Jim Parsons

Jim Parsons is an American actor born on March 24, 1973, at St. Joseph Hospital in Houston, Texas, and raised in the Houston suburb of Spring. The son of Milton Joseph Parsons Jr. and teacher Judy Ann Parsons, he has a younger sister, Julie Ann Parsons, who is also a teacher. His interest in performance began at age six, when he played the Kola-Kola bird in a school production of The Elephant's Child. He attended Klein Oak High School in Spring, where a role in Noises Off during his junior year marked a turning point in his understanding of acting. Parsons earned a Bachelor of Arts in Theater from the University of Houston, during which time he appeared in 17 plays over three years, was a founding member of Infernal Bridegroom Productions, and performed regularly at the Stages Repertory Theatre. In 1999 he enrolled in a two-year graduate program in classical theater at the University of San Diego, taught in partnership with the Old Globe Theater, and graduated with an M.F.A. in acting in 2001 before relocating to New York.

In New York, Parsons worked in Off-Broadway productions and made several television appearances, including a recurring role on Judging Amy and appearances on Ed. He also had minor roles in the films Garden State and School for Scoundrels. His screen career shifted substantially in 2007 when he was cast as Sheldon Cooper, a physicist with social apathy, in the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory, a role he held until the series concluded in 2019. Parsons was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014, winning in 2010, 2011, 2013, and 2014. In January 2011 he received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Series — Comedy. From 2015 to 2018, Forbes named him the world's highest-paid television actor. Beyond The Big Bang Theory, he received Emmy nominations for the television film The Normal Heart (2014), the short-form series Special (2019), and for playing Henry Wilson in the Netflix miniseries Hollywood (2020). His film credits include a lead voice role as Oh in the DreamWorks Animation comedy Home (2015), as well as supporting roles in Hidden Figures (2016), A Kid Like Jake (2018), Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019), The Boys in the Band (2020), and Spoiler Alert (2022). In 2011 he appeared alongside Jack Black, Owen Wilson, Steve Martin, and Rashida Jones in The Big Year, and that same year played the human alter ego of Walter in The Muppets. Parsons received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on March 11, 2015. In September 2013 he traced his family history on TLC's Who Do You Think You Are?, discovering French heritage on his father's side and identifying the French architect Louis-François Trouard (1729–1804) as his sixth great-grandfather.

Parsons made his Broadway debut in 2011 in Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart, earning both a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance and a Theatre World Award that year. On May 18, 2012, he began appearing on Broadway as Elwood P. Dowd in a revival of Harvey. He subsequently starred in An Act of God (2015) and The Boys in the Band (2018), and appeared in Our Town (2024). His role in Mother Play (2024) earned him a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. His Broadway career spans productions from 2011 through 2026.