James David Maslow (born July 16, 1990) is an American actor and singer. He played the role of James Diamond on Nickelodeon's Big Time Rush and is a former member of the boy band with the same name. 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 6th place.
Maslow was born in New York City, New York and raised in La Jolla, California. His father is Jewish and his mother is Catholic; he was raised Jewish. He attended Hebrew school six days a week during his childhood, and celebrated his Bar Mitzvah. He has described himself as a "religious and spiritual person".
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. 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, got his first agent when he was 14, and performed as Marius in a production of Les Misérables. Quitting the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts (SDSCPA) midway through the 10th grade, Maslow switched to Coronado School of the Arts (CoSA). He graduated from CoSA in 2007 in the musical theater department.