James Roday Rodriguez

James Roday, American actor, director, and screenwriter

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Born: April 4, 1976
Age in 2026: 50
Zodiac sign: Aries
Birth year: 1976

About James Roday Rodriguez

James Roday Rodriguez (born James David Rodriguez; April 4, 1976) is an American actor, director, and screenwriter. He is best known for portraying Shawn Spencer, a hyper-observant consultant detective and fake psychic, in USA Network series Psych and the subsequent Psych film series. He also starred in A Million Little Things which debuted in 2018, playing Javier "Gary" Mendez. == Early life == Rodriguez was born in San Antonio, Texas, as James David Rodriguez. His father, James "Jim" Rodriguez, a retired Air Force master sergeant, is of Mexican descent. His mother, Deborah Collins, has English, Irish, and Scottish ancestry. He attended Taft High School in San Antonio and studied at NYU TISCH's Experimental Theatre Wing, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. == Stage name == At the age of 22, Rodriguez selected the professional name James Roday. In a July 2020 interview, he explained the decision was mainly driven by producers and casting directors feeling his appearance clashed with his Latino family name. The characters he read for up until that point were not written with a Latino background in mind.

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

Career and life highlights

Rodriguez first decided to make acting his fulltime career in high school, where he was part of the theatre department run by James Buchanan, who would later become co-founder of the Communications Arts High School.
In order to book his first job, he legally changed his middle name, David, to Roday (picked from an Anton Chekhov play he was starring in at the time), and omitted Rodriguez from his screen name.
While at Taft, he became a UIL State Champion, being named best actor for his performance in the play The Elephant Man.

The world when James Roday Rodriguez was born

James Roday Rodriguez was born in 1976. 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 1976

#1 song"Silly Love Songs" – Wings
Top movieRocky
Top TV showHappy Days
Best-selling bookRoots – Alex Haley

Headlines and milestones

Major sports momentNadia Comaneci scores first perfect 10 in Olympic gymnastics
Top headlineAmerica celebrates its 200th birthday
Technology milestoneApple Computer founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak
Defining fadCB radios
Notable inventionLaser printer
World population4.16 billion

United States snapshot

U.S. leaderGerald Ford
Sports championCincinnati Reds (World Series)
Also wonBoston Celtics (NBA)
U.S. population218.0M

1976 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in James Roday Rodriguez's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure	1976	2026
Gas	$0.59	$3.45/gal
Average home	$48,000	$435,000
Average income	$14,958	$67,500
Minimum wage	$2.30	$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket	$2.13	$11.95
Postage stamp	$0.13	$0.73
Population	218.0M	341 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.