Early life

Hyneman was born in Marshall, Michigan, and raised in Columbus, Indiana. Describing his early life, Hyneman said "I was a problematic kid, to be sure. I left home when I was 14 and hitchhiked all over the country."

He earned a degree in Russian linguistics from Indiana University. He also received an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree from Villanova University. On November 25, 2011, Hyneman was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Twente (Enschede, Netherlands) for his role in the popularization of science and technology.

Career

Hyneman has worked as a certified dive master, wilderness survival expert, boat captain, linguist, pet shop owner, animal wrangler, machinist, concrete inspector, and chef.

Special effects work

Much of the experience Hyneman uses on MythBusters comes from his time in the visual and special effects professions. Hyneman first broke into the effects industry in the mid 80s as an uncredited special effects crew member on Top Gun. From there, Hyneman spent time as an animatronics technician for films such as Naked Lunch and Flubber, as well as work on the second and third installments of the Matrix Trilogy.

Hyneman owns his own special effects company, M5 Industries, located in San Francisco.

Some of his achievements in commercials include the can-spitting vending machine seen in 7 Up commercials, and his patented two-wheeled football shoe from Nike Lab commercials.

MythBusters

See also: List of MythBusters cast members

A distinctive part of his appearance is his dark beret, white long-sleeve button-up shirt over a black T-shirt, no-rim glasses, and occasionally, mirrored sunglasses with side anti-glare guards. This, along with his walrus-style mustache and deep voice, are constant subjects for jokes by co-host Adam Savage and other team members. A sign hanging in his workshop reading "Clean Up or Die", visible in several episodes, expresses his desire to keep the shop clean and tidy.

Hyneman's demeanor on MythBusters is calm, logical and no-nonsense, in stark contrast to Savage's more animated, impulsive and energetic persona. Hyneman is often exasperated by Savage's antics and he sometimes argues with him about the best approach to take. The two often have very different ideas for performing experiments and building devices. Hyneman's ideas tend to be more simplified than his co-host's, and he has a philosophy of reducing a solution to its most basic form, wherever possible. This difference has led to numerous competitions between the two presenters when testing myths, such as testing the Goldfish Memory myth and Hoverboard myth.

In the "AC on vs. Windows Down" myth, Hyneman revealed a food that he invented (and commonly eats) known as "the 444", a smoothie-like concoction of four fruit, four vegetable, and four grain servings. Despite skepticism by the rest of the crew, Hyneman described the 444's taste as "quite pleasant" and compared it to gazpacho.

Other appearances

The two army-junk sellers in The Darwin Awards are portrayed by Savage and Hyneman. They appear during the story of the rocket-car, which they partially reproduced in the MythBusters series' pilot episode and have retested two more times.

He attended the annual skeptics' conference called The Amaz!ng Meeting in 2006.

On May 16, 2010, Hyneman delivered the commencement address and received an honorary Doctorate of Engineering, from Villanova University. Hyneman has been dr.h.c. Jamie Hyneman since November 25, 2011, when he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Twente on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. He was awarded his honorary doctorate together with Adam Savage for their work in popularizing science.

Hyneman made a cameo appearance along with Savage on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation on the May 1, 2008, episode "The Theory of Everything", where they play inspectors each giving thumbs-up after seeing a shirt soaked in pepper spray catch fire when shot by a taser. They went on to test this myth on MythBusters and declare it confirmed with certain types of pepper spray.

He and MythBusters co-host Savage appear as judges on the game show Unchained Reaction, which premiered in March 2012.

Hyneman and Savage have also voiced characters on The Simpsons episode "The Daughter Also Rises" as a parody of themselves, the "MythCrackers", which prompts Bart and Milhouse to experiment in a similar fashion. Hyneman and Savage then reference this episode during the MythBusters Simpsons special.

Both Hyneman and Savage also voiced stormtroopers like office workers in the Phineas and Ferb Star Wars special.

Hyneman is an editor and contributor at Tested.com alongside fellow Mythbuster Adam Savage, and technology reviewers Will Smith and Norman Chan.

Personal life

In 1984, Hyneman met his future wife, Eileen Walsh, a science teacher, while he owned a sailboat diving charter business in the Virgin Islands. Hyneman identifies strongly as both a skeptic and an atheist. He apparently has a mild case of acrophobia (fear of heights), as mentioned in the "Hammer Drop" and "Duct Tape Bridge" episodes of MythBusters.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]