Born in Milford, Michigan on January 2, 1975, Dax (Randall) Shepard had an interest in comedy as a child and wanted to do stand up. Too afraid at first, he decided to relocate to California in 1995 with the intention to "force" himself to do it. A year later he decided to move to Los Angeles and enrolled at The Groundlings before subsequently joining the Sunday Company of The Groundlings.

By 2003, he landed a spot on the hidden camera-practical joke reality television series "Punk'd" which was created and produced by Asthon Kutcher. Earning notice, he began to score several guest starring roles in the years ahead, like those on TV show "My Name Is Earl" and in films "Cheaper by the Dozen", "Zathura", "Employee of the Month", "Baby Mama", and "When in Rome".

In 2010, Shepard was one of the main cast on the NBC drama "Parenthood", playing Crosby Braverman. It noticeably became his breakout role in showbiz. While remaining on the series, he also acted in "Hit and Run", for which he also served as writer, director, and editor, "Veronica Mars", and "The Judge". Shepard once dealt with addiction, but had been sober since 2004. On his relapse, he admitted, "I just loved to get fucked-up-drinking, cocaine, opiates, marijuana, diet pills, pain pills, everything. Mostly my love was Jack Daniel's and cocaine. I was famous for going out on Thursday night to have a couple of beers, and that just led all the way to Saturday night."

As for his love life, Shepard has been married to actress wife Kristen Bell since October 17, 2013. They have a daughter Lincoln Bell Shepard, born in March 2013. By 2014, the couple is expecting their second child.