<P> Sheldon is a senior theoretical physicist at Caltech and for the first ten seasons of The Big Bang Theory, shares an apartment with his colleague and best friend, Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki). In season 10, Sheldon moves across the hall with his girlfriend Amy, in the former apartment of Leonard's wife Penny . He is a former child prodigy with genius - level IQ, but displays an almost total lack of social skills, a tenuous understanding of humor, and difficulty recognizing irony and sarcasm in other people, although he himself often employs them . He exhibits highly idiosyncratic behavior and a general lack of humility or empathy . He also lacks toleration . These characteristics provide the majority of the humor involving him, which has caused him to be described as the show's breakout character . Some viewers have asserted that Sheldon's personality is consistent with Asperger syndrome, obsessive--compulsive disorder, and asexuality . Co-creator Bill Prady has stated that Sheldon's character was neither conceived nor developed with regard to any of these traits, although Parsons has said that in his opinion, Sheldon "couldn't display more traits" of Asperger's . </P> <P> The character of Sheldon Cooper was inspired by a computer programmer personally known to series co-creator Bill Prady . He is named in honor of actor / producer Sheldon Leonard and Nobel Prize Laureate Leon Cooper . Chuck Lorre originally intended Johnny Galecki to play the role, but Galecki thought he would be "better suited" for the character of Leonard . 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". Sheldon is one of four characters to appear in every episode of the series, along with Leonard, Howard, and Raj . </P> <P> Sheldon was raised in Galveston, Texas along with his elder brother, George Jr., and fraternal twin sister, Missy, by his mother, Mary Cooper, an overtly devout Baptist; and George Cooper, an alcoholic who was rarely around . Sheldon once got his father fired when he told Mr. Hinckley, a store owner, that George was stealing from the cash register . In Young Sheldon, this is retconned: his father is a football coach who was fired from his coaching position in Galveston because he disclosed that other coaches were illegally recruiting players to their school, forcing the family to return to Medford . He does drink, mostly beer, but is a loving father who is trying to understand his intellectually gifted son . The only member of his family to have actively encouraged his work in science was his grandfather, whom he cherished and affectionately called "Pop - Pop", and who died when Sheldon was five years old . Pop - Pop's loss is what caused Sheldon to despise Christmas when his Christmas wish to bring Pop - Pop back didn't come true . Sheldon's closest relative is his maternal grandmother whom he affectionately calls "Meemaw", and who in turn calls him "Moon Pie". His aunt also encouraged Sheldon by giving him medical equipment, "in case his work in physics failed, he'd have a' trade' to fall back on". </P> <P> Sheldon was interested in science from an early age, and was a child prodigy, although due to his behavioral quirks and his lack of humility about his superior intellect, he was bullied by classmates and neighbors . Sheldon entered college at the age of eleven, and at age fourteen he graduated from college summa cum laude . (To this day, the college he went to for undergraduate studies has yet to be revealed, but he feels it is superior to his fellow Big Bang Theory colleagues' alma maters of Princeton (Leonard), MIT (Howard) and Harvard (Amy) - however, it is implied in "The Tam Turbulence" that Sheldon is a Caltech alumnus .) From then, he worked on his doctorate, was a visiting professor at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, was the youngest person at the time to receive the Stevenson Award, and has appeared on the cover of Journal of Physical Chemistry A. Sheldon is now a theoretical physicist doing research at Caltech, although he stated in Young Sheldon that he couldn't see himself living in California due to their carefree lifestyle . </P>

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