Biography

Early life and career

Ryan Lee Stiles (born April 22nd, 1959) is an Emmy-nominated American-Canadian actor and comedian, whose work is often associated with improvisational comedy, and is best known for his work on Whose Line Is It Anyway? and The Drew Carey Show.

Stiles was born in Seattle, Washington, the youngest of five children. His father, Sonny, was a fishing plant supervisor. When he was ten, his Canadian-born parents moved the family to Richmond, British Columbia. At the age of seventeen, he dropped out of high school to pursue a career in comedy. He worked in his father's fish-processing plant to earn a living while doing stand-up in Vancouver-area nightclubs and performing improv with Vancouver TheatreSports League. In 1986, Stiles successfully auditioned for a berth at Toronto's renowned Second City comedy ensemble. By 1990, he had gained the attention of the producers of the British improvisational comedy show, Whose Line Is It Anyway?. Stiles was a regular on the show until 1998, and the show's short production season allowed him to make numerous television and motion picture appearances in the United States.

Work with Drew Carey

In 1995, Ryan Stiles was tapped by American comic Drew Carey to be a regular on his sitcom, The Drew Carey Show. Ryan Stiles played Drew's smart but underachieving best friend, Lewis Kiniski. Ryan Stiles' first line in the pilot episode of the The Drew Carey Show, "And that's why the French don't wash," is a line he'd previously used in an episode of the British version of Whose Line Is It Anyway?. Ryan Stiles and Carey continued work on the comedy even as they brought Whose Line Is It Anyway? to American television, with Carey as the new host. Both men appeared weekly on the program and were its executive producers. Ryan Stiles did several impressions for the program, most notably Carol Channing and John Wayne as well as frequently showcasing his 'mastery of dialects'. He passionately despises singing in the Hoedown segment of Whose Line, to the point that he often ad-libs various insults at the expense of hosts Clive Anderson or Drew Carey during the segment, or at the hoedown itself.

Personal life

In 1979, Stiles met Patricia McDonald in a comedy club in which she was waitressing. They lived together for 10 years before marrying in 1989. They have three children (Sam, Mackenzie and Claire). When not working in Hollywood, he lives at his home outside Bellingham, Washington, where he has opened the Upfront Theatre, a small theatre dedicated to live improv comedy.

He was rumored to be a diabetic, as he occasionally played on this idea on WLIIA, although on the April 7, 2007 episode of Outlaw Radio, he laughed at and denied the rumor. He also denied it in several interviews of that year, including one with the Eugene, OR Register-Guard and one with the Idaho Statesman. Stiles reportedly has trouble finding shoes that fit him because of his very large shoe size, 15. He often has shoes custom-made for him by George Esquivel. Jokes pertaining to Stiles' shoes on Whose Line Is It Anyway? were quite common.

Stiles once lived in a house previously owned by Liberace in Sherman Oaks, California, but sold the house several years ago.

Ryan's best friend is his fellow comedian, Colin Mochrie. According to Mochrie, one reason Stiles doesn't tour with Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood is that Stiles suffers from aerophobia.

Other appearances

Stiles has a new ad campaign for Playskool, talking to playful toddlers in a manner as if they were adults. For example: "Where do you see yourself in eighteen months?"

Ryan appeared in the 1991 film Hot Shots as Mailman Farnham, but dies about four minutes into the movie. He also stars in the 1993 comedy Hot Shots: Part Deux, as marine Rabinowitz. In the film, he is heard to say to Charlie Sheen's character, Topper Harley:

Know what I'm gonna do if we make it? I'm gonna go back to Eagle River and marry my gal, Edith Mae. Gonna get us a nice little place with a white picket fence. You know the kind. Two-car garage. Maybe a fishing boat. And in 15 years, when they're all paid for... I'll set my charges and blow the shit out of them.