Portrait of Dwayne Johnson

Birthday profile

Dwayne Johnson

Dwayne Johnson, American actor and wrestler

Born
May 2, 1972
Age in 2026
54
Zodiac sign
Taurus
Birth year
1972

About Dwayne Johnson

Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name "the Rock", is an American actor and professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on a part-time basis. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Johnson was integral to the development and success of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) during the Attitude Era. He wrestled for the WWF full-time for eight years before pursuing an acting career. His films have grossed over $11.4 billion worldwide, making him one of the world's highest-grossing actors of all time. He is a co-owner of the United Football League, a member of the board of directors of TKO Group Holdings—the parent company of UFC and WWE—and co-founder of Seven Bucks Productions. After accepting an athletic scholarship to play football at the University of Miami as a defensive tackle, Johnson was a member of the 1991 national championship team but was largely a backup player. Despite aspirations to play professional football, he went undrafted in the 1995 NFL draft, and briefly signed with the Calgary Stampeders before being cut in his first season. In 1996, his father assisted in helping him secure a contract with the WWF. Johnson quickly rose to global prominence, aided by a gimmick he employed as a charismatic trash talker. Johnson left the WWE in 2004; he returned in 2011 as a part-time performer until 2013 and made sporadic appearances until his retirement in 2019; in 2023, he returned once again on a part-time basis. A 10-time world champion—including the promotion's first of African descent—he is also a two-time Intercontinental Champion, a five-time Tag Team Champion, the 2000 Royal Rumble winner, and WWE's sixth Triple Crown champion. Johnson headlined multiple pay-per-view events, including WWE's flagship event WrestleMania six times (15, 16, 17, 28, 29, and 40 – Night 1) which includes the most-bought professional wrestling pay-per-view (WrestleMania 28) and main evented the most-watched episodes of WWE's flagship television series (Raw and SmackDown). Johnson's first film role was in The Mummy Returns (2001). The next year, he played his first leading role in the action fantasy film The Scorpion King. He has since starred in family films The Game Plan (2007), Race to Witch Mountain (2009), Tooth Fairy (2010), Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017), Jumanji: The Next Level (2019), and Jungle Cruise (2021), and the action films Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012), G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013), Hercules (2014), Skyscraper (2018), San Andreas (2015), and Rampage (2018). He also starred in the action comedy films Get Smart (2008), Central Intelligence (2016), Baywatch (2017), and Red Notice (2021). His role as Luke Hobbs in the Fast & Furious films, beginning with Fast Five (2011), helped the franchise become one of the highest-grossing in film. He joined the DC Extended Universe by playing the title role in Black Adam (2022). He has also voiced Maui in the Disney animated film Moana (2016) and its sequel Moana 2 (2024), and reprised the role in the 2026 live-action remake. He received critical praise for his dramatic turn as MMA fighter Mark Kerr in the sports biopic The Smashing Machine (2025). Johnson produced and starred in the HBO comedy-drama series Ballers (2015–2019) and the autobiographical sitcom Young Rock (2021–2023). His autobiography, The Rock Says, was released in 2000 and was a New York Times bestseller. In 2016 and 2019, Time named him as one of the world's most influential people. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Johnson was integral to the development and success of the World Wrestling Federation during the Attitude Era.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

The world when Dwayne Johnson was born

Dwayne Johnson was born in 1972. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1972

  • #1 song"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" – Roberta Flack
  • Top movieThe Godfather
  • Top TV showAll in the Family
  • Best-selling bookJonathan Livingston Seagull – Richard Bach

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentMark Spitz wins 7 gold medals at Munich Olympics
  • Top headlineWatergate break-in begins Nixon's downfall
  • Technology milestoneAtari founded
  • Defining fadPong (first mainstream video game)
  • Notable inventionPong video game
  • World population3.85 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderRichard Nixon
  • Sports championOakland Athletics (World Series)
  • Also wonLos Angeles Lakers (NBA)
  • U.S. population209.9M

1972 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Dwayne Johnson's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19722026
Gas$0.36$3.45/gal
Average home$19,800$435,000
Average income$12,600$67,500
Minimum wage$1.60$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$1.70$11.95
Postage stamp$0.08$0.73
Population209.9M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.