Hillary Duff Biography Filmography Discography

Hilary Erhard Duff was born September 28, 1987 in Houston, Texas as the second child of Robert Erhard Duff, owner of a chain of convenience stores, and his wife Susan Colleen Cobb, a homemaker. Duff's middle name of "Erhard" was the maiden name of her part German American paternal grandmother, Mary Erhard; Duff also has German ancestry on the part of her maternal grandmother, Amy Beulah Schlemmer. After Duff's mother encouraged her to take an acting class alongside her older sister, Haylie Duff, both girls won parts in various local theatre productions. At the age of six, the Duffs participated in the ballet The Nutcracker Suite with Columbus Ballet Met in San Antonio. The siblings became more and more enthusiastic about the idea of acting professionally, and they eventually relocated to California with their mother. Bob Duff stayed at the family home in Houston to maintain their business. Through years of auditions and meetings, both sisters managed to clinch appearances in several television commercials.

Hillary started her acting career starting off with an uncredited appearance in Hallmark Entertainment's western miniseries True Women (1997). She also served as an extra, again uncredited, in writer and director Willard Carroll's ensemble comedy drama Playing by Heart (1998). Her first major part was as the star of the 1998 film Casper Meets Wendy, playing the young witch Wendy who encounters the animated character Casper. Like Casper: A Spirited Beginning (1997), the first sequel to the hugely successful Casper (1995), the film went direct-to-video with generally unenthusiastic reviews.

Her first serious shot at fame came when she was cast as one of the children in the pilot episode of the NBC sitcom Daddio (2000). Said Michael Chiklis, star of Daddio, "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".[1] However, before the show had even aired, Duff was dropped from its cast lineup and became reluctant to continue her acting career. Her manager and mother, Susan Duff, spurred her on, and she successfully auditioned for the family comedy show Lizzie McGuire a week later.
Lizzie McGuire, which first aired on the Disney Channel in January 2001, was a ratings hit, drawing in 2.3 million viewers per episode,[1] and became the career breakthrough Duff had been waiting for. Her participation in the show led to her becoming highly popular among children between the ages of seven and fourteen, with Richard Huff of the New York Daily News calling her "a 2002 version of Annette Funicello".[1] After fulfilling her entire sixty-five episode contract, as well as participating in a film spin-off entitled The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003), Disney toyed with the idea of continuing the franchise in further movies and a prime-time television series to be broadcast on ABC, but Duff refused the proposal.

In 2004, Duff starred in the romantic comedy A Cinderella Story, a twenty-first century update of Charles Perrault's fairy tale Cinderella. The film became a moderate box office hit, and some critics were impressed by Duff's performance, as well as her chemistry with co-star Chad Michael Murray. Later that year, she starred in the romance film Raise Your Voice. While some critics praised Duff for appearing in a more dramatic role than she had previously been seen in, the film was heavily panned. Reviews were, by and large, negative to Duff's vocals (several critics have pointed out what appears to be her digitally enhanced voice and indifferent towards her acting performance, although she did receive a Razzie award nomination for "Worst Actress" (in addition to her work in A Cinderella Story). The film also received a muted reception at the box office, where it became Duff's least commercially successful film to date. >br>Hillary next appeared in yet another cute and cuddly romantic comedy, “The Perfect Man” (2005), wherein she tries to hook up her mom (Heather Locklear) with the right guy so she’ll stop moving to another city whenever she breaks up with her latest beau. The movie was rocked by a spate of bad reviews, leaving one critic on the verge of vomiting from its sugary sweetness.

Filmography

Casper Meets Wendy (1998)
Cadet Kelly (2002)
The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003)
Cheaper by the Dozen (2003)
Agent Cody Banks (2003)
A Cinderella Story (2004)
Raise Your Voice (2004)
In Search Of Santa (2004)
The Perfect Man (2005)
Disneymania 3 In Concert (2005)
Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (2005)
Material Girls (2006)
Outward Blonde (2006)
The New Girl (2006)
Foodfight! (2007)

Discography

Santa Claus Lane (2002)
Metamorphosis (2003)
Hillary Duff (2004)
Most Wanted (2005)