Eric Stonestreet

Eric Stonestreet was born on September 9, 1971 in Kansas City, Kansas, the son of teacher’s aide Jamey Anne (née Ball) and retail businessman Vincent Stonestreet. He grew up on a pig farm and developed a fascination with performance, creating a clown persona named Fizbo by the age of eleven and booking birthday parties for local children. After attending Piper High School, he earned a sociology degree from Kansas State University in 1996, where he also joined the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and made his stage debut in Prelude to a Kiss. He honed his improvisational skills at Chicago’s ImprovOlympic and The Second City Training Center before relocating to Los Angeles to launch his professional acting career. Early screen work included a desk‑clerk cameo in Almost Famous and guest spots on series such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and The West Wing, establishing him as a versatile character actor.