Hilary Duff Biography:
Teen actress Hilary Duff
quickly rose to fame on the
strength of her winning
performance on the successful
television series Lizzie
McGuire. Born in Houston, TX,
September 28, 1987, she
developed an interest in dance
at the age of six and began
taking ballet lessons, later
making her stage debut in a
Christmas production of -The
Nutcracker. She developed a
stronger passion for acting
after being cast in a television
commercial, and, in 1998,
appeared in the direct-to-video
Casper Meets Wendy as
Wendy, a youthful witch.
After taking on more dramatic
roles in the made-for-TV movie
The Soul Collector and a
guest appearance on Chicago
Hope, Duff was cast in the title
role of Lizzie McGuire in 2001.
A sitcom for young people,
Lizzie McGuire concerned the
trials and tribulations of
middle-school student Lizzie
as she and her animated alter
ego deal with the funny side of
adolescence. An immediate hit
on The Disney Channel, the
show made Duff a
recognizable face to television
viewers, and Disney quickly
responded by casting her in a
made-for-cable movie, Cadet
Kelly, which earned high
ratings. In 2002, the actress
also made a brief appearance
in the offbeat comedy Human
Nature, playing Young Lila, a
hirsute child who grows up to
become Patricia Arquette.
After the success of Lizzie
McGuire, Duff branched out
into music, writing and singing
a song for the show's
soundtrack album, and
recording a Christmas album
in 2002. Released in theaters
in the summer of 2003, The
Lizzie McGuire Movie provided
the ideal cinematic alternative
for pre-teen girls uninterested
in the exploits of X2: X-Men
United and too young to be
swept up in the hype of The
Matrix Reloaded. Taking in
twice the cost of production in
only four weeks at the box
office, Duff stunned fans less
than a month after the film's
stateside release by
announcing that, due to
contract negotiation failures,
she would be departing from
the lucrative Lizzie McGuire
franchise to pursue other
career opportunities. By the
time the show's finale aired in
2004, Duff had already kicked
her film career into high gear,
closing out 2003 with three hit
films under her belt: Agent
Cody Banks, the
aforementioned Lizzie
McGuire Movie, and the
holiday blockbuster Cheaper
by the Dozen.
Hoping to keep her momentum
growing, Duff attached herself
to another trio of features in
2004, two of which were
helmed by Lizzie McGuire
director Mark Rosman. She
next starred in the drama
Raise Your Voice, playing a
girl who learns to fight for her
dreams. In 2005 she returned
for the sequel Cheaper by the
Dozen 2, and starred opposite
Heather Locklear in the
romantic comedy The Perfect
Man. In 2006 Hilary starred
alongside her sister Haylie in
the Martha Coolidge helmed
Material Girls where they
played spoiled sisters whose
lives change radically when
their family loses its fortune.
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