28 celebrities who went to high school in San Antonio

By San Antonio Current Staff

High school bragging rights are no joke in San Antonio, and there's no better way to up the ante than laying claim to famous fellow alumni.

From TV stars to sports hall of famers, you'd be surprised by the big-name celebrities who got their education in the Alamo City. We rounded up 28 notable graduates with whom you just might share an alma mater.

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Jared Padalecki, Madison High School
Jared Padalecki's breakout role may have been playing Dean Forester on Gilmore Girls, but he'll likely always be remembered for his 15-season run as Sam Winchester on Supernatural. Now, Padalecki stars as the famed Texas Ranger formerly played by Chuck Norris in the TV series reboot Walker. The actor was born in the Alamo City in 1982 and graduated from Madison HS and now calls Austin home.
Photo via The CW / Walker

Shaquille O'Neal, Robert G. Cole High School
Believe it or not, famed basketball player, possessor of mad hip-hop skills and star of the whimsical 90's genie comedy Kazaam Shaquille O'Neal went to high school right here in the Alamo City. After starting high school in Germany due to his stepfather's military career, his family moved to San Antonio, where he lead the team at Robert G. Cole High School to a 68-1 record over two years, as well as a state championship win.
Photo via Instagram / shaq

Robert Rodriguez, St. Anthony High School
Robert Rodriguez has been repping SA since being born here in 1968. The director, who went ot St. Anthony High School, is known for everything from Machete to Spy Kids, and announced in 2020 that he'd directed an episode for the second season of the hit Disney+ series The Mandalorian.
Photo via Twitter / Rodriguez

Anthony Alabi, Antonian College Preparatory High School
Born in San Antonio in 1981, Anthony Alabi went on to attend Antonian College Preparatory High School before moving on to play college football at Texas Christian University. First snagged by the Miami Dolphins in the 2005 NFL draft, Alabi played professional football untill 2009, when he retired to pursue acting. Most recently, Alabi has been featured on Disney's Raven's Home as Coach Spitz and starred opposite Tia Mowry-Hardict in Netflix's Family Reunion.
Photo via Netflix / Family Reunion

James Roday Rodriguez, Taft High School
Psych star James Roday Rodriguez recently re-embraced his Latino heritage by retaking his surrname after performing for years under the name James Roday. The San Antonio native was born here in 1976 and went to Taft HS before making his name playing a fake psychic detective on the long-running USA comedy series for eight seasons and two movies. Recently, he also played Gary Mendez on ABC's A Million Little Things.
Photo via ABC / A Million Little Things

Chrysta Bell, Alamo Heights High School
Songstress and longtime David Lynch collaborator Chrysta Bell has roots right here in the Alamo CIty — she was born in San Antonio and went to Alamo Heights High School. Though her work with the enigmatic filmmaker originally began in the music sphere, she made her screen debut as FBI Agent Tammy Preston in the hotly anticipated 2017 return of Lynch's iconic TV series Twin Peaks.
Photo via Showtime / Twin Peaks

Pendleton Ward, LEE High School
You may not recognize his face, but you'd definitely recognize his drawings — Pendleton Ward is the brains behind hit Cartoon Network series Adventure Time, which ran on the channel fom 2010-2018. The animator and voice actor was born in San Antonio in 1982 and graduated from now-LEE High School before moving to California to attend CalArts. In 2020 his new animated series The Midnight Gospel hit Netflix, and the spinoff miniseries Adventure Time: Distant Lands debuted on HBO Max.
Photo via Twitter / buenothebear

Bruce McGill, MacArthur High School
Even if you're not a Bruce McGill stan, you probably recognize him, because he's made appearances on tons of TV shows since he started acting in the late '70s. McGill was born in San Antonio in 1950 and went to MacArthur HS before going to the University of Texas at Austin for college, and has been in everything from Animal House to USA's Rizzoli and Isles in his decades-spanning career.
Photo via USA / Suits

Adam Martinez a.k.a. AdamRayOkay, Southwest High School
Adam Martinez may not have an IMDb page, but he's undeniably famous. The San Antonio native leapt to viral fame when his puro comedy character Rosa in early 2020, and is now a cross-platform social media juggernaut. With a Cosmo photoshoot and come out with a makeup collab with BH Cosmetics now under his belt, we're sure there's more to come.
Photo via Instagram / adamrayokay

Sendhil Ramamurthy, Keystone School
Before he made a splash in shows like Covert Affairs and Heroes, Sendhil Ramamurthy gew up in the 2-1-0 and graduated from Keystone School. In addition to recent roles on TV series The Flash and New Amsterdam, Ramamurthy now plays "hot dad" Mohan Vishwakumar on Mindy Kaling's Netflix series Never Have I Ever.
Photo via Netflix / Lara Solanki