Portrait of Stephen Root

Birthday profile

Stephen Root

Stephen Root, American actor

Born
November 17, 1951
Age in 2026
75
Zodiac sign
Scorpio
Birth year
1951

About Stephen Root

Stephen Root (born November 17, 1951) is an American actor and voice actor. Known for his extensive character actor roles in film and television, he gained attention for his roles as Jimmy James on the NBC sitcom NewsRadio (1995–1999), as Milton Waddams in the comedy film Office Space (1999), and voiced Bill Dauterive and Buck Strickland on the animated series King of the Hill (1997–2010, 2025–present). Root has appeared in numerous Coen brothers films including O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), The Ladykillers (2004), No Country for Old Men (2007), The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018), and The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021). Other notable film roles include Dave (1993), Bicentennial Man (1999), Dodgeball (2004), Idiocracy (2006), Cedar Rapids (2011), Selma (2014), Trumbo (2015), Get Out (2017), and On the Basis of Sex (2018), as well as his voice roles in Ice Age (2002) and Finding Nemo (2003). On television, he played supporting roles in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1991), True Blood (2008–2009), Boardwalk Empire (2012–2013), The Man in the High Castle (2016–2019), Perry Mason (2020), and Succession (2021–2023). He received two Primetime Emmy awards nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, in 2019 for role of manipulative hitman handler Monroe Fuches in HBO dark comedy crime series Barry (2018-2023) and in 2026 for role of fisherman and outspoken superstitious Wyck Crawford in Apple TV comedy horror series Widow's Bay (2026). Root graduated from Vero Beach High School in Vero Beach, Florida. He has starred as Jimmy James on the NBC sitcom NewsRadio (1995–1999), as Milton Waddams in the film Office Space (1999), and voiced Bill Dauterive and Buck Strickland on the animated series King of the Hill.

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

The world when Stephen Root was born

Stephen Root was born in 1951. 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 1951

  • #1 song"Too Young" – Nat King Cole
  • Top movieAn American in Paris
  • Top TV showI Love Lucy
  • Best-selling bookThe Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentBobby Thomson's "Shot Heard Round the World"
  • Top headlineI Love Lucy premieres and becomes a cultural phenomenon
  • Technology milestoneFirst commercial computer (UNIVAC I) delivered
  • Defining fadI Love Lucy
  • Notable inventionSuper Glue
  • World population2.59 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderHarry S. Truman
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • Also wonRochester Royals (NBA)
  • U.S. population154.0M

1951 versus 2026

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

Measure19512026
Gas$0.27$3.45/gal
Average home$8,800$435,000
Average income$5,500$67,500
Minimum wage$0.75$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.53$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population154.0M341 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.