Birth name Jared Tristan Padalecki
Born July 19, 1982
San Antonio, Texas
Height 6'3" (1.90m)
Notable roles Dean Forester on Gilmore Girls (2000-2005)
Sam Winchester on Supernatural (2005-????)

Jared is an American actor. He grew up in Texas and came to fame in the early 2000s after appearing on the television series Gilmore Girls as well as in several Hollywood films, including New York Minute and House of Wax. Padalecki has most recently become known for his starring role on the television series Supernatural.

Jared was born in San Antonio, Texas to Gerald R. Padalecki, a tax accountant and Sharon L. Kammer Padalecki, a teacher. He has an older brother, Jeff, and a younger sister, Megan. Padalecki began taking acting lessons at the age of twelve. He attended James Madison High School in San Antonio and was named a candidate for the 2000 Presidential Scholars Program. Padalecki won Fox TV's 1999 "Claim to Fame Contest"; he subsequently appeared at the Teen Choice Awards, where he met his current manager. After graduating high school in 2000, he moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue an acting career, although he had originally planned to attend the University of Texas


Career

Padalecki's first credit was a minor role in the 1999 film, A Little Inside. In 2000, he was cast as Dean Forester on the successful series Gilmore Girls, a role he played until 2005. Throughout the early 2000s, he also appeared in several made-for-television films, including Silent Witness (2000), Close to Home (2001), A Ring of Endless Light (2002) and Young MacGyver (2003).

Jared had an unaccredited part in 2003's comedy Cheaper by the Dozen. In 2004, he appeared in the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen-led comedy New York Minute, and also had a role in the thriller Flight of the Phoenix. In 2005, Padalecki starred opposite Elisha Cuthbert, Chad Michael Murray and Paris Hilton in the horror film House of Wax, and appeared in another horror film, Cry Wolf, on the set of which he met his longtime girlfriend, co-star Sandra McCoy.

The same year, Padalecki was cast as Sam Winchester on the WB series, Supernatural, and gained a fan base after the show's success. Supernatural was renewed for a second season, which began airing on September 28, 2006 on The CW.



 
2005 – Supernatural as Sam Winchester
2005 - Cry_Wolf as  Tom
2005 - House of Wax - as Wade
2004 - Flight of the Phoenix as Davis
2004 - New York Minute as Trey Lipton
2003 - Cheaper by the Dozen as Bully (Uncredited)
2002 - A Ring of Endless Light as Zachary Gray
2000 – 2005 Gilmore Girls Dean Forester