Eric Allen Stonestreet 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 . He has appeared in films and telefilms including; Bad Teacher, Identity Thief, The Loft, and Confirmation. He also provides the voice of Duke in The Secret Life of Pets film franchise. He also filled in as a judge on America’s Got Talent in 2020 when Heidi Klum became ill
Early life
Stonestreet was born in Kansas City, Kansas, the son of Jamey Anne, a teacher's aide, and Vincent Anthony "Vince" Stonestreet, who owned a retail business. During his childhood, he wanted to become a clown. 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 plays 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 . 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." 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, winning the award in 2010 and 2012. He also received three Golden Globe Award nominations 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 began starring as the host of the ABC reality 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.
Personal life
Despite his most prominent role being a gay character, Stonestreet is heterosexual and has lightheartedly described himself as "openly straight". His gay co-star, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who plays Stonestreet's character's husband Mitchell Pritchett, jokingly called Stonestreet "gay-for-pay". Stonestreet is a supporter of the LGBT community; he declined to be photographed with Rick Santorum, an opponent of same-sex marriage. Stonestreet enjoys attending sporting events 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 American baseball team the Kansas City Royals.
