American actress, singer-songwriter and entrepreneur Hillary Duff was born on September 28, 1987 in Houston, Texas. Her elder sister, Haylie Duff, is also an actress and singer, while her father is a film producer. Hillary and her sister took up acting classes together, soon landing roles on several local theater productions. They also participated in the ballet The Nutcracker Suite with Columbus BalletMet in San Antonio. The two soon developed a strong passion for acting, eventually relocating to California and working on numerous television commercials.
Hillary Duff began her acting career with minor roles. She started off with an uncredited appearance on the western miniseries True Women in 1997, for the Hallmark Entertainment Channel. Her first major role became a direct-to-video movie which was a sequel to Casper. It was titled Casper Meets Wendy, and she played the female lead despite unenthusiastic reviews. Duff’s next effort became more recognized, as she accepted a supporting role in the TV film The Soul Collector. This led her to winning a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Movie or Pilot. In 2000, she shot to fame playing one of the children in the pilot episode of NBC’s Daddio. After being dropped from the show, she was encouraged to audition for the children’s television series Lizzie McGuire. She played the title role of a clumsy and average school girl, earning a million viewers per episode for the ratings. It became so popular that it spawned an entire franchise, with Duff reprising her role for the feature film spin-off, The Lizzie McGuire Movie. Since then, she was given roles in other productions. She was in the Disney Channel film Cadet Kelly, alongside Christy Carlson Romano and Gary Cole. In 2002, Duff was seen in the independent motion picture Human Nature, while launching her music career. Some of her songs appeared on the Lizzie McGuire soundtrack and movie, allowing her to branch out into making her own debut album in 2003. That year, she was also cast alongside Frankie Muniz in Agent Cody Banks, and was able to work with Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt in the Cheaper by the Dozen films. Her other appearances include those in Joan of Arcadia, Chicago Hope, Frasier and George Lopez. Some of her other films have been Raise Your Voice and A Cinderella Story, while coming up with her second album, which was self-titled. She was next seen on The Perfect Man in 2005, as well as in Material Girls and the comedy thriller War, Inc. She is also known for her clothing line, “Stuff by Hillary Duff,” released in 2004.
Stay Cool
Safety Glass
Greta
Foodfight
War, Inc
Material Girls
Cheaper by the Dozen 2
The Perfect Man
"George Lopez"
"Joan of Arcadia"
In Search in Santa
Raise Your Voice
A Cinderella Story
"Lizzie McGuire"
"Frasier"
Cheaper by the Dozen
"American Dreams"
The Lizzie McGuire Movie
Agent Cody Banks
Cadet Kelly
Human Nature
"Chicago Hope"
The Soul Collecto
Casper Meets Wendy
“I'm not scandalous. I think it's actually embarrassing to be in those, yet some people will do anything to be in those magazines. I'm happy with who I am, and I'm happy with the way people portray me. If it's too normal, than that's their opinion.”