Stehlin's Australian prize fighter great-grandfather turned his ten children into a traveling circus act that joined P. T. Barnum and later the Ringling Brothers in the early 20th century.
[citation needed] Stehlin attended the University of South Carolina, initially intending to play college baseball, but he became interested in acting after taking a class on it.
He subsequently left the university and moved to New York City, where he attended Juilliard School's drama division as a member of Group 11 (1978–1982).
The company's first performance was Chekov’s Uncle Vanya in which Stehlin starred opposite Kevin Spacey and Tom Hewitt.
The theatre company has produced over 50 plays in New York City and Los Angeles, including The Misanthrope, Macbeth, Hamlet, Richard III, True West, The Cheats of Scapin, and others.