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Zachary David Alexander Efron (born October 18, 1987) is an American actor and singer. He began acting in the early 2000s, and became known to young audiences after his roles in the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical, the WB series Summerland, and the film version of the Broadway musical Hairspray. Speaking to Newsweek in June 2006, director Adam Shankman described Efron as "arguably the biggest teen star in America right now." In 2007, right before the release of High School Musical 2, Rolling Stone declared him the "poster boy for tweenyboppers" and featured him in their late August issue. It took just one TV movie to change young actor Zac Efron from a supporting player to a bonafide teen star. Of course, that TV movie was The Disney Channel’s tween pop cultural phenomenon, “High School Musical” (2005), which elevated Efron to major league heartthrob status for his eminently crushable turn as a high school jock who discovers his hidden love for singing. Prior to “High School Musical,” the Arroyo Grande, CA native had appeared in a string of supporting and minor roles on television, most notably in the WB teen drama “Summerland” (2004-05), which starred another reigning tween favorite, Jesse McCartney. Efron was born in San Luis Obispo, California and later moved to Arroyo Grande, California. His father, David Efron, is an engineer at a power plant, and his mother, Starla Baskett, is a former secretary who worked at the same power plant as Efron's father. Although of Jewish ancestry, Efron was raised agnostic and has never been religious. Efron had a self-described "normal childhood" in a middle class family, and has a younger brother, Dylan. He has said that he would "flip out" if he got a 'B' and not an 'A' in school, and that he was a "class clown." Efron's father encouraged him to begin acting when Efron was eleven. Zac Efron took his first step toward acting at the age of 11 when his parents took note of his singing ability. Singing lessons soon led to an appearance in the production of "Gypsy" that ran 90 performances and he was hooked. After appearing on-stage in "Peter Pan," "Auntie Mame", "Little Shop of Horrors" and "The Music Man", guest parts quickly followed on television series, including "Firefly" (2002), "ER" (1994), and "The Guardian" (2001). After guest-starring in several episodes of "Summerland" (2004), he joined the regular cast as girl-crazy Cameron Bale. Efron also starred in several pilots such as "The Big, Wide World of Carl Laemke" and "Triple Play." He also recently starred as an autistic child in the television movie Miracle Run (2004) (TV), alongside Mary-Louise Parker and Aidan Quinn. Efron graduated Arroyo Grande High School in June 2006. Efron's favorite sports include golf, skiing, rock climbing, and snowboarding. He recently added surfing after spending days on the beach for "Summerland." He plays the piano at home, and is currently teaching himself to play the guitar. He's also currently fixing up two cars in his spare time, a Delorean and '65 Mustang convertible, both treasured hand-me-downs from his even-more-treasured grandfather. Efron lives at home with his parents and his younger brother Dylan. They have two highly affectionate Australian Shepherds, Dreamer and Puppy, and a very independent Siamese cat named Simon. He subsequently appeared in theater productions at his high school, worked in a theater called The Great American Melodrama and Vaudeville, and began taking singing lessons. Efron performed in plays such as Gypsy, Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, Little Shop of Horrors, The Music Man and Mame, appearing at the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts and graduating from the same. Efron was recommended to an agent in Los Angeles by his drama teacher, Robyn Metchik (the mother of actors Aaron Michael Metchik and Asher Metchik). Efron was accepted into the University of Southern California, but deferred his enrollment to Spring 2007 while he worked on film projects. He plans to return at some time. Efron has also graduated from the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts, a community college located in Santa Maria, California, which provided him with a two-year vocational certificate program specializing in all aspects of acting. PCPA Course Curriculum He attended during the years of 2000 and 2001. In 2002, Efron began to appear in guest roles on several television series, including Firefly, ER, and The Guardian. He portrayed Cameron Bale on the now-cancelled WB series Summerland. Originally introduced as a recurring character, Efron became a regular cast member on the show in the second season in 2004, starring opposite the likes of Kay Panabaker,Lori Loughlin and Jesse McCartney. Since appearing in Summerland, he has also had guest roles on the shows CSI: Miami, NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and The Replacements. In 2003, Efron starred in the Lifetime original television movie Miracle Run. He played Steven Morgan, one of two autistic twins. For his performance, he was nominated for a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Movie, Mini-series or Special - Supporting Young Actor. In 2005, he played a main character in Hope Partlow's music video for her song "Sick Inside." Also in 2005, he played horse-loving Patrick McCardle in The Derby Stallion, where his character wants to beat the town bully at the steeple chase race. In 2006, Efron starred in the Disney Channel original movie High School Musical as Troy Bolton, the popular student and captain of the basketball team. The film, which he initially made with "low expectations", helped Efron gain recognition among teenage audiences as both an actor and a singer. As a result, he placed as high as #4 on the IMDBPro's STARMeter for the week of January 29, 2006. In August 2006, Efron won a Teen Choice Award in the Breakout Star and the TV - Choice Chemistry categories, shared with Vanessa Anne Hudgens. The film's cast, along with Efron, toured Sydney, Australia, London, England, and other locations to promote the film. Shortly after High School Musical aired, Efron debuted with two simultaneous charted songs on Billboard Hot 100 on February 4, 2006, with "Get'cha Head in the Game" and "Breaking Free," a duet with Vanessa Anne Hudgens from the film. On the following week's chart, Efron had five simultaneous song credits from High School Musical: "Get'cha Head in the Game," "Start of Something New," "What I've Been Looking For: Reprise," "We're All in This Together" and "Breaking Free." "We're All in This Together" was credited to the whole High School Musical cast. "Breaking Free," at the time, made the fastest climb in the history of the Billboard charts, from #86 to #4 between the two weeks; the record has since been beaten by Beyoncé and Shakira's "Beautiful Liar." Efron also appeared in the 2006 Disney Channel Games as captain of the Red Team. Efron's singing talents were disputed when it was revealed that Andrew Seeley's voice was blended with his on the soundtrack of High School Musical. An August 23, 2007 interview in Rolling Stone magazine revealed that he had been cast in High School Musical after the songs were written, and the songs (written for a tenor) were somewhat out of his baritone vocal range. Efron's subsequent singing performances in Hairspray and High School Musical 2 were genuine, though arguably not as polished as those of Seeley's. Efron stated in interviews that he feels his future is that of a serious dramatic actor, not necessarily a singer. While riding the “HSM” wave, Efron attempted to parlay his popularity into a Fox TV series entitled “If You Lived Here, You’d Be Home By Now” (2006), which was inspired by the Oakwood apartment complex in Los Angeles which serves as a temporary home for countless aspiring teen actors. The pilot was unfortunately not picked up for the 2006-07 season. But fans did not have to wait long for his next project. In 2006, it was announced that Efron would be joining the cast of the highly anticipated film version of the popular Broadway musical “Hairspray” (2007). Much of the press was quick to point out that Efron, who was playing the show’s heartthrob, Link Larkin, would be doing all of his own singing (in an pre-emptive strike against any lingering doubts of his abilities). Interestingly enough, Efron seemingly balked on releasing a pop album, unlike his “HSM” co-stars Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, and Corbin Bleu, all of whom inked contracts with major labels for their own CDs. On April 7, 2007, Efron appeared in an episode of Punk'd. Efron also starred in the music video for Vanessa Hudgens's single "Say OK", where he played her love interest. The video aired on March 16, 2007 on Disney Channel. That year, he was named one of People magazine's 100 Most Beautiful People in 2007. A picture and short profile of him was in the section "Coming of Age". In it, he related how he was always the shortest kid in school (he is now 5'8") and was teased for the "huge gap" in his teeth. In 2006, Efron was cast as Link Larkin in a film version of Hairspray released on July 20, 2007. Efron performed all of his own vocals in the role, which was filmed in Toronto, Ontario, from September 5 to December 2, 2006. He cut and dyed his hair dark brown and gained about 15 pounds for the role. Both Efron's performance and the film have received positive reviews. Because of this, he was not able to perform with his fellow castmates in High School Musical: The Concert. Drew Seeley took over for him. Efron presented the 2007 Teen Choice Award for "Favorite Movie" alongside Queen Latifah. Efron's upcoming roles include 17 Again, a high school-set drama/comedy produced by Adam Shankman and based on a pitch by Jason Filardi; the plot involves an adult who is transformed into a 17-year old (to be played by Efron). Efron is also scheduled to star in Paramount's musical remake of the film Footloose; he has said that he would like to add his "own little bit of flair" to the role originated by Kevin Bacon. Efron has completed filming his role in Seventeen and it will be released in August of 2008. For his portrayal of Link Larkin in Hairspray, Efron (along with his co-star Nikki Blonsky) won the "One to Watch" award of the Young Hollywood Awards. Efron appeared on the cover of the August 2007 edition of Rolling Stone. The article about him revealed that he hopes to someday play an action hero. Before the release of High School Musical 2, Efron topped IMDBPro's Star Meter at #1, indicating that he was the most searched celebrity. Additionally, Lycos reported searches for Efron surged by 81%. Amid the frenzy surrounding Zac Efron, the release of High School Musical 2 set a new record, becoming the most watched basic cable program in U.S. history, with 17.2 million viewers. Efron co-hosted the 2007 Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards with The Veronicas on October 10 in Sydney. Efron was chosen to headline the film "Me and Orson Welles" with filming in England and Isle of Man. Efron will be reprising his role as Troy for possibly the final time in High School Musical 3: Senior Year. Parents: David and Starla Siblings: Dylan Pets: Two Australian Shepherds, Dreamer and Puppy, and Siamese cat, Simon On the Billboard Hot 100 chart of 2006, Zac had five simultaneous song credits. The songs were "Get'cha Head in the Game" (solo), 3 duets with Vanessa Anne Hudgens ("Breaking Free," "Start of Something New," and "What I've Been Looking For") and "We're All in this Together" credited to the High School Musical (2006) (TV) cast. All tracks were from the soundtrack of "High School Musical". The Zac Efron-Vanessa Anne Hudgens duet "Breaking Free" from High School Musicalmade the fastest climb in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, leaping from 86 to 4 in one week. With the popularity of High School Musical, he had to change his phone number after getting numerous calls from fans. Zac's most prized possession is his autographed baseball collection. Is a huge San Francisco Giants fan. Met his current girlfriend, Vanessa Anne Hudgens, during castings for High School Musical. They were paired together near the end of casting to see how well they worked together. Favorite Cartoon Show: Rocko's Modern Life. He donated many items to Rocky Stone to be given to less fortunate kids as part of the Toy Mountain Campaign. Attended the World Cup in Germany with Corbin Bleu. The first concert he ever went to was a Wallflowers concert. Has one sibling, younger brother, Dylan. Simon Cowell offered him a record deal but he turned it down saying, "...acting is my main priority". Named #93 on Empire Magazine's 100 Sexiest Movie Stars. (2007). Had his appendix removed and is recuperating January 15, 2008. His favorite movie is The Goonies (1985). Ranked #24 on interview magazines Hollywood faces to watch "Future Stars of Tomorrow". Was ranked #26 on Entertainment Weekly's '30 Under 30' the actors list. (2008). Was ranked #2 on TV Guide Top 10 Teen Star Countdown (2008). Efron is represented by the Creative Artists Agency. Efron has two dogs, Australian shepherds named Dreamer and Puppy, along with a Siamese cat named Simon. Efron was dating his High School Musical series co-star Vanessa Anne Hudgens in August 2007. On January 15, 2008 Efron was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for an emergency appendectomy. |
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