Laura was born on Saint Patrick’s Day with her fraternal twin, Lynn. They began their acting career at 5 as “Lullaby Kids” in The Wizard Of Oz at Camp Monroe in the Catskills. Laura left her twin behind in her pursuit of acting and found herself working professionally before she hit her teens.
Laura trained at Boston University School of the Arts, Rutgers University and Herbert Berghof Studios where she studied with Uta Hagen, Carol Rosenfeld and Ken McMillan.
Laura appeared on Broadway in SMILE with Jodi Benson (The Little Mermaid). Her off Broadway credits include The Cocktail Hour with Nancy Marchand, Bruce Davison and Keene Curtis, Other People’s Money with Kevin Conway, and Welded directed by Jose’ Quintero. She toured nationally in Showboat (with Pat Harrington and Anita Gillette), Doonesbury (with Greg Edelman and Marin Maisie), Oliver (with Andrea McCardle and Richard Kline) and My Fair Lady (with Jodi Benson and Ian Ogilvy). Her extensive regional credits include the Arena Stage(DC), Huntington Theatre (Boston), Cleveland Playhouse, McCarter Theatre, and the NC Shakespeare Festival in roles that ranged from Lady Macbeth to Miss Hannigan. L.A. credits include 6 plays for the Pasadena Playhouse, Will Geer Botanicum, Westwood Playhouse, Tiffany Theatre, Fountain Theatre, Deaf West and the Celtic Arts Centre. She is a member of the Road Theatre and Rogue Machine.
Some of her TV and film credits include Seal Team, Animal Kingdom, Outcast, The Romanoffs, Criminal Minds, The Gilmore Girls, Castle, Er, Torchwood, The West Wing, Judging Amy, Boston Public, Party Of Five, Law And Order La, La Law, Er, Cheers, Fresh Off The Boat and many morel You may have seen Laura and her actor husband, Frank Collison recurring on the NBC hit, My Name Is Earl.
Laura was on the faculty of the Howard Fine Acting Acting Studio in Hollywood for over 19 years and then at their satellite school in Australia. She has taught actors with disability in Los Angeles and Berkely. Ms. Gardner has taught in NYC at HB Studio, Stella Adler Institute, and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She also taught at the NC School of the Arts, Circle Theatre (Nashville), Palm Beach Community College, and the George Street Playhouse (NJ). In Los Angeles she has taught at Santa Monica College, West Coast Ensemble, and for Women in Theatre. She teaches workshops all over the country as well as in Great Britain. She was the drama consultant for the Compton School District. She has been a Featured Artist at the Last Frontier Theatre Conference in Valdez, Alaska for the last 13 years where she created the Monologue Workshop. http://www.theatreconference.org/other-programs/monologue-workshop/
She lives in Los Angeles with her husband Frank Collison.
More information:
www.lauragardner.org
www.actingwithlaura.com
www.imdb.com/name/nm0307019