Ryan Haywood is a renowned American voice actor, YouTube and Internet personality, web video star, and former employee of Rooster Teeth Productions and Achievement Hunter. He is also a former staff member of Machinima production company Rooster Teeth.
Born on December 6, 1980, in Columbus, Georgia, Ryan Haywood is the youngest of three children, with an older sister, Tanya Edwards, and an older brother, Ryan Edwards.
Before joining Achievement Hunter and Rooster Teeth, Ryan worked as a professional male model in his teenage years. He appeared in Twist magazine and a runway show, where he wore a gnome costume and stood on a mushroom.
Ryan graduated from Georgia Tech University and also attended college in Georgia Southern University. He later studied abroad in England, earning degrees in Theater and Computer Animation.
Ryan joined Rooster Teeth Studios, where he worked alongside Geoff Ramsey, and eventually moved to Austin, Texas. He became one of the most influential gamers after Episode 89 of the Minecraft Let's Play series and earned the title of Mad King.
As a member of the staff, Ryan managed the Rooster Teeth website and Game Fails Channel on YouTube. He was also the technical director and animator for Red vs. Blue Season 10 and helped create Achievement Hunter.
Ryan was one of the main hosts and dominant cast members at Achievement Hunter, starring in Let's Plays, and contributing ideas for games they should play or sequels to video game franchises. He was the third Achievement Hunter member host to be hired and promoted to main host after Geoff Ramsey and Jack Pattillo.
Ryan was also a voice actor for Professor Peter Port in RWBY, Lieutenant John Elizabeth Andersmith in Red vs. Blue, and The Mad King on X-Ray and Vav. He began streaming on Twitch under the channel SortamaliciousGaming in April 2016.
However, on October 7, 2020, Ryan was fired by Rooster Teeth for violating their Code of Conduct due to allegations of grooming underage fans. He was subsequently banned by Twitch on January 20, 2021.
Ryan is married to his high school sweetheart Laurie Higg, a veterinarian, and they have two children and pets.
