Full Name: Jared Tristan Padalecki

Before becoming an actor, Jared lived in San Antonio, Texas and began taking acting lessons at the age of 12.
In 1999, Jared entered and later won the ‘Claim to Fame’ contest which was held and sponsered by the Teen Choice Awards. After winning the contest he was pursued by both talent and modeling agencies but,Jared opted to head back home to finish high school.
As a senior at James Madison High School he was named a candidate for the 2000 Presidential Scholars Program, shortly after he graduated he moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue an acting career. Not long after heading to LA, Jared landed the role of ‘Dean Forrester’ on the WB’s hit dramaedy “Gilmore Girls” up until 2004.

Since then, Jared has went on to have small roles in the movies: “A Ring of Endless Light”, “Flight of the Phoenix”, “Cheaper By the Dozen”, “New York Minute”, “House of Wax” and, most recently “Cry_Wolf”. You can now see him as Sam Winchester, alongside co-star Jensen Ackles on the CW’s newest hit, “Supernatural” which you can catch Thursday nights after Smallville.

partial credit: jared-padalecki.org and wikipedia