Eric Stonestreet

Eric Allen Stonestreet (born September 9, 1971) 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.

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).

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.

During his childhood he wanted to become a clown.Stated on ''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2011 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." 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, graduating with a degree in sociology in 1996.

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''. 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.

Career

Stonestreet played Cameron Tucker in ABC's ''Modern Family''. 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 in his career Stonestreet was featured in Northwestern University's 1996 football TV commercial campaign as the "purple pride guy."

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. 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 Belgian thriller The Loft. He regularly appears onstage at IO West improv Theatre in Los Angeles.

In 2017, Stonestreet hosted the ABC competition series ''The Toy Box''.

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. In the same year he appeared in the music video for Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber's song "Stuck with U".

In March 2021, it was announced that Stonestreet would be hosting '' Domino Masters'' for Fox. The competition series premiered on March 9, 2022.

Personal life

In June 2016, Stonestreet began dating pediatric nurse Lindsay Schweitzer whom he met during the Big Slick charity event weekend in Kansas City. On August 22, 2021, the couple became engaged.

Although he played a gay character in ''Modern Family'', Stonestreet is heterosexual and has lightheartedly described himself as "openly straight". His ''Modern Family'' co-star, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who plays Stonestreet's character's husband Mitchell Pritchett, and who is gay in real life, jokingly called Stonestreet "gay-for-pay".. In addition, Stonestreet is a supporter of the LGBT community, having once declined to be photographed with Rick Santorum due to Santorum’s opposition of same-sex marriage.

Stonestreet enjoys attending sporting events and openly supporting his hometown teams (including the Kansas City Chiefs), and has driven the pace car at several NASCAR events. He continues to frequent football games at his alma mater and stays active with several organizations there. In 2019, it was announced that Stonestreet was part of the new ownership group of the Kansas City Royals; Royals legend George Brett was once a guest star in a season nine episode of ''Modern Family'' where Cameron in-character considered him his favorite baseball player.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Specials

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stonestreet, Eric
1971 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American people of German descent
LGBT rights activists from the United States
Kansas State University alumni
Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Primetime Emmy Award winners
Male actors from Kansas City, Kansas