Rex Linn was born in Perryton, Texas, on this day in 1956. He turns 69 today!

Rex is a talented actor known for his roles in projects such as “CSI: Miami,” “Better Call Saul,” “Young Sheldon,” and “Big Sky.” He currently stars in the NBC sitcom “Happy’s Place” alongside his fiancée, country music legend Reba McEntire.

In the vast, wind-swept plains of the Texas Panhandle, where the horizon stretches like a promise unkept and the oil rigs pump with the steady rhythm of a heartbeat, Rex Linn entered the world on November 14, 1956. Perryton, a speck of a town hugging the Oklahoma border, wasn’t the kind of place that birthed Hollywood stars. It was cattle country, cotton fields, and Friday night lights under a sky big enough to swallow secrets. But from those dusty streets, a voice emerged—one gravelly, warm, and unmistakably Texan—that would echo through living rooms across America for decades. Today, as Rex Linn blows out 69 candles on a cake that’s probably shaped like a cowboy boot (or, knowing his fiancée Reba McEntire, a bedazzled guitar), the entertainment world pauses to celebrate not just a milestone, but a man whose life reads like a script from one of his own shows: equal parts grit, grace, and glorious surprises.

Rex’s journey from Panhandle kid to prime-time powerhouse hasn’t been a straight shot down the Red River. Born to a banker father and a homemaker mother who instilled in him a love for storytelling around the dinner table, young Rex was more likely to be found roping calves on the family ranch than reciting lines. “We didn’t have much,” he once drawled in a rare interview with Texas Monthly, his voice thick as molasses. “But we had stories. Dad would spin yarns about the Dust Bowl that’d make you feel the dirt in your teeth.” That oral tradition stuck. By high school, Rex was the drama club’s secret weapon—leading man in Our Town, narrator in The Crucible, always with that booming baritone that could command a football field or a courtroom.

College at Trinity University in San Antonio sharpened his edge. He majored in history, minored in mischief, and dreamed of law school. But fate, that capricious cowpoke, had other plans. A summer stock gig at the Dallas Theater Center hooked him. “I was hooked like a largemouth bass on a jitterbug,” he’d later quip. By 1980, he was in Hollywood, pounding pavement with a headshot that screamed “rugged everyman” and a resume padded with commercials for everything from pickup trucks to pain relievers. Rejection? He ate it for breakfast. “Hollywood’s like steer wrestling,” Rex said. “You miss the horns, you eat dirt. But you get back on the horse.”

His breakthrough came in fits and starts. A villainous turn in the 1988 miniseries Favorite Son caught eyes. Then, in 1993, Cliffhanger with Sylvester Stallone—Rex as the no-nonsense sheriff—put him on the map for action fans. But it was television that made him a household growl. From 2002 to 2012, he anchored CSI: Miami as Detective Frank Tripp, the unflappable Florida lawman with a penchant for aviators and one-liners that could cut glass. “Horatio, you think this was an inside job?” he’d rumble, squinting into the Miami sun. Fans ate it up—Tripp was the steady hand in Horatio Caine’s hurricane, a character so beloved that Rex reprised him in crossovers and specials, long after the show faded to black.

Rex’s golden era, though, unfolded in the 2010s and beyond, a chameleon-like run that proved his range extended far beyond badges and beaches. In Better Call Saul (2015–2022), he was Kevin Wachtell, the arrogant bank exec whose comeuppance in a poolside beatdown became one of the series’ most meme’d moments. “I got to play the bad guy who deserved every punch,” Rex laughed in a 2020 Variety profile. “And let me tell you, getting slugged by the Salamancas? Best workout of my life.” Critics hailed his portrayal as a masterclass in smug vulnerability— a far cry from the heroic grit of his CSI days.

Then came Young Sheldon (2017–2023), where Rex stepped into the boots of Principal Petersen, the no-bull shepherd of Medford High. It was a role tailor-made for his avuncular charm: stern but soft-hearted, doling out detentions with a wink and wisdom drawn straight from those Perryton porch swings. “Sheldon’s a handful,” Rex told Entertainment Weekly. “But playing Petersen let me channel every uncle I ever had—tough love with a side of barbecue.” The show, a prequel to The Big Bang Theory, became a ratings juggernaut, and Rex’s Petersen episodes often trended for their heartfelt detours into mentorship and mischief.

Big Sky (2020–2023) added a thriller edge, with Rex as Rick Legarski, the crooked Montana trooper whose mustache-twirling villainy masked a chilling psychosis. “I based him on every small-town cop who ever bent the rules,” Rex revealed on a Podcast vs. Podcast episode. “But with a dash of Hannibal Lecter—just enough to keep folks guessing.” His performance earned a Critics’ Choice nomination, proving once again that Rex Linn could pivot from procedural procedural to prestige drama without missing a beat.

Now, at 69, Rex is riding high in Happy’s Place, the NBC sitcom that premiered in fall 2025 to 8.2 million viewers and climbing. Created by Kevin Abbott (Reba alum), the show casts Rex as Bobbie, the gruff uncle turned bar owner who inherits a honky-tonk from his late sister and must wrangle a ragtag crew of dreamers and drifters. It’s fish-out-of-water comedy gold: Rex’s Bobbie, with his cowboy hat perpetually askew and drawl dialed to eleven, clashes hilariously with urban transplants while dispensing life lessons over whiskey shots. “It’s like if Cheers met Yellowstone in a dive bar,” Rex joked at the show’s premiere party. But the real magic? Sharing the screen—and the off-screen spark—with Reba McEntire, who plays his sharp-tongued co-owner and ex-sister-in-law, Isabella.

Their chemistry isn’t scripted; it’s seismic. Reba, 70, the Queen of Country with 75 million albums sold and a voice that could shatter glass or mend hearts, met Rex on the set of 1991’s The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw. Sparks? None then—they were both married, both deep in careers. But in 2020, fate lassoed them back together on Young Sheldon. A post-filming dinner turned into tater tot-fueled flirtation at a wine bar, where Rex dubbed her “Tater Tot” for her unbridled joy over the fried delicacy. Reba fired back with “Sugar Tot” for him. By Christmas Eve 2024, he was on one knee in her Nashville kitchen, ring in hand (a 3-carat emerald-cut diamond flanked by sapphires, valued at $150,000, sourced from her own jewelry line). They went public at the 2025 Emmys, her ruby gown hugging curves earned from ranch work, his tux tailored to perfection.

Happy’s Place is their love letter to fans: Bobbie and Isabella bicker like an old married couple, trading barbs over bad hires and busted taps, but their undercurrent of affection mirrors the real-life duo’s. “Working with Reba is like breathing fire,” Rex gushed to People last month. “She’s got that Oklahoma thunder, and I’m just trying to keep up.” Ratings reflect the romance—NBC renewed it for Season 2 before Episode 5 aired. Off-set, they’re Nashville fixtures: hosting barbecues for castmates, volunteering at Reba’s Reba’s Place music venue, and dodging wedding date questions with coy grins. “We’re enjoying the engagement,” Reba teased on The Jennifer Hudson Show. “Sugar Tot says let’s savor the sweet stuff first.”

But today’s the day the spotlight swings fully to Rex—and to a gift from Reba that’s left even their closest pals slack-jawed. In a move that’s equal parts romantic poetry and audacious whimsy, Reba didn’t opt for the expected: no Rolex, no ranch deed, no fleet of vintage Harleys (though Rex has whispered about those). Instead, she unveiled her pièce de résistance at a private dawn gathering on their shared Oklahoma ranch— a sprawling 3,000-acre spread straddling the Texas line, complete with a herd of 200 Angus cattle and a pond stocked for Rex’s fly-fishing obsession.

The gift? A custom-engraved, one-of-a-kind cattle brand, forged from 24-karat gold-plated steel by a master artisan in Fort Worth. But here’s the shock: the brand’s design isn’t just initials or hearts. It’s a intricate fusion of their nicknames— a stylized “T” for Tater Tot morphing into an “S” for Sugar Tot, encircled by a lasso knot that doubles as an infinity loop, symbolizing their eternal tangle. Etched on the handle: coordinates of that fateful 2020 wine bar (35.1495° N, 89.9717° W, Memphis) and the Perryton hospital where Rex drew his first breath (36.3992° N, 100.8107° W). “It’s us,” Reba explained in a handwritten note slipped into the velvet case, her script looping like a lariat. “From tater tots to forever. Brand our story into the world, Sugar Tot—starting with this land.”

The value? Conservatively $250,000—not for the metal alone, but for the artisan’s 200 hours of handiwork, the embedded microchip for GPS tracking (in case Rex “misplaces” it during a cattle drive), and the commissioning of a matching tattoo stencil for their future ink (Reba’s idea, naturally). But the true jaw-dropper is the meaning: In ranching lore, a brand is sacred—irrevocable, a mark of ownership passed down generations. By gifting Rex this, Reba’s declaring, “You’re mine, and this legacy? Ours.” It’s bold, bordering on provocative in a world of fleeting flings; a statement that their love isn’t a phase but a foundation, seared into soil and soul. Friends who witnessed the reveal— including Melissa Peterman, Reba’s Reba co-star—whispered in awe. “I teared up,” Peterman told Us Weekly exclusively. “It’s not just a gift; it’s a vow. Shocking how she turns whimsy into eternity.”

Rex’s reaction? Priceless. The dawn light caught the gold as he hefted the brand, his 6’3″ frame silhouetted against the rising sun. “Darlin’,” he rumbled, voice cracking like thunder over the plains, “you just roped my heart all over again.” They tested it that morning—branding a post on the ranch’s new fence line, the sizzle echoing like applause. Smoke curled skyward as Reba pulled him into a kiss, her Stetson bumping his. “Happy birthday, cowboy,” she murmured. “Now let’s make some calves—and some memories.”

As the day unfolds, Nashville’s elite are buzzing. Dolly Parton sent a fruit basket with a card: “To the Sugar Tot who tamed our Reba—may your 69th be sweeter than honey.” Matthew McConaughey, a fellow Texan, texted a video: “Alright, alright, alright—happy birthday, brother. That brand? Epic. Let’s chase some longhorns.” And on Happy’s Place set, the cast surprised Rex with a “Tater Tot Toss”—deep-fried spuds hurled like confetti, Reba leading the charge.

At 69, Rex Linn isn’t slowing down. He’s eyeing a Western directorial debut, a memoir titled From Perryton to Primetime: A Drawl and a Dream, and—whispers say—a Vegas wedding extravaganza come spring, with Blake Shelton as best man and Carrie Underwood crooning the first dance. But today, it’s about the man: the actor who’s voiced cartoons (The Iron Giant), sparred with Clint Eastwood (The Outlaw Josey Wales nod in spirit), and charmed Bob Odenkirk off-screen. The Texan who turns every role into a revelation, every birthday into a ballad.

From Perryton’s plains to NBC’s glow, Rex Linn reminds us: Life’s best scripts aren’t written—they’re lived, one shocking, heartfelt twist at a time. Happy birthday, Sugar Tot. May your next chapter be as golden as that brand.