Kansas City Royals fan. When the Royals defeated the New York Mets in the 2015 World Series, Stonestreet won a bet with Mets fan Jimmy Kimmel, in which the loser would get shot at by paintballs. Royals players, Mike Moustakas, Drew Butera and Jeremy Guthrie appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to help Stonestreet collect on his bet.[12]
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) |
Television
References
- ↑ "Eric Stonestreet". TVGuide.com. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
- 1 2 3 Stated on Inside the Actors Studio, 2011
- 1 2 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.
- 1 2 3 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.
- ↑ Moore, Debi (2014-12-22). "The Loft Arriving One Week Later than Originally Announced". Dreadcentral.com. Retrieved 2016-07-07.
- ↑ "Oprah talks to the cast of Modern Family". The Oprah Winfrey Show. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
- ↑ "All In The Family". Out.com. Archived from the original on September 19, 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
- ↑ Reynolds, Daniel (25 July 2014). "Modern Family's Gay Dad Says NO WAY to Rick Santorum Photo". The Advocate. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
- ↑ "Eric Stonestreet". SI.com. Archived from the original on October 21, 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
- ↑ "NFL.com: Why Eric Stonestreet is a Chiefs Fan". National Football Leahue. 20 September 2015. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
- ↑ "Eric Stonestreet Is STILL Tweeting Pics Of Sofia Vergara's Butts". Team CoCo. 19 November 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
- ↑ "Royals players join Eric Stonestreet to shoot Jimmy Kimmel with paintball guns". WDAF-TV. 5 November 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
- ↑ "Blue Peter - what time is it on TV? Episode 4915 Series 0 cast list and preview". Radiotimes.com. Retrieved 2016-07-07.