Ryan Keely was born as Maria Menendez on July 2, 1984 in Washington State, she has described her ethnicity as Cuban. A trained actress and artistic model, Keely studied theater as a kid. Ryan started out in the adult industry at age 18: She not only worked as a porn shop employee, a buyer for two major companies, a production assistant, a production manager, adult film columnist and reviewer, and she also had her own radio show for about two years. Keely began performing in explicit hardcore movies in 2006, but only in solo and girl/girl scenes. She was the Penthouse Pet of the Month in October of 2009 and was runners-up to Nikki Benz for Penthouse Pet of the Year in March of 2011. In 2012, she decided to take a break from performing to host Jukeboxx Live on Playboy TV. She returned to full-time performing in 2017, and began to perform sex scenes with men on camera as well. She has been nominated for AVN awards in 2012-2013, 2019, 2021-2022, and won the AVN award for best mainstream venture in 2025 for her work in an Eminem music video.