Ashley Tisdale Biography

Summary

"Ashley Michelle Tisdale" (born July 2 1985) is an American actress and singer.

After appearing in several television roles during the late 1990s and early 2000s, she became known to young audiences for playing Maddie Fitzpatrick on the Disney Channel Original Series "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" and Sharpay Evans in the Disney Channel Original Movie "High School Musical". Tisdale has also pursued a music career and released her debut album "Headstrong" on February 6 2007. She also participated in "High School Musical: The Concert" and reprised her role as Sharpay Evans in "High School Musical 2".

Personal life

Tisdale was born in Monmouth County, New Jersey on July 2 1985, to Lisa (née Morris) and Mike Tisdale. Her elder sister Jennifer Tisdale is also an actress. Her maternal grandfather is Arnold Morris, the developer of Ginsu Knives; through her grandfather, she is also related to businessman Ron Popeil. Tisdale is Jewish on her mother's side and considers herself Jewish. She was discovered by Bill Perlman, her current manager, at South Shores Mall, when she was three. After booking her first audition, she went on to star in around hundred national network commercials. At the age of eight, she got a leading role in the Broadway musical, "Les Misérables" and later toured internationally with the cast of "Annie". She began acting, appearing in stage productions of "Gypsy: A Musical Fable" and "The Sound of Music" at the Jewish Community Center of Monmouth County.

Career

Film and television

During the late 1990s, Tisdale had guest appearances in several television series, which included "Smart Guy", "7th Heaven", "Grounded for Life", "Boston Public", "Strong Medicine", "Charmed", and "Beverly Hills, 90210". She had a minor role in the 2001 film, "Donnie Darko" and a guest appearance on "The Amanda Show". She had recurring roles on the sitcoms "The Hughleys", and "Still Standing". In 2002, she starred in a notable TV commercial for Fruit Gushers, in which her head transformed into an oversized orange. She also starred in a T-Mobile commercial with Catherine Zeta-Jones and was in a Toys r Us commercial with Abigail Breslin.

In 2005, Tisdale was cast in the role of Maddie Fitzpatrick on "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" after auditioning for the roles of Maddie Fitzpatrick and London Tipton. As the series became popular, Tisdale became a featured performer on the Disney Channel and performed a voice role in "Whisper of the Heart". She was also cast in Disney Channel Original Movie "High School Musical", which became a major success for the channel after its premiere on January 20, 2006. Tisdale also auditioned for the role of Erin Ulmer in "Final Destination 3" but lost out to Canadian actress Alexz Johnson.

Tisdale was cast as Sharpay Evans in Disney Channel Original Movies, "High School Musical". Tisdale had originally auditioned for the role of Gabriella Montez, but was eventually cast as Sharpay Evans, because it was felt that her alto voice suited a darker character. She reprised her role as Sharpay Evans in "High School Musical 2" which premiered on August 17, 2007. She appeared in the "Disney Channel Games 2006" as captain of the Green Team. Tisdale is also appearing in the second rendition of the Disney Channel Games this year. More recently, Tisdale signed a deal with Staples, Inc. to appear in the promotional campaign for the company's 'Geared 4 School' sweepstakes in the fall. Tisdale will also have a supporting role in the Disney Channel cartoon "Phineas and Ferb".

Tisdale appeared in the second episode of Season 8 of MTV's "Punk'd" in which, she visits a children's hospital and sings 'Kiss the Girl' to a little boy in a coma. Midway through the song, the boy wakes up. As she was singing, the lyrics were censored out, as MTV did not own the rights to the song. She also appeared in an episode where she helped Ashton Kutcher to punk her good friend and "High School Musical" co-star Zac Efron.

Tisdale told JustJared.com during an interview at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards that she will be filming a movie in August. On July 18, 2007, MTV News confirmed in an article interview with Ashley Tisdale, that the movie is titled " Picture this". This father-daughter movie features Tisdale as an unpopular girl working at Petco. Ashley states she will probably return to her natural brunette hair color for this movie.

Music

Tisdale's role in "High School Musical" required her to perform several songs, which included songs such as 'What I've Been Looking For,' 'Bop to the Top,' and 'We're All in This Together'. All three managed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. Additionally, Tisdale made music history by being the first female artist ever to debut with two songs simultaneously on the Billboard Hot 100 with 'What I've Been Looking For' and 'Bop to the Top'. She has also recorded cover versions of 'Some Day My Prince Will Come' and 'Kiss The Girl' (including a music video) for Disney. In addition to these, she recorded a version of 'A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes' with other members of the Disney Channel Circle of Stars.

Tisdale's first solo album, "Headstrong", was released on February 6 2007 and was distributed by Warner Bros. Records. The album debuted at number five on the Billboard 200 album charts, selling 64,000 copies. Though her first single was 'He Said She Said', written by J. R. Rotem and Evan 'Kidd' Bogart, it was released later, with 'Be Good To Me' being released as her first single. In January 2007, Tisdale was declared the 2nd Hottest Woman of Pop/R&B by Blender Magazine, which stated, 'Tisdale has a gift. Not an angelic voice or a dazzling personality, but an even rarer commodity: millions of 'pre-sold' tweens eager to buy her debut album!'. In March 2007, Tisdale told "Blender" that she was drug and alcohol-free, and went on to add, 'my mom really instilled confidence in me, so I'm not somebody who'd be under peer pressure'. Recently, a Brazilian newspaper claimed that Ashley's new album "Headstrong" sold 23,000 copies in Brazil, while the worldwide sales for "Headstrong" have been over 709,500.

Recently, Lil Mama and Tisdale recorded a song called 'Graffiti Gurl' for Lil Mama's debut album "Voice of the Young People".

Music videos

Tisdale shot a music video for her single, 'Be Good To Me', which was from her album "Headstrong ". A video for the same single also featured on the "High School Musical: The Concert" DVD. Ashley also featured in a music video remake of, 'Kiss the Girl', from "The Little Mermaid", which is included on "The Little Mermaid" Special Edition DVD. She has also featured in the 'A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes' (originally from Disney's "Cinderella") music video made for Disney Channel, along with several other Disney Channel stars. The music videos of 'What I've Been Looking For' and 'We're All In This Together' from "High School Musical" are available on iTunes. The US iTunes Store also sells the "High School Musical" movie and the concert version.

Tisdale filmed three music videos for 'He Said She Said', 'Not Like That' and 'Suddenly' for her current album "Headstrong" on June 26 2007. On September 19 2007, 'He Said She Said' premiered in the US on TRL.