Miles Barnum was born and raised in Fargo, North Dakota. Miles is the son of Jerry and Deb Barnum, both educators. His sister Jessie Alexander is a pediatric bone marrow transplant doctor. Miles was no stranger to performing at an early age as he was surrounded by family members who were musicians. His father taught him to play guitar. Miles started his musical journey singing in choir, where his love for performing grew.

Miles toured internationally with Christus Chorus and King's Players while studying at Concordia University in Saint Paul. While on stage, he discovered his life's passion. This led him in to intensive training, earning a Master's of Fine Arts in Acting from Western Illinois University (WIU). While earning his MFA, Miles was in 17 productions, often playing leads or supporting roles. He was chosen twice to represent WIU at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.

Upon graduation, Miles learned quickly to become comfortable with the nomadic artist lifestyle as he landed contracts in seven states in the next five years. He was cast as Joseph in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" at Jekyll Island Musical Theatre Festival in Georgia. He followed that up with a three show stint in Mesa, AZ with Prather Productions. He then landed the roles of Chris Keller in Arthur Miller's "All My Sons" and Chris in "Miss Saigon" at the Roxy Regional Theatre in Tennessee. The Roxy patrons recognized Miles as best actor that year. One highlight among Miles's regional theatre roles was Claudio in "Much Ado About Nothing" at Southwest Shakespeare Company. He returned to the Roxy to play Roger in "Rent" and Stanley Kowalski in "Streetcar Named Desire."

Miles signed with a manager and secured representation in Los Angeles working in film, television and national commercials. He furthered his actor training with Gregory Berger at Berg Studios and continues to collaborate with him. Miles starred in "Battle Buddy" as Dr. Spencer and Jonathan in "Blood Red Rebel." He also appeared in "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" as one of Charles Boyle's cousins, as well as a sheriff in "Code Black" among other tv appearances. He will be appearing in the feature film "The End of the Rope" as George Smythe. This film is in post-production with an expected release date of Fall of 2022.

Miles melded his acting training and performance with his teaching talent to found Barnum's Acting Studio. The studio began in the Upper Midwest, expanded to Los Angeles, and now can be accessed worldwide through Zoom scene study classes. Barnum's Acting Studio and Barnum's Stage Productions have produced nine plays over the past decade.

Miles resides in Missoula, MT and Los Angeles, CA with his partner Abigail and their cat Mabel. In 2022 Miles and Abigail starred in a production of "Into the Woods" in Missoula.