Hilary Duff

Hilary Erhard Duff (born September 28, 1987) is an American actress and singer. After working in local theater plays and television commercials in her childhood, Duff gained fame for playing the title role in the Disney Channel television series Lizzie McGuire. She subsequently ventured into motion pictures and has many successful films to her credit including The Lizzie McGuire Movie, Cheaper by the Dozen, A Cinderella Story and Cheaper by the Dozen 2. She has most recently appeared in According to Greta and Stay Cool. As of December 2010, her upcoming films include, Bloodworth, The Story of Bonnie and Clyde and She Wants Me. Duff has since expanded her repertoire into pop music with the release of three RIAA-certified platinum albums: Metamorphosis, her debut studio album, was certified triple platinum and was supplemented by a further two platinum albums, Hilary Duff and Most Wanted. In 2007, she released her third studio album, Dignity, which was certified gold later than year and spawned singles "With Love" — her highest charting US single to date — and "Stranger". Best of Hilary Duff, a compilation of her greatest hits, was released in the last quarter of 2008 producing her a third #1 on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Songs with the single "Reach Out". Duff has sold over thirteen million records worldwide; her contributions to the music industry have gained her commercial and critical success worldwide while Billboard ranked her the 69th Artist of the 2000s decade. Branching into the fashion industry, Duff has also launched her own clothing lines, Stuff by Hilary Duff and Femme for DKNY Jeans, and two exclusive perfume collections with Elizabeth Arden as well as having been signed on to modelling agency IMG Models. Other business ventures include writing a young adult novel Elixir and being accredited as an executive producer for According to Greta and a producer for the films Material Girls and Beauty & the Briefcase.

Duff, the second of two daughters to Susan Colleen (née Cobb), a homemaker, and Robert Erhard Duff, a partner in a chain of convenience stores, was born in Houston, Texas and grew up with elder sister Haylie Duff, who is also an actress and singer. She was encouraged by her mother to take up acting classes alongside Haylie, resulting in both girls winning roles in various local theatre productions. At the ages of six and eight, the two sisters participated in a BalletMet Columbus production of The Nutcracker Suite in San Antonio. After becoming more enthused at the idea of choosing acting as a profession, the siblings eventually relocated to California with their mother while their father continued to reside at the family home in Houston to take care of their business. The pursuit of an acting career from an early age resolved in Duff being home-schooled. After several years of auditions and meetings, the sisters were cast in various television commercials. Duff's early career was marked by playing minor roles, commencing with an uncredited appearance in 1997 Hallmark Entertainment's western miniseries True Women as well as featuring as an uncredited extra in writer-director Willard Carroll's 1998 ensemble dramedy Playing by Heart. Her first major role was in the 1998 film Casper Meets Wendy, a direct-to-video sequel to Casper: A Spirited Beginning in which she plays the young witch Wendy who befriends the animated character Casper. The film, however, was released to mostly unenthusiastic reviews. In 1999, Duff had 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 performance.

During her Still Most Wanted tour, she performed in Guadalajara, Mexico, where she filmed a brief appearance on the soap opera Rebelde. She was also the guest star on The Andy Milonakis Show for its third season premiere in 2007. In April 2008, Duff was offered the lead role of Annie Mills in the CW Network's Beverly Hills, 90210 spinoff, but she turned it down because she was more interested in looking for projects outside the teen genre. Duff co-wrote the material for her third studio album Dignity, along with Kara DioGuardi, who co-produced the album with Rhett Lawrence, Tim & Bob, and Richard Vission. Duff stated that compared to her previous music, it is "more dancey" and makes use of more real instruments. She said, "I don't know exactly how to explain what we're doing, but it's fun and funky and different, something new for me. It's really cool". Duff also starred opposite John Cusack in War, Inc. which was released in theatres in Los Angeles and Manhattan, New York on May 23, 2008. On September 7, 2007, Duff confirmed on MuchOnDemand, that she would be filming two independent films According to Greta, and What Goes Up. In June 2008, Duff joined the cast of the Polish brothers comedy Stay Cool. She co-starred alongside Winona Ryder, Mark Polish, Sean Astin, Chevy Chase, and Jon Cryer. In the film, she portrayed the character of Shasta O'Neil, described as a sexy high school senior, the film was released in 2009. In November 2008, Duff's second greatest hits album, Best of Hilary Duff was released and the album's first single "Reach Out" which samples Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus" was released in the previous month, the song became Duff's third #1 dance hit. She later announced to MTV that she would begin work on her new album in December 2008.

Duff appeared in an episode of Ghost Whisperer and of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in April 2009. In July 2009, She attained a role in Gossip Girl as a recurring guest star. She played the character of Olivia Burke, a movie star who enrols at NYU in search of a traditional college experience. The following year, she the "Teen Choice Award" for "Best Female's Scene Stealer" in for her role as Olivia Burke. In September 2009, Duff released a second clothing line with DKNY Jeans as Femme for DKNY in the objective of designing a clothing line for girls her own age. Duff starred in Beauty and the Briefcase, a romantic comedy based on the book Diary of a Working Girl, by Daniella Brodsky and directed by Gil Junger. The film premiered on ABC Family on April 18, 2010. In the film, Duff plays a fashion magazine columnist who writes about her dating struggles in the city. Simon & Schuster published Elixir, Duff's first novel, in hardcover on October 12, 2010. Elixir is the first in a series of books that Duff is committed in scribing. The book, aimed at young adults, has since been released internationally and has become a New York Times best-seller. In November 2010, she appeared in an episode of the television comedy series, Community; playing the part of Meghan, the leader of a group of mean girls. As of December 2010, Duff is scheduled to appear in three upcoming films: The Story of Bonnie and Clyde, an adaptation of Bonnie and Clyde; Bloodworth, an adaptation of the novel Provinces of Night by William Gay, where Duff plays Raven Halfacre, a teenage daughter of a promiscuous, alcoholic mother; and She Wants Me, directed by Rob Margolies, in which, she plays a young Hollywood actress named Kim Powers.

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. "With Love...Hilary Duff" was one of the three best-selling fragrances launched at U.S. department stores in late 2006. 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 Valentine's 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' organization, "Animal welfare league" have criticized Duff and celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Jessica Simpson for displaying their dogs as fashion accessories rather than pets. 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". In July 2009, Duff was named as a Youth Ambassador to the children of the Colombian capital, Bogota. As a Youth Ambassador, she will spend five days in the country, distributing backpacks filled with food to needy children.

Duff has stated numerous times that she’s a strong animal rights supporter and has commented, when asked what she would be doing if she weren’t a celebrity, "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." In a June 2006 interview with Elle magazine, Duff was quoted as saying: "...(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".[82][83] Duff later told MuchMusic that she did not say the quotes attributed to her in the article and that the subject was "definitely not something that I would talk about..." She denied the quotes again in a 2008 interview with Maxim magazine. Duff began dating singer Aaron Carter in 2001. They met on the set of Lizzie McGuire, during Carter's guest appearance in a Christmas episode. The relationship lasted two years. It was reported that Carter left Duff for Lindsay Lohan, but soon broke up with Lohan and resumed dating Duff. Carter later stated that he also cheated on Duff with her best friend, and that Duff "got her heart broken" and he was "sorry" for his actions. Duff began dating Good Charlotte singer Joel Madden in 2004. After a long period of tabloid speculation, Duff's mother Susan announced their relationship in a June 2005 interview for Seventeen magazine. Duff and Madden broke up in November 2006. The same year, Duff's parents separated after 22 years of marriage. She wrote about the pain caused by the separation in her songs "Stranger" and "Gypsy Woman". In 2007, Duff began dating Canadian NHL player Mike Comrie. On February 19, 2010, Duff and Comrie announced their engagement. The couple married on August 14, 2010 in Santa Barbara, California.