Samuel "Sam" Winchester is a fictional character and one of the two protagonists of the American drama television series Supernatural along with his older brother, Dean. He is portrayed primarily by Jared Padalecki. Other versions of the character have been portrayed by Alex Ferris and Dylan Kingwell (child), Colin Ford (teenager), and Colton James (body switch with Gary Frankle in Season 5). Development Sam Winchester was created by Eric Kripke, creator and original showrunner of Supernatural, when he pitched a show to the WB about two brothers who investigate the supernatural. Sam's name is a homage to Sal Paradise in Jack Kerouac's road-trip novel On the Road, tying into Kripke's concept for an Americana road-trip television series. It was originally intended for the brothers' last name to be "Harrison" as a nod to actor Harrison Ford; however, there was a Sam Harrison living in Kansas, so the name had to be changed for legal reasons. Combining his interest in the Winchester Mystery House and his desire to give the series the feel of "a modern-day Western," Kripke settled on the surname of "Winchester." Sam and his brother Dean are from Lawrence, Kansas, due to its closeness to Stull Cemetery, a location famous for its urban legends. Jared Padalecki, who portrays Sam Winchester, was almost turned down for the role because he portrayed a blue-collar character with no aspirations of college for his role as Dean Forester on Gilmore Girls, but won his chance to audition after his manager pointed out that the actor was a National Merit Scholar, where his chemistry with Jensen Ackles earned him the role. Background Sam was born on May 2, 1983 to John and Mary Winchester in Lawrence, Kansas. He is one of two focal characters in the series, along with his older brother, Dean, who's four years his senior. He is named after his maternal grandfather, Samuel Campbell, and comes from a line of expert hunters on his mother's side of the family and men of letters on his father's side, respectively. Sam's childhood is explored in the form of flashbacks (as well as present-day dialogue) in episodes throughout the series. When Sam was six months old, his mother Mary (a retired creature hunter) was engulfed in a massive conflagration by yellow-eyed demon Azazel (one of four Princes of Hell). Her death was not premeditated, but rather a result of her incidental interruption of