He is best known for portraying Cameron Tucker in the ABC sitcom Modern Family (2009–2020), for which he received two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series out of three nominations.

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.

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.

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.

[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.

[22] His Modern Family co-star and onscreen husband Jesse Tyler Ferguson (who is gay in real life) jokingly called him "gay-for-pay".

[27] He often attends football games at his alma mater, Kansas State University, and stays active with several organizations there.