Cryer is the son of Gretchen Cryer (nee Kiger), a playwright, songwriter, actress, and singer, and David Cryer, an actor, singer, and producer.[1][2] He has two sisters, Robin and Shelley. Cryer attended Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center for several summers as a teenager and is a 1983 graduate of the Bronx High School of Science. He married British-born actress Sarah Trigger, by whom he has a son, Charlie Austin, but the pair divorced in 2004. In June 2007, he married entertainment reporter Lisa Joyner.