Ryan was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to a working-class family as the youngest of four children. His father Jeremy Ryan worked at a local factory. While attending public school in Scranton, Ryan worked at a tobacco shop and then at a local newspaper, The Republican. He stayed with ad and news agencies until 1908, when he moved to New York to study medicine at Fordham University. After graduating in 1912 he practiced at Saint Vincent's and Brooklyn County hospitals.
