Shawn Spencer
| Shawn Spencer | |
|---|---|
| Psych character | |
James Roday as Shawn
|
|
| First appearance | "Pilot" |
| Last appearance | "The Breakup" |
| Created by | Steve Franks |
| Portrayed by |
James Roday Josh Hayden (Young Shawn: Pilot) Kyle Pejpar (Young Shawn: Season 1, Episode 2) Liam James (Young Shawn: Seasons 1-5) Skyler Gisondo (Young Shawn: Seasons 5-Season 8) |
| Information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | "Psychic" Detective |
| Family |
Henry Spencer (father) Madeleine Spencer (mother) |
| Significant other(s) |
Gina Repach (former) Abigail Lytar (1998, 2009–10) Juliet O'Hara (2010–present) |
| Relatives | Jack Spencer (uncle) Henry Spencer, Sr. (paternal grandfather) Emma Spencer (paternal grandmother) |
Shawn Spencer is a fictional character on the American television drama and comedy Psych played by American actor James Roday. Taking advantage of his eidetic memory, he poses as a psychic and works as a private detective who often consults with the Santa Barbara Police Department.
Shawn is a breech baby, born in February 1977, and comes from a family of police officers. His parents separated in 1992, and later divorced; his mother, Madeleine (a psychologist), eventually returned and explained that she left to pursue a job opportunity. His father, Henry Spencer, schooled Shawn in detective work from birth, aiding the development of his extraordinary powers of observation and deduction. At the age of 15, he achieved a perfect score of 100 on the detective's exam. This is drawn loosely from the childhood of series creator Steve Franks, who was also born into a family of police officers and whose father "was training [Franks] in his own way to follow his footsteps." Franks' father would ask him how many people were wearing hats in a restaurant, a tactic employed in the show's pilot episode by Shawn's father.
Shawn's relationship with his father is complicated and at times highly strained: Shawn's dad has even admitted that the only "constant" in Shawn's life was his childhood best friend, Gus, who has stuck by him loyally. Though often it may seem that Henry is intentionally aggravating or imposing his will on his grown son, it is usually revealed that his motives are genuine. For example, tipping off the meter maid to ticket Shawn's motorcycle which is parked too close to a hydrant outside his apartment. The impounding as a result was Henry's ultimate goal, as Shawn had gotten into an accident some time ago. When push comes to shove, Shawn's father is always there to back him up, whether it be providing advice on a case Shawn is stuck on or tracking down Shawn's kidnappers (both of which occur in multiple episodes), Henry is there. For years, Shawn blamed his father for leaving his mother and ending their marriage but in the third season opener, his mother reveals that she was the one who left Henry. Shawn thus realizes his father never told the truth as he didn't want to ruin the image Shawn had of his mother as near perfect and sees Henry in a new light.
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Wikipedia