|Origin = Houston, Texas, United States
|Occupation = Actress, singer, model, spokesperson, fashion designer
|Genre = Pop
|Years_active = 1997–present
|Instrument = Vocals
|Label = Hollywood
|URL = http://www.hilaryduff.com/ HilaryDuff.com
}}
'''Hilary Erhard Duff'''
[Middle name reference can be found in ''Hilary Duff: All Access'' (2005) by Rettenmund, Matthew. U.S.: Berkley Trade. p. 2. ISBN 0-425-20519-3 (U.S.).] (born September 28 1987) is an American actress and singer. After gaining fame for her starring role on the television show ''
Lizzie McGuire'', she went on to have a film career, and her most commercially successful pictures include ''
Cheaper by the Dozen'' (2003) and ''
A Cinderella Story'' (2004). Duff has also expanded her repertoire into pop music, with four studio albums, including one scheduled for release in 2006.
Early life and career
Duff was born in Houston, Texas, the second child of Robert Erhard Duff, owner of a chain of convenience stores, and Susan Colleen Cobb, a homemaker. After Duff's mother encouraged her to take an acting class alongside her older sister, Haylie, both girls won parts in various local theatre productions. At the age of six, the Duff sisters participated in the ballet ''The Nutcracker Suite'' with Columbus Ballet Met in San Antonio. The siblings became more enthusiastic about the idea of acting professionally, and eventually relocated to California with their mother. Robert Duff stayed at the family home in Houston to maintain their business. After several years of auditions and meetings, the Duff sisters were cast in several television commercials.
[Huff, Richard.http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/39915p-37686c.html A very busy Miss 'Lizzie'. ''New York Daily News''. December 1, 2002. Retrieved May 22, 2005.]Television and film
Most of Duff's first few acting roles were small, 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-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 second sequel to the successful ''
Casper'' (1995), the film was released direct-to-video with generally unenthusiastic reviews.
Duff later appeared in a supporting role in the television film ''The Soul Collector'' (1999), which was based on a Kathleen Kane novel and starred Bruce Greenwood as an angel who helps out a female farmer (Melissa Gilbert) whose husband has recently died. Duff ended up winning a Young Artist Award for "Best Performance in a TV Movie
