Born in Bronxville, New York to an Episcopal minister and a child psychologist, Stirling Gardner was doomed to be an actor. Although raised near a remote Amish community in rural Maryland, he managed to excel in school. Stirling quickly outgrew performing "L'il Abner" in the school's newly raised barn (not a joke), and moved on to community theater.

Winning a scholarship to study economics at the University of Richmond, Stirling chose Virginia over his warm Amish womb. To the horror of his Sigma Chi Brothers, Stirling shifted his focus to include the performing arts where he became an Irene Ryan Award Finalist. Upon graduation, Stirling fled to Los Angeles in an attempt to evade his fraternity brothers who still consider him a traitor for bringing up their grade point average. "Dude, a 3.7? What the f*ck!?"

Several years later, Stirling's mom is proud to see her son in commercials for: American Express, GE, IBM, Hallmark, Sony (all five directed by Cleo Award winning director Joe Pytka), Miller Genuine Draft, the Aluminum Association, Drugstore.com, Cheer, Degree, Hollywood Video, Jeep, Marshall Fields, and a dozen others including a campaign for the cell phone company U.S Cellular.

This commercial success afforded Stirling the time and resources necessary to write, produce and star in his first short film "Opposite Sex & the City". A male tribute and parody of the successful HBO series. Within it's frist three weeks, it was ranked #1 MOST POPULAR and #1 HIGHEST RATED COMEDY on IFilm.com where over 185,000 people have viewed it to date. It has been shown at The Los Angeles Short Film Festival, The Giggle Shorts International Film Festival and 6 others. It can also be found on the web at Hollywood.com's Indie Film Section and BThere.tv.

Stirling parlayed his short-film into landing lead roles in two feature films. "Black Days", a dark comedy film noir recently won Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography at the Guerrilla Filmmakers Film Festival held at the prestigious Tribeca Center in New York City. This film has won countless critical praise and numerous awards at the following festivals: Slamdance, Athens International Film Festival as well as the Newport Beach and San Diego Film Festivals.

Stirling can also be seen on the indie circuit in the feature film "Hungry Hearts" opposite veteran star, Susan Blakely. This film was completed in February 2002 and screened at the Hollywood Film Festival. Stirling won the Martin Landau Award for Acting Excellence from the California Independent Film Festival where "Hungry Hearts" swept in 5 categories. "Hungry Hearts" has been accepted to 10 domestic festivals and five international festivals as of January 2004.

Stirling's biggest achievement to date is his one-man show "The Samsonite Luv Monkey". Stirling wrote and acts this comedic commentary on relationships, dating and the impact of "baggage" in the 20 something years. "The Samsonite Luv Monkey" (dubbed "The Penis Monologues" by LA Weekly) has been called "edgy, poignant and first rate", a blend of "Chris Rock meets Spaulding Grey", and "an anthem for our generation." Backstage West calls the show, "A comedic tour de farce!" Critical and commercial success are two of the reasons Stirling was invited to perform at the prestigious HBO/Warner Bros. Workspace a total of 11 times- more than any other one person show in the history of the Workspace. You can view this show and find out more information at his official website www.StirlingGardner.com.

Stirling most recently produced his first feature film "The Enigma With A Stigma". It is a mockumentary in the vain of "Waiting for Guffman" and "Best In Show". The films plot is being kept secret, but he can tell you that all of the comic actors involved in the project are really fucking funny. Look for this film to get distribution in the summer of 2004.

Stirling's second feature is currently in pre production.