Ryan Lee Stiles (born April 22, 1959) is an American-Canadian comedian and actor. His work is often associated with
improvisational comedy
Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv or impro in British English, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted, created spontaneously by the performers. In its ...
. He is best known for his work on ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' (both the
original British version and the
subsequent American version) and for his role as
Lewis Kiniski on ''
The Drew Carey Show
''The Drew Carey Show'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from September 13, 1995, to September 8, 2004. Set in Cleveland, Ohio, the series revolved around the retail office and home life of "everyman" Drew Carey, a fictionaliz ...
''. He also played
Herb Melnick on the
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
comedy ''
Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn that aired on CBS for 12 seasons from September 22, 2003, to February 19, 2015. The series originally starred Charlie Sheen as Charlie Harper, a hedonis ...
'' and was a performer on the show ''
Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza
''Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza'' is an American improvisational comedy television program that aired in the United States on the Game Show Network (GSN). Produced at the Hollywood Theatre at the MGM Grand in Paradise, Nevada, the series was hos ...
''.
Early life and career
The youngest of five children, Ryan Stiles was born in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
to Canadian parents Irene and Sonny Stiles.
He grew up with his mother, a homemaker, and his father, a supervisor at a Vancouver-based Canadian
fish processing
The term fish processing refers to the processes associated with fish and fish products between the time fish are caught or harvested, and the time the final product is delivered to the customer. Although the term refers specifically to fish, in ...
plant. When he was ten, his family moved to
Vancouver, British Columbia
Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
. Ryan Stiles attended
R.C. Palmer Junior Secondary School and Richmond Senior Secondary in
Richmond, British Columbia
Richmond is a city in the coastal Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Mainly a suburban city, it occupies almost the entirety of Lulu Island (excluding Queensborough, New Westminster, Queensborough), between the two estuarine dis ...
. Although he was a good student, Stiles has admitted that "being a high-school senior gave
imtoo much freedom." He got so carried away with his flexible schedule that at age 17, he quit school a few months shy of graduation.
Despite his parents' objections, he was able to support himself doing
stand-up
Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage (theatre), stage and delivers humour, humorous and satire, satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical comedy, physical acts. These ...
routines at clubs near his home in Vancouver. He frequently performed at
strip club
A strip club (also known as a strip joint, striptease bar, peeler bar, gentlemen's club, among others) is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease and other erotic dances including lap dances. St ...
s early in his career. He helped Rich Elwood start Punchlines Comedy Club. During this time, he was the head writer of ''
The Don Harron Show'' on
CTV and the host of ''Comedy College'' on
CBC CBC may refer to:
Media
* Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico
* Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster
** CBC Television
** CBC Radio One
** CBC Music
** ...
. Stiles was a regular improv performer with the Vancouver Theatresports League and Punchlines' "No Name Player" before joining the
Second City comedy ensemble at
Expo 86
The 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication, or simply Expo 86, was a world's fair held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from May 2 until October 13, 1986. The fair, the theme of which was "Transportation and Communicatio ...
. He continued performing with Second City in
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
and later in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
.
Career
''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' and ''The Drew Carey Show''
By 1989, Stiles had gained the attention of the producers of the British improvisational comedy show ''
Whose Line Is It Anyway?
''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' is a short-form improvisational comedy show created by Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson. The three major versions of the show are the original 1988 British radio programme (from which all subsequent versions are ada ...
'' Stiles was a regular on the show until its end in 1998. His performance on the program earned him both critical praise and a devoted fan following in the United Kingdom. In 1995, Stiles was asked by American comic
Drew Carey
Drew Allison Carey (born May 23, 1958) is an American comedian, actor and game show host. After serving in the United States Marine Corps, U.S. Marine Corps and making a name for himself in stand-up comedy, Carey gained stardom in his own Situa ...
to be a regular on his sitcom ''
The Drew Carey Show
''The Drew Carey Show'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from September 13, 1995, to September 8, 2004. Set in Cleveland, Ohio, the series revolved around the retail office and home life of "everyman" Drew Carey, a fictionaliz ...
''. Stiles played Carey's erudite but underachieving best friend, Lewis Kiniski.
In 1998, Carey successfully lobbied ABC to produce an
American version of ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' Following the final season of the British version in 1998, the American version premiered, with both Stiles and Carey credited as executive producers. Stiles received a nomination for the
in 2002 for his work on the show. A running gag of the show is Stiles' flashy dress shoes as well as his frequent impressions of American actress
Carol Channing
Carol Elaine Channing (January 31, 1921 – January 15, 2019) was an American actress, comedian, singer and dancer who starred in Broadway and film musicals. Each of her characters typically possessed a fervent expressiveness and an easily ide ...
.
Though he never appeared in the series, Stiles (along with
Kaitlin Olson
Kaitlin Willow Olson McElhenney (born August 18, 1975) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for her role as Deandra "Sweet Dee" Reynolds in the FX comedy series ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' (2005–present). She curr ...
) performed in the taping of the unaired pilot episode of ''
Drew Carey's Green Screen Show
''Drew Carey's Green Screen Show'' is an American improvisational comedy television series that aired in the fall of 2004 on The WB, and the fall of 2005 on Comedy Central. The show was hosted by Drew Carey, and was somewhat a follow-up to the s ...
'', which involved improv games similar to ''Whose Line?'' games played in front of a massive
green screen
Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two or more images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fie ...
. Animation was later added to the improv footage.
Stiles returned as performer and executive producer for
The CW
The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...
's revival of ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' in the summer of 2013.
Other television and film work
Stiles appeared in the 1991 film ''
Hot Shots!
''Hot Shots!'' is a 1991 American comedy film directed by Jim Abrahams, co-writer and co-director of ''Airplane!'', and written by Abrahams and Pat Proft. It stars Charlie Sheen, Cary Elwes, Valeria Golino, Lloyd Bridges, Jon Cryer, Kevin ...
'' as Mailman Farnham and its 1993 sequel, ''
Hot Shots! Part Deux
''Hot Shots! Part Deux'' is a 1993 American parody film directed by Jim Abrahams and written by Abrahams and Pat Proft. It stars Charlie Sheen, Lloyd Bridges, Valeria Golino, Richard Crenna, Brenda Bakke, Miguel Ferrer, Rowan Atkinson, a ...
'', as marine Rabinowitz. He portrayed recurring character Dr. Herb Melnick on ''
Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn that aired on CBS for 12 seasons from September 22, 2003, to February 19, 2015. The series originally starred Charlie Sheen as Charlie Harper, a hedonis ...
'' from 2004 until the show's end in 2015. He made short guest appearances on ''
Parker Lewis Can't Lose'', ''
Murphy Brown
''Murphy Brown'' is an American television sitcom created by Diane English that premiered on November 14, 1988, on CBS. The series stars Candice Bergen as the eponymous Murphy Brown, a famous investigative journalist and news presenter, news anch ...
'', ''
Mad About You
''Mad About You'' is an American television sitcom starring Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt as a married couple in New York City as they navigate life together. In later seasons, the couple has a daughter.
It initially aired on NBC from September 2 ...
'', ''
Mad TV
''Mad TV'' (stylized as ''MADtv'') is an American sketch comedy television series created by David Salzman, Fax Bahr, and Adam Small. Loosely based on the humor magazine '' Mad'', ''Mad TVs pre-taped satirical sketches were primarily parodie ...
'', and ''
Dharma & Greg
''Dharma & Greg'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on ABC for five seasons from September 24, 1997, to April 30, 2002, with a total of 119 episodes.
The show starred Jenna Elfman and Thomas Gibson as Dharma and Greg Mont ...
''. In July 2008, he was a guest star on ''
Reno 911!
''Reno 911!'' is an American television sitcom created by Robert Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon and Kerri Kenney-Silver for Comedy Central. It is a mockumentary-style parody of law enforcement documentary shows, specifically '' Cops'', with comic ...
'' as Sergeant Clift, an acting coach.
During the
1994 Major League Baseball strike
The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations.
In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitting ...
, Stiles appeared in several commercials for
Nike
Nike often refers to:
* Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment
* Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory
Nike may also refer to:
People
* Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...
, hanging out in an empty ballpark, doing things such as playing the organ and attempting to do the wave alone. The commercials ended with the line: "Play ball. Please."
In 2005, Stiles appeared in the
mockumentary
A mockumentary (a portmanteau of ''mock'' and ''documentary'') is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events, but presented as a Documentary film, documentary. Mockumentaries are often used to analyze or comment on current event ...
''Conker: Celebrity Squirrel'' produced for the promotion of the
Xbox
Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...
video game ''
Conker: Live & Reloaded.'' This role led to gamers voting to induct him into the 2015 class of the DK Vine Hall of Fame.
Philanthropy
Stiles has been a frequent fundraiser for children with burn injuries, raising over $500,000 for the Burned Children Recovery Center since 2009 and helping the foundation to recover from the
Great Recession
The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009. .
Personal life
In 1981, Stiles met Patricia McDonald at Punchlines, where she was a waitress. They married in 1988 and have three children together.
When not working, he lives at his home on
Lake Samish, outside
Bellingham, Washington
Bellingham ( ) is the county seat of Whatcom County, Washington, Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It lies south of the Canada–United States border, U.S.–Canada border, between Vancouver, British Columbia, ...
, where he opened the Upfront Theatre, a small theatre dedicated to live
improv comedy
Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv or impro in British English, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted, created spontaneously by the performers. In its ...
.
Filmography
Film
Television
Commercials
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stiles, Ryan
1959 births
Living people
20th-century American comedians
20th-century American male actors
20th-century Canadian comedians
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American male actors
21st-century Canadian comedians
American expatriates in Canada
American impressionists (entertainers)
American male comedians
American male film actors
American male television actors
American stand-up comedians
American male voice actors
Canadian impressionists (entertainers)
Canadian male comedians
Canadian male voice actors
Canadian stand-up comedians
Comedians from Vancouver
Male actors from Vancouver
People from Richmond, British Columbia
Comedians from Seattle