who is the character sheldon cooper based on
Sheldon Cooper The character of Sheldon Cooper was inspired by a computer programmer personally known to series co-creator Bill Prady.[11] He is named in honor of actor/producer Sheldon Leonard[12] and Nobel Prize Laureate Leon Cooper.[13] Chuck Lorre originally intended Johnny Galecki to play the role, but Galecki thought he would be "better suited" for the character of Leonard.[14] Lorre said that when Jim Parsons auditioned for the role, he was "so startlingly good" that he was asked to reaudition "to make sure he hadn't gotten lucky".[15] Sheldon is one of four characters to appear in every episode of the series, along with Leonard, Howard, and Raj.