Media & Arts
Jared Padalecki
San Antonio-born Jared Padalecki moved from Texas school competition into Gilmore Girls and fifteen seasons of Supernatural, then returned to a Texas setting as star and producer of Walker.
- Roster rank
- #219
- Category
- Media & Arts
- Subject type
- Person
- Profile source
- Published Texas Icons profile
Texas story
Life and career
Jared Tristan Padalecki was born in San Antonio in 1982 and attended James Madison High School. He studied acting as a child and won national recognition in school forensic competition before moving to Los Angeles after graduation rather than following his original plan to attend the University of Texas.
Padalecki first became widely known on Gilmore Girls, then played Sam Winchester for fifteen seasons of Supernatural. He later starred in and executive-produced Walker, a modern reworking of Walker, Texas Ranger that filmed in and around Austin, giving his adult career a renewed Texas production connection.
Defining work
What to know
- Gilmore Girls
- Supernatural
- Walker
- House of Wax
- Friday the 13th
Timeline
Key milestones
- 1982Born in San Antonio, Texas.
- 2000Graduates from James Madison High School and moves to Los Angeles.
- 2000Begins appearing on Gilmore Girls.
- 2005Supernatural premieres.
- 2021Walker premieres with Padalecki as star and executive producer.
Texas connections
Places in the story
Birthplace, childhood home and high-school city.
Austin
Production base for Walker.
Legacy
Why the story lasts
Padalecki's fifteen-season Supernatural run made him a durable figure in modern genre television.
San Antonio upbringing plus the later Austin-based Walker production give his Texas story both formative and professional chapters.
Sources
Research trail
Cross-linked profiles