Heidi Gardner

Heidi Lynn Gardner (born July 27, 1983) is an American actress, comedian, and writer.

Gardner graduated from the all-girls Catholic high school Notre Dame de Sion in 2001.

In her senior year, she was voted by her classmates as "Most likely to be a cast member of Saturday Night Live".

Upon graduation, Gardner followed in the footsteps of a friend and enrolled at the University of Kansas for two years, before transferring to the University of Missouri for a semester.

Although she became uninterested in school and often skipped classes, Gardner discovered a fondness for haircutting.

At the age of 21, Gardner dropped out of college and left Missouri to move to Los Angeles, where she worked at a hair salon for nine years.

Prior to the move, she saved up $600 over one summer.

She was encouraged by a friend to attend a performance at The Groundlings theatre, where she became inspired to become an actress.

Due to a lack of acting experience, Gardner enrolled in community workshops to learn the basics of improvising.

Once she was comfortable, Gardner auditioned into the Groundlings basic class and was accepted.

They were married from 2010 to 2023.

Film

Television

Web

Audio

Web

In 2014, Gardner joined the Sunday Company, and a year later, after a promotion to the Main Company, she quit her job as a hairstylist to focus on acting.

During that time, she became a voice actress, regularly appearing on animated series such as Bratz, SuperMansion, and Mike Tyson Mysteries.

Gardner has been a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live since season 43 in 2017, when she debuted as a featured player.

In 2017, Gardner joined the cast of Saturday Night Live (SNL) along with Luke Null and Chris Redd for its forty-third season.

Following her first year on SNL, Gardner was hired to play the supporting role of Leonor in the Ben Falcone-directed film Life of the Party, alongside Melissa McCarthy.

She was promoted to repertory status on the show in 2019.

Gardner was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri.

She grew up with an older brother, Justin.

Growing up, Gardner worked part-time at the Tivoli Theater, where she did everything "from selling tickets to making popcorn".

She later credited the theater as "setting the tone in her life".

Gardner was not interested in acting as a child, only performing on stage as a flutist for the school band and doing comedy sketches in school talent shows.

On August 28, 2019, TVLine reported that Gardner would have a guest role on the NBC comedy series Superstore playing Dina Fox's nemesis Colleen who is transferred to Store 1217 after Cloud 9's Bel-Ridge location gets shut down.

In 2019, Gardner made her stage debut in Michael Frayn's Noises Off at The Cape Playhouse in Dennis, Massachusetts.

Gardner is a fan of both the Kansas City Chiefs and the Kansas City Royals.

She was formerly married to Marvel Comics writer Zeb Wells, whom she met while she was a member of the Groundlings.