Who is Tyler Mane?
Tyler Mane was born as Daryl Karolat, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, on 8 December 1966 – his zodiac sign is Sagittarius, and he holds Canadian nationality. He’s an actor and a former professional wrestler, who has appeared in over 50 movies and TV series, while he’s perhaps still known best for his portrayal of Sabretooth in the critically acclaimed 2000 action science fiction adventure movie “X-Men”, written and directed by Bryan Singer, and which starred Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman and Ian McKellen. It follows the pacifist humans with superpowers who call themselves X-Men, as they’re fighting against the supremacist humans with superpowers known as Brotherhood; the movie won 13 of the 39 awards for which it was nominated.
Early life and education
Tyler was raised in Saskatoon by his father Harry Karolat and mother Evelyn Jessie; not a lot is known about them, because Tyler respects their privacy, nor has he spoke of siblings, and is thus believed to be an only child.
He studied at City Park Collegiate Institute (high school), which is today called City Park School; Tyler was mostly interested in wrestling during his four years there, although he had appeared in several theatre plays. He was highly sporting, as he played soccer and basketball (besides wrestling, which was his favorite), and upon matriculating in 1984, Tyler didn’t enroll at college, but chose to focus on becoming a professional wrestler.
Career as a wrestler
His first wrestling coach was the late Canadian wrestler and promoter Stewart Edward ‘Stu’ Hart, then from 1986 Tyler was coached by the late American professional wrestler Rolland ‘Red’ Bastien, and the retired Mexican-American wrestler Armando Guerrero ‘Mando’ Llanes.
He chose ‘Skywalker Nitron’ as his stage name, and changed it to ‘Skyhigh Lee’ in 1987; the same year saw him wrestle in Canada, the US and South Africa, and then in November Tyler wrestled in the UK. In 1988, he wrestled as ‘Gully Gaspar’ for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and then joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW).
In 1990, he competed in Puerto Rico, as well as in All Japan Pro Wrestling and Consejo Mundial de Luncha Libre (Mexico).
Tyler signed a contract with WCW in 1993 under the moniker ‘Big Sky’, but quit before the year had ended, and in 1994 began competing in Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF), and stayed until the Federation dissolved in 1996, when Tyler officially retired from wrestling.
Roles in TV series
Tyler made his debut TV series appearance in a 1989 episode of the sports action drama “WCW Worldwide”, but only gained recognition 10 years later, when cast to play Mr. Mayhem in the episode “Wrestling Demons” of the family drama “Party of Five”, created by Amy Lippmann and Christopher Keyser, and which starred Matthew Fox, Scott Wolf and Neve Campbell.
The series follows five siblings whose parents have just died, it aired from 1994 to 2000, and won seven of the 44 awards for which it was nominated, including a Primetime Emmy nomination.
The 2000s saw Tyler make a guest appearance in an episode or two of various series, such as the comedy “Son of the Beach”, the adventure fantasy mini-series “Hercules”, and the crime comedy drama “Monk”. In 2006, we saw him play Doorman in the episode “Take One for the Team” of the romantic comedy “My Boys”, created by Betsy Thomas, and which starred Jordana Spiro, Kyle Howard and Reid Scott. It follows a female sports journalist who’s living in Chicago, and her rivalry with another journalist; the series aired from 2006 to 2010, and was nominated for two awards.
In 2011 and 2012, Tyler played the villain Jeremiah ‘Chopper’ Carver in the horror “Chopper”, and the following years saw him make a guest appearance in an episode of several popular series, such as the action adventure comedy “The Librarians”, the fantasy mystery drama “Midnight, Texas”, and the fantasy “Half Untold”.
His most recent role has been his portrayal of Dr. Bendal, aka Blackstar, in the 2021 action adventure drama “Jupiter’s Legacy”, created by Steven S. DeKnight, and which starred Josh Duhamel, Ben Daniels and Leslie Bibb. It follows children whose parents were superheroes, and who are now following in their footsteps; the series won a ReFrame Stamp for IMDbPro Top 200 Most Popular TV Titles 2020-2021.
Tyler’s currently shooting for the upcoming episode “Veritatis” of the adventure fantasy drama “Knight’s End”.
Roles in movies
Tyler made his debut film appearance in the 1992 action science fiction adventure “Starfighters”, while a couple of his first notable performances were in the 1994 comedy “Bandit: Bandit Goes Country”, the 2001 adventure comedy drama “Joe Dirt”, and the 2002 action fantasy adventure “The Scorpion King”.
In 2004, we saw Tyler portray Ajax, in the historical drama “Troy”, directed by Wolfgang Petersen, and which starred Brad Pitt, Eric Bana and Orlando Bloom. Based on Homer’s poem “The Illiad”, the movie follows the united Greek forces’ attack on Troy, and won five of the 29 awards for which it was nominated, including an Oscar nomination. Some of Tyler’s other memorable roles in the 2000s were in the 2006 western crime horror “The Devil’s Rejects”, the 2007 horror “Halloween”, and its 2009 sequel “Halloween II”.
In 2017, he was cast to play Bernard in the action horror comedy “Victor Crowley”, written and directed by Adam Green, and which starred Parry Shen, Kane Hodder and Laura Ortiz. It follows Victor Crowley who has been raised from the dead, and has begun killing again; the movie won four of the five awards for which it was nominated.
Three of Tyler’s most recent roles in movies have been in the horrors “Bring Me a Dream”, “Penance Lane” and “Entrenchment”, all released in 2020; he’s currently shooting for four upcoming movies, including the horror “Psychosis”, and the short western “Dead North”.
Other credits
He voiced Sabretooth in the 2006 video game “X-Men: The Official Game”.
Tyler can be seen featured in numerous documentaries, including the 2000 series “HBO First Look”, the 2003 video “X-Men Production Scrapbook”, and the 2012 short film “You Can’t Kill the Bogeyman”.
He’s received special thanks for the 2011 drama film “Mamitas”, the 2014 short horror film “Halloween: The Babysitter Murders”, and the 2018 episode “X-Men” of the mini-series “X-Men Mondays”.
Tyler has one writing and four producing credits (all movies); in 2014, he wrote and produced the horror thriller “Compound Fracture”, and his other three producing credits are the 2017 action war thriller “Check Point”, the 2020 horror “Penance Lane”, and the action horror thriller “The Horror Show”, which is set to be released by the end of 2021.
He has made a guest appearance in numerous talk-shows, such as “V. I. P.”, “Up Close with Carrie Keagan” and “Icon News”.
Awards and nominations
In 2020, Tyler was nominated for an Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema Grand Jury Award for Best Actor Feature Film, for his performance in “Bring Me a Dream”.
Wife and children
Tyler has married twice. On 19 September 1988, he exchanged vows with the non-celebrity Canadian girl Jean Goertz, after the two had been in a relationship for nearly three years.
Jean gave birth to their two children, but nothing is known about them, including their dates of birth, because Jean and Tyler prefer to keep them away from the media’s attention, so that the children could lead normal lives. Tyler and Jean’s divorce was finalized on 21 August 2003 – no reasons were made public.
On 3 September 2007 Tyler married Renae Geerlings, an American actress, film writer and producer. She’s been credited with appearing in 15 movies and TV series, while she’s perhaps still known best for her portrayal of Deputy Gwynne, in the 2009 horror film “Halloween II”.
As of October 2021, Tyler’s married to his second wife Renae Geerlings, and has two children with his first wife Jean Goertz.
Hobbies and other interests
Tyler’s still physically active; he had six training sessions every week during his 20s and 30s, while today he has two to three training sessions a week.
WHOOPS first one sold out! They’ve added a second tour! @WaverlyHills https://t.co/IqOwu24xma
— TYLER MANE (@TYLER_MANE) August 27, 2021
He has been passionate about travelling since he became a professional wrestler, and Tyler has been to numerous US states, as well as to various European, African and Asian countries; his dream travel destination is Miami in Florida.
He’s a huge dog-lover, and his pet dog Biscuit can be seen featured in many of his Instagram pictures.
Tyler likes to drink alcohol, and prefers Irish whiskey over all other drinks.
He has his own favorite actors and actresses, some of whom are Vin Diesel, Angelina Jolie and Julia Roberts, and a couple of his favorite movies are the franchise “Fast and Furious”, “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life” and “The Runaway Bride”.
Age, height and net worth
Tyler’s age is 54. He’s bald, and has brown eyes and brown beard; his height is 6ft 8ins (2.03m) and he weighs around 216lbs (98kgs).
As of October 2021, his net worth has been estimated at over $2 million.
