Ryan Stiles

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ryan Stiles

Birth name	Ryan Lee Stiles
Born	April 22, 1959 (age 47) Seattle, Washington, United States
Notable roles	Lewis Kiniski The Drew Carey Show Himself Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Ryan Lee Stiles (born April 22, 1959) is an Emmy-nominated Canadian-American actor and improvisational comedian, whose work is associated with Drew Carey.

1 Early life and career
2 Stiles' work with Drew Carey
3 Notable appearances
4 Trivia
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Early life and career

Ryan Stiles was born in Seattle, Washington, the youngest of five children. 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. In 1986, Stiles auditioned for and got a stint with 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 as well.

[edit] Stiles' work with Drew Carey

In 1995, Stiles was tapped by American comic Drew Carey to be a regular on his sitcom, The Drew Carey Show, in which he played Drew's smart but underachieving best friend, Lewis Kiniski. 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. Stiles did several impressions for the program, most notably Carol Channing and John Wayne.

In 2002, Stiles and Sean Masterson finished work on a screenplay, Live Bait, which is reportedly in production.^[1]

[edit] Notable appearances

Stiles has appeared in the movies Hot Shots! and Hot Shots! Part Deux (playing different roles). He also appeared in the Academy Award-nominated short, "Rainbow War". On the TV screen, he has appeared as a guest star in several TV-series such as Mad About You, Parker Lewis Can't Lose, and Dharma & Greg. He currently has a recurring role on Two and a Half Men as Judith's (Marin Hinkle) fiance. He has also appeared in commercials for Slim Jim, Pizza Hut, Lotto 6-49, FedEx Kinko's, and Progressive Auto Insurance.

In 2004, Stiles appeared on the pilot filming of Drew Carey's Green Screen Show but unfortunately his one filming was never aired during the run of the short-lived 12 episode series.

In 2005, he appeared in the Conker: Live & Reloaded videogame's promotional mockumentary.

[edit] Trivia

Because of his large shoe size, Stiles reportedly has trouble finding shoes that fit him. He often gets custom-made shoes by George Esquivel.^{[citation needed]} Jokes pertaining to Stiles' shoes on Whose Line are quite common.
In one episode of Whose Line Is It Anyway?, he accidentally broke the decorative neon light on Drew Carey's desk by slamming it with his head whilst doing an impression of Carol Channing whose head kept getting stuck to things. ^[2]
Frequently uses the alias Lyle Moon on Whose Line and Improv All-Stars.
He once lived in a house previously owned by Liberace in Sherman Oaks, California. He sold the house upon moving to Bellingham, Washington.^[3]
He is renown for mentioning "penis" in a lot of Hoedowns in "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"
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. In the Season 1 DVD special features, one gag reel shows Ryan singing that if he has to perform one more hoedown, he'll "slit [his] fucking wrists," and during an episode that aired (aired as ep419 but filmed as ep411), he became totally lost for a verse, sitting down and telling Drew when his turn came that he was 'tapped out'. This resulted in Carey standing behind Ryan, and singing Stiles' part for him.
He stands 6'6".
He is a diabetic, and yet in the Whose Line game "Helping Hands" has been forced to eat many foods he shouldn't. He usually spits the food back into Colin Mochrie's hands.
He was photographed for life-size stand-ups displayed at Kinko's stores. His name tag said "Kenny", though, as that was the name he introduced himself as in his commercials with Kinko's.
Despite being born in Seattle, he commonly says in the Whose Line game Greatest Hits that he is from Saskatchewan.
He is best friends with fellow improv comedian Colin Mochrie
In 1989, Stiles married Pat McDonald and they now have three children (Sam, Mackenzie and Claire). When not working in Hollywood, he lives at his home in Bellingham, Washington, where he has opened the Upfront Theatre, a small theatre dedicated to live improv comedy.^[4]