Hilary Erhard Duff

Born on September 28, 1987
Hilary Erhard Duff is an American actress and singer-songwriter. After working in local theater plays and television commercials in her childhood, Duff gained fame for playing the title role in the television series Lizzie McGuire. Duff went on to have a film career; her most commercially successful movies include Cheaper by the Dozen (2003), The Lizzie McGuire movie (2003), and A Cinderella Story (2004).

Duff's early career was marked by playing minor roles, starting off with an uncredited appearance in Hallmark Entertainment's western miniseries True Women in 1997. She also served as an uncredited extra, in writer-director Willard Carroll's ensemble dramedy Playing by Heart in 1998. Her first major role was as a star of the 1998 film Casper Meets Wendy, a direct-to-video sequel to Casper in which she plays the young witch Wendy, who encounters the animated character Casper. The film was released to mostly unenthusiastic reviews.

In 1999, Duff appeared in a supporting role in the television film The Soul Collector, which was based on a Kathleen Kane novel. Duff won a Young Artist Award for "Best Performance in a TV Movie or Pilot (Supporting Young Actress)" for her role in the movie.

Duff's first serious rise to fame came when she was cast as one of the children in the pilot episode of the NBC sitcom Daddio in 2000. Her co-star Michael Chiklis, stated, "After working with her the first day, I remember saying to my wife, 'this young girl is going to be a movie star'. She was completely at ease with herself and comfortable in her own skin." Duff was dropped from the cast of Daddio before it being aired, which made her reluctant to pursue her acting career further. However, her manager and mother urged her on, and a week later she successfully auditioned for the children's television series, Lizzie McGuire where she portrayed the title role of a clumsy but an average middle school girl. The show focused on her growth into teenhood.

Lizzie McGuire, which first aired on the Disney Channel on January 12, 2001, was a ratings hit, drawing in 2.3 million viewers per episode. Her participation in the show led to her becoming highly popular among children between the ages of seven and fourteen, with critic Richard Huff of the New York Daily News calling her "a 2002 version of Annette Funicello".After Duff fulfilled her 65 episode contract with Lizzie McGuire, Disney considered continuing the franchise further, through films and a prime-time television series to be broadcast on ABC. However, the plans failed because Duff's representatives said she was not being paid enough for the proposed series. Duff also starred in the Disney Channel television film Cadet Kelly (2002), which became the network's most watched program in its 19-year history. In the movie, she plays a free-spirited girl who enrolls in a military school and finds it hard to adjust to its strict and disciplined environment.

Duff's first role in a theatrical motion picture was in Human Nature (2002), an independent film shot around the time of the start of Lizzie McGuire. It was first showcased at the Cannes and Sundance film festivals. The film, written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Michel Gondry, follows a female naturalist, played by Patricia Arquette. Duff played the younger version of Arquette's character. The same year, Duff recorded a cover version of Brooke McClymont's "I Can't Wait" for the Lizzie McGuire soundtrack, and "The Tiki Tiki Tiki Room" for the first DisneyMania compilation album. Her first album was Santa Claus Lane (2002), a collection of Christmas songs that included duets with her sister Haylie, Lil' Romeo and Christina Milian. Accompanied by the Disney Channel-only single "Tell Me a Story (About the Night Before)", it peaked at 154 on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart and was certified gold. The track "Santa Claus Lane" was included on the soundtrack to The Santa Clause 2 and the single, "What Christmas Should Be", was used in Cheaper by the Dozen. Duff sang several tracks for soundtrack to The Lizzie McGuire Movie, which included "I Can't Wait" and "Why Not", the latter peaking at # 14 in Australia. The soundtrack to The Lizzie McGuire movie went platinum in 2003

Duff's first full-length studio album, Metamorphosis (2003), reached number one on the U.S. and Canadian charts and had sold over 3.7 million copies by May 2005. The lead single, "So Yesterday" (co-written and produced by The Matrix), was a top ten hit in several countries, its follow-up, the Laguna Beach theme song "Come Clean", became Duff's first top forty U.S. hit and reached the top twenty in UK, Australia and New Zealand. The video was nominated in the category of Best Pop Video at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards. The third single, "Little Voice", was not released in the U.S. and was a minor hit in Canada and Australia. In late 2003, Duff embarked on her first concert tour, the Metamorphosis Tour, and later the Most Wanted Tour. Most shows scheduled in the major cities were completely sold out.

In January 2004, the second DisneyMania disc, DisneyMania 2, was released and featured a duet, "The Siamese Cat Song" with her sister. Another song, "Circle of Life", featured Duff and other Disney Channel stars. Duff and her sister recorded a cover of The Go-Gos' "Our Lips Are Sealed" for the soundtrack to A Cinderella Story, which also included two other songs by Duff. The video for "Our Lips Are Sealed" was popular on MTV's Total Request Live, but the song failed to chart on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.

Duff's second full-length album was the self-titled Hilary Duff in which she co-wrote some songs. She described the album as more "personal" and having a "rock feel" than Metamorphosis. It was released on her seventeenth birthday (in September 2004) and debuted at #2 in the U.S. and at #1 in Canada. The album sold over 1.5 million copies in the U.S. in eight months,[but its only U.S. single, "Fly", failed to chart on the Hot 100. "Fly" reached the top forty in Australia, where the album produced a second top forty single, "Someone's Watching over Me", which was the theme song of the film Raise Your Voice. Duff contributed the song "(I'll Give) Anything but Up!" for the 2004 album Marlo Thomas & Friends: Thanks & Giving All Year Long

Entrepreneurship
Duff launched her clothing line, "Stuff by Hilary Duff", in March 2004, with clothes distributed through Target in the United States, Kmart in Australia, Zellers in Canada, and Edgars Stores in South Africa. The company, initially started as a clothing line, has expanded its business into furniture, fragrances, and jewelry, targeted at the teen and preteen crowd. In 2007, the Internet website Stardoll.com previewed Duff's clothing line to customers by allowing them to dress up a paper doll on the website (which include Hilary Duff's own doll) with the clothes.

In February 2009, Duff and DKNY Jeans announced their new design partnership and the launch of their collaborative apparel line. Duff co-designed a collection of special pieces with DKNY Jeans brand called "Femme" for DKNY Jeans. The clothing line will debut in fine department and specialty stores nationwide in August 2009.

Playmates Toys released a celebrity doll of her in 2004. In late 2006, Mattel released a Hilary Duff Barbie doll. As a fashion designer, she had designed clothes for Barbie dolls in the past and with the release of her doll, she joined Reese Witherspoon, Beyonce Knowles and Lucille Ball who have their own celebrity-dolls.

In September 2006, Duff released her perfume, "With Love... Hilary Duff", which was distributed by the Elizabeth Arden company. The perfume was initially sold only in Macy's in the U.S. and soon it was being sold in other regions like Japan and Canada. In 2007, Duff announced that she will be releasing a summer version of the perfume titled, "Wrapped With Love". It was released in January 2008, and a Spring Gift Set version was released in time for Valentines Day.

Duff and her pet dog Lola made an appearance in the Electronic Arts game The Sims 2: Pets, which was released on October 2006. In console versions of the game, Duff's character visits public areas and allows the players to let their Sims socialize with her and Lola. Animal rights' organisation, "Animal welfare league" have criticised Duff and celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Jessica Simpson for displaying their dogs as fashion accessories rather than pets.

Hilary Duff quotes
Every week I read about myself in a magazine, about something that I haven't done or some place that I've never been or don't even know. It's just gossip, rumors, egos, and politics.

"...(virginity) is definitely something I like about myself. It doesn't mean I haven't thought about sex, because everyone I know has had it and you want to fit in"
"I always wanted to be a veterinarian when I was younger, but then I figured out that animals actually die there, so that was not the job for me. Definitely something with kids or animals or something like that."
- Hilary Duff

Duff is involved with various charities, is an animal rights enthusiast and a member of Kids with a Cause.She also donated $250,000 to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. In 2005, she donated over 2.5 million meals to Hurricane Katrina victims in the south. In August 2006, Duff traveled to a New Orleans elementary school and worked with USA Harvest to distribute meals. She has also served on the Advisory Board of the "Audrey Hepburn Child Benefit Fund" and the Celebrity Council of "Kids with a Cause". On October 8, 2008, Duff starred in a public service announcement for The Think Before You Speak Campaign by Ad Council and GLSEN, to prevent youth from using anti-LGBT vocabulary, such as the phrase "That's so Gay".

Discography

Studio albums

* 2003: Metamorphosis
* 2004: Hilary Duff
* 2007: Dignity

Other albums

* 2002: Santa Claus Lane (Christmas album)
* 2005: Most Wanted (Compilation album)
* 2006: 4Ever (Compilation album) - released in Italy only.
* 2008: Best of Hilary Duff (Compilation album)

Awards

2000 Best Performance in a TV Movie or Pilot - Supporting Young Actress (The Soul Collector)
Young Artist Awards
2003 Teenager of the Year
Rolling Stone
2004 Favorite Female Singer
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, USA
Best Young Ensemble in a Feature Film (Cheaper by the Dozen)
Young Artist Awards


Birth name Hilary Erhard Duff
Born September 28, 1987 (1987-09-28)
Houston, Texas, U.S.
Genre(s) Pop, teen pop, pop rock, dance-pop, bubblegum pop, electronic rock, electropop, synthpop
Occupation(s) Actress, singer, songwriter, fashion designer, film producer, spokesperson
Instrument(s) Vocals
Years active 1997—present
Label(s) Walt Disney (2001—2003)
Buena Vista (2001—2004)
Hollywood (2002—2008)

In 2005, Duff's earnings were estimated to be $15 million and in December 2007, Duff was ranked at #7 in the Forbes "Top 20 Earners Under 25", with an annual earnings of $12 million.
In 2007, Duff was ranked at #23 in Maxim's "Hot 100" list.
In 2008, Duff was ranked #7 for the US edition of FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World", while for the UK edition she ranked in at #8.
Website http://www.hilaryduff.com/