Heidi Gardner

Heidi Gardner, born on July 27, 1983, in Kansas City, Missouri, started her career journey working part-time at the Tivoli Theater, an experience she later credited with shaping her life. Though not initially interested in acting, she participated in school talent show comedy sketches and played flute in the band. She graduated from Notre Dame de Sion, an all-girls Catholic high school, in 2001, where her classmates voted her “most likely to be a cast member of Saturday Night Live.”

After high school, Gardner attended the University of Kansas and then the University of Missouri for a semester. At 21, she left college and moved to Los Angeles, working as a hairstylist for nine years. A friend’s suggestion led her to a performance at The Groundlings theater, sparking her interest in acting. She enrolled in community improvisation workshops and was later accepted into The Groundlings’ basic class. By 2014, she joined the Sunday Company and was promoted to the Main Company a year later, at which point she left her hairstyling career to focus on acting. During this period, she also began voice acting for animated series including “Bratz,” “SuperMansion,” and “Mike Tyson Mysteries.”

In 2017, Gardner joined “Saturday Night Live” as a featured player for its forty-third season, alongside Luke Null and Chris Redd. Her comedic talent quickly became evident, leading to her promotion to repertory status on the show in 2019. During her time on “SNL,” she developed several recurring characters, showcasing her versatility. She also expanded her acting career into film, appearing in “Life of the Party” (2018) and “Hustle” (2022), and lent her voice to animated films like “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” (2022). Gardner departed from “SNL” in 2025 after eight seasons.