James Maslow

Biography

James David Maslow (born July 16, 1990) is an American actor, singer, dancer and model. He played the role of James Diamond on Nickelodeon's Big Time Rush, had roles in The Frozen Ground and Seeds of Yesterday, and is a member of the boy band Big Time Rush. He also starred as Kevin Mohr on the Sony Crackle original series Sequestered. In 2014, Maslow competed as a contestant on the eighteenth season of Dancing with the Stars, in which he reached fourth place. In 2018, Maslow was cast as one of the celebrity houseguests on the first American edition of Celebrity Big Brother where Maslow finished in sixth place.

== Early life == James Maslow was born in New York, New York, and raised in La Jolla, California. Born to a Jewish father and a Catholic mother, he was raised Jewish. At the age of six, Maslow began training as a singer when his parents placed him in the San Diego Children's Choir. He attended La Jolla and Torrey Pines elementary schools, Muirlands Middle School, and San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts (SDSCPA). He had a small role in the San Diego Opera's production of La bohème when he was 10 years old. He attended acting camp at the La Jolla Playhouse, and got his first agent when he was 14. At SDSCPA, he portrayed lead roles in select feature productions, including Danny Zuko in "Grease" (2004) and Marius in "Les Miserables" (2006). Maslow transferred from SDSCPA partway through the tenth grade, switching to Coronado School of the Arts (CoSA). He graduated from CoSA's musical theater department in 2007.

== Television and film career ==

=== 2007–2014: Nickelodeon and Big Time Rush ===

Maslow made his acting debut in 2008 as Shane in an episode of the Nickelodeon show iCarly. He also appeared in urFRENZ in 2009, Wild Things: Foursome in 2010, and Arena in 2011. In 2013, he appeared in The Frozen Ground as Daniel O'Brian. Also in 2013, he filmed an episode of See Dad Run, playing the role of actor Scott Baio's former TV son, Ricky. In 2007, Maslow sent his audition tape for a new Nickelodeon sitcom and received the role of James Diamond two years later in the show Big Time Rush, along with Kendall Schmidt, Carlos PenaVega, and Logan Henderson. They also formed the real boy band Big Time Rush

=== 2014–present: Dancing with the Stars and other roles === On March 4, 2014, ABC announced that Maslow would take part in the 18th season of Dancing with the Stars. He was paired with professional dancer Peta Murgatroyd. Ultimately, Maslow made it to the finals, but was eliminated on the first night. Maslow finished in fourth place, with an average score of 26.9 (excluding scores from guest judges). In a vote on Twitter, Maslow was nevertheless chosen "in a landslide" to perform an encore of his freestyle dance during the season finale. During his time on the show, Maslow earned the first perfect score of the season for his contemporary dance to "Let It Go" from Frozen on Disney Night. He featured on the cover of the July 2014 issue of FitnessRx Magazine.

Also in 2014, Maslow was cast in the 2015 Lifetime television movie Seeds of Yesterday in the leading role of Bart Foxworth. In 2018, Maslow competed in the first American season of Celebrity Big Brother where he was evicted on day 24. In May 2019, it was announced that Maslow would be starring in independent film We Need to Talk, co-starring Emily Bett Rickards, and written and directed by Todd Wolfe.

== Music career ==