Eric Allen Stonestreet (born September 9, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Cameron Tucker in the ABC sitcom Modern Family, for which he received two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series out of three nominations. He first rose to prominence in a recurring role on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. He has also appeared in films including Bad Teacher (2011), Identity Thief (2013), The Loft (2014), and Confirmation (2016), and provides the voice of Duke in the animated The Secret Life of Pets film franchise (2016–2019).
Eric Stonestreet | |
|---|---|
 Stonestreet at PaleyFest LA in March 2015 | |
| Born | September 9, 1971 Kansas City, Kansas, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Kansas State University |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Partner(s) | Lindsay Schweitzer (2016–present; engaged) |
| Awards | |
Eric Allen Stonestreet[1] was born in Kansas City, Kansas, on September 9, 1971,[1] the son of teacher's aide Jamey Anne (née Ball) and retail business owner Vincent Stonestreet.[2] He is of German descent.[3] His family had a pig farm growing up.[4] As a child, he wanted to become a clown,[5] and created a clown character named Fizbo; by age 11, he was performing at younger children's birthday parties. He 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."[6] The name "Fizbo" was later used for a clown character he periodically played on Modern Family.
Stonestreet attended Piper High School and Kansas State University, where he was in the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity,[6] graduating with a degree in sociology in 1996.[7] While there, he made his stage debut when he appeared in Prelude to a Kiss, for which he auditioned on a dare and won the smallest role. He later appeared in All My Sons and Twelfth Night,[7] before studying improv at ImprovOlympic and The Second City Training Center in Chicago, then moved to Los Angeles to begin his professional acting career.[7]
Early work and smaller roles
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.
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 Kansas State University's 1996 football and the Big 12 Conference TV commercials' campaign as the "purple pride guy."[8]
Modern Family and beyond
Stonestreet played Cameron Tucker in ABC's Modern Family.[5] His performance in the series was widely acclaimed and earned him numerous awards, including two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, four SAG Awards for Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series, and nominations for three Golden Globes for Best Supporting Actor in Television.
In 2013, he appeared in a series of advertisements for Australian retail store Big W.[9] 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.[10] 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.[11][12] He regularly appears onstage at IO West improv Theatre in Los Angeles.[13]
In 2017, Stonestreet hosted the ABC competition series The Toy Box.[14]
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.[15] In the same year he appeared in the music video for Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber's song "Stuck with U".[16]
In March 2021, it was announced that Stonestreet would be hosting Domino Masters for Fox.[17] The competition series premiered on March 9, 2022.[18]
In November 2024, Stonestreet was named at the godfather for the new Norwegian Cruise Line ship Norwegian Aqua.[19]
Stonestreet began dating pediatric nurse Lindsay Schweitzer in June 2016,[20] and they became engaged on August 22, 2021.[21]
Although he played a gay character in Modern Family, Stonestreet is heterosexual and has lightheartedly described himself as "openly straight".[22] His Modern Family co-star and onscreen husband Jesse Tyler Ferguson (who is gay in real life) jokingly called him "gay-for-pay".[5][23] Stonestreet supports LGBTQ causes; he refused Republican senator Rick Santorum's request to take a picture with him at the 2014 White House Correspondents' dinner due to Santorum's staunchly anti-gay platform.[24]
A keen sports fan, Stonestreet supports the Kansas City Chiefs football team[25] and joined the new ownership group of the Kansas City Royals baseball team in 2019.[26] He has also driven the pace car at several NASCAR events.[27] He often attends football games at his alma mater, Kansas State University, and stays active with several organizations there.[28]
Stonestreet is also a fan of drums, mainly a collector of them which he talked about on comedian Rob Riggle's podcast Riggles Picks.[29]
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Almost Famous | Sheldon the Desk Clerk | |
| 2003 | F.A.T. | Ranger | |
| Girls Will Be Girls | Dr. Benson | ||
| Street of Pain | Floyd | Short film | |
| 2004 | Straight-Jacket | Labor Organizer | |
| Knuckle Sandwich | Bill | ||
| 2005 | Saddam 17 | The Clerk | Short film |
| The Island | Ed the Trucker | ||
| 2007 | The Drifter | Delivery Guy | Short film |
| Stories USA | Floyd | Segment: "Street of Pain" | |
| 2008 | Ninja Cheerleaders | Beergut | |
| American Crude | Phil | ||
| 2010 | Father vs. Son | Doug | |
| 2011 | Bad Teacher | Kirk Gay | |
| 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 |
| Malcolm in the Middle | Phil | Episode: "Malcolm Babysits" | |
| Party of Five | Irv | 2 episodes | |
| Spin City | The Dentist | Episode: "Smile" | |
| ER | Willie | Episode: "Mars Attacks" | |
| 2001 | The West Wing | Staffer #1 | Episode: "Bad Moon Rising" |
| 2002 | Greg the Bunny | Wilson | Episode: "Welcome to Sweetknuckle Junction" |
| 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." |
| Bones | D.C. Cop | 2 episodes | |
| On the Lot | Actor | ||
| American Dad! | Short Order Cook (voice) | Episode: "Dope & Faith" | |
| 2008 | The Mentalist | Malcom Boatwright | Episode: "Red Hair and Silver Tape" |
| Pushing Daisies | Leo Burns | Episode: "Comfort Food" | |
| NCIS | Harvey Ames | Episode: "Silent Night" | |
| 2009 | This Might Hurt | Brad Maynard | Television film |
| Monk | Boom Boom | Episode: "Mr. Monk and the UFO" | |
| Scare Tactics | Eric the Paranormal Guy | Episode: "28 Minutes Later" | |
| 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 (won 2010, 2012; nominated 2011) Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film (nominated 2011–13) Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series (nominated 2012–13, 2015) Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (nominated 2010, 2015–17; won 2011–14) Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (nominated 2011) |
| 2010 | Good News Week | Himself | 1 episode |
| 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! | 2 episodes | |
| 2016 | Blue Peter[30] | Episode: "4915" | |
| Confirmation | Kenneth Duberstein | Television film | |
| 2017 | The F Word | Himself | "Episode Seven" |
| The Toy Box[14] | 16 episodes | ||
| 2019 | What Just Happened??! with Fred Savage | Episode: "Neighbor" | |
| 2020 | America's Got Talent | Guest Judge (season 15) | |
| Who Wants to Be a Millionaire | Episode: "In The Hot Seat: Eric Stonestreet and Will Forte" | ||
| 2021 | Madagascar: A Little Wild | Harley Horns (voice) | Episode: "A Roar Is Born" |
| 2022 | Domino Masters | Himself | Main role |
| 2023 | American Auto | Ian | 2 episodes |
| The Santa Clauses | Magnus Antas / Mad Santa | Main role (season 2) | |
Music videos
| Year | Song | Artist | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | "Tacky" | Weird Al Yankovic | |
| 2020 | "Stuck with U" | Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber | Cameo [16] |
Specials
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | TSN: The Hangover | Nice Guy Actor Who Got Suckered Into This Movie | Cameo |
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