Ryan Hadison Cooley (born May 18, 1988) is a Canadian television actor from Ontario, best known for his role as J.T. Yorke on Degrassi: The Next Generation. He's from Orangeville, Ontario and graduated from Orangeville District Secondary School in 2006. He is currently a student at The University of Toronto.
Prior to joining the Degrassi cast, he had a two-year run as Pleskit, the alien lead in the television series I Was A Sixth Grade Alien. Cooley's other television credits include the series, Are You Afraid Of The Dark?, Queer as Folk, Lexx: The Series" and Life with Derek. He has also appeared in the features Sachsenhausen 1944, Toy Men Disney Channel movie The Color of Friendship, the Animal Planet movie Cybermutt and CBC TV movie Happy Christmas Miss King alongside his Degrassi co-star Lauren Collins. In 2006, Cooley was nominated for a Young Artist Award (LA) the category of Best Performance In a TV Comedy Series.
Ryan enjoys James Bond movies and basketball. He hopes to continue in the entertainment business once he graduates from the University of Toronto where he is working on his third year toward a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre.
His father, Charlie Cooley, is a drummer for the Canadian Idol winner Kalan Porter. His father used to be in the band Prairie Oyster. Ryan listens to old Rat Pack type music, such as Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Sammy Davis Jr.
