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Ashley Tisdale
Tisdale in 2008, during the premiere of High School Musical 3: Senior Year
Background information
Birth name	Ashley Michelle Tisdale
Born	July 2, 1985 (1985-07-02) (age 24) West Deal, New Jersey, U.S.
Genres	Pop, Teen pop, Dance pop, Pop rock[1]
Occupations	Actress, singer, songwriter, television producer, spokesperson
Years active	1988–present
Labels	Warner Bros. Records
Website	www.ashleytisdale.com/

Ashley Michelle Tisdale (born July 2, 1985) is an American actress, singer and television producer who rose to prominence portraying the candy-counter girl Maddie Fitzpatrick in Disney Channel's The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and the female antagonist Sharpay Evans in the High School Musical film series. Her role as Evans required her to perform several songs in the film series' soundtracks. Tisdale became the first female artist to debut with two songs simultaneously on the Billboard Hot 100,^[2] in the week of February 12, 2006,^[3] with "What I've Been Looking For" and "Bop to the Top", both songs from the first High School Musical soundtrack — the top-selling album in the United States for 2006.^[4]

After her first High School Musical appearance, she signed with Warner Bros. Records and launched a solo music career. Her debut album Headstrong, was released in February 2007, debuted at number five in the U.S. chart with 64,000 copies sold in the first week^[5] and was later certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.^[6] A second studio album, Guilty Pleasure, was released in 2009.^[7] Tisdale has also a prominent voice role as Candace Flynn in Disney Channel's Phineas and Ferb and starred in the 2008 television film Picture This and in the 2009 feature film Aliens in the Attic.^[8]

Early life and career beginnings

Tisdale was born in West Deal, Monmouth County, New Jersey on July 2, 1985,^[2] to Lisa (née Morris) and Mike Tisdale, the runner a construction company. Her elder sister, Jennifer Tisdale, is an actress and her maternal grandfather, Arnold Morris, developed the Ginsu Knives. Through her grandfather, Tisdale is also related to businessman Ron Popeil.^[9] She grew up in Ocean Township. She is Jewish on her mother's side and considers herself Jewish.^[10]

At the age of three, Tisdale met her current manager Bill Perlman at a New Jersey mall. He sent her to numerous auditions for commercials, resulting in her placement in more than 100 national network TV ads as a kid.^[2] She began her theatrical career by appearing in Gypsy: A Musical Fable and The Sound of Music at Monmouth County's Jewish Community Center.^[2][12]

At the age of eight, she was cast to play the part of Cosette in the Broadway musical, Les Misérables. "When I was little, I saw the play Les Misérables on Broadway, I thought it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen so I went to my manager and told him I wanted to be in it", said Tisdale in an interview to Newsday in 2007.^[11] She also claims to have had only a single singing lesson before landing the role.^[11] Tisdale toured for two years on Les Misérables^[13] before landing a role in an international touring production of Annie.^[2] At the age of twelve, Tisdale sang at the White House for President Clinton.^[2]

Career

1996–2006

Tisdale performing at the High School Musical: The Concert tour

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Tisdale had minor roles in several television shows such as The Hughleys, Smart Guy, 7th Heaven, Boston Public and Bette and in the feature films A Bug's Life and Donnie Darko, her first film appearances.^[1] During this time, she simultaneously worked as a Ford Model.^[9] For her role in Boston Public, she received a 2000 Young Artist Award nomination for "best guest performance in a TV drama", which was her first nomination.^[14] In 2004, she was cast as the teenage candy-counter girl Maddie Fitzpatrick in the Disney Channel series, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody which premiered in March 2005 and finished in 2008.^[9] She later won her first award at the UK Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards for her role as Fitzpatrick.^[15][9]

In 2005, Tisdale was cast as the popular, narcissistic high school student Sharpay Evans in the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical, which premiered in January 2006, although the producers of the film did not initially consider her because of her "good-girl image" on The Suite Life.^[11] She lend her vocals for several songs in the film's soundtrack, which was the top-selling album in the United States in 2006.^[4] Tisdale became the first female artist to debut with two songs simultaneously on the "Billboard Hot 100" with "What I've Been Looking For" and "Bop to the Top", both songs from the film.^[2] High School Musical became Disney Channel's most watched movie that year, with 7.7 million viewers in its premiere broadcast in the US.^[16] Tisdale joined the rest of the main cast of the film in the High School Musical: The Concert, a 40-city concert tour that included performances of the film's songs and reached cities in the United States, Canada and Latin America.^[9]

Due to the enormous popularity earned by Tisdale through her role, Warner Bros. Records signed her for a recording contract in July, 2006 and she started working on her debut album.^[17] Disney asked Tisdale to record a cover version of "Kiss the Girl", for the 2006 re-release of The Little Mermaid DVD.^[9] In the same year, she also covered Wham!'s "Last Christmas", which became her first release via Warner Bros. In December 2006, a three-song EP, He Said She Said, was released to promote her debut album, which would be released in 2007.^[18]

2007–present

Tisdale performing at the 2009 Comet Awards

Headstrong is Tisdale's debut album, released in February 2007 via Warner Bros.^[5], which debuted at number five on the Billboard 200, with 64,000 copies sold in that week.^[5] "Be Good to Me" was released as the album's first single in the December, 2006 and "He Said She Said" was released as the second, in September, 2007. In 2008, "Not Like That" and "Suddenly" were released as singles in a selective number of countries that did not include the US.^[19][20] Tisdale released her first music DVD, There's Something About Ashley, in November 2007 with a three-song trilogy comprising music videos and a documentary about the creation of her debut album,^[21] which was later certified Gold in the US for the shipment of 500,000 copies^[6] and voted the sixth best 2007 album by Billboard readers.^[22]

Tisdale reprised her role as Sharpay Evans in High School Musical 2, the second installment of the film series and lend vocals for several tracks in the film's soundtrack.^[11] Her performance in the High School Musical 2 was critically successful and praised by many media outlets such as The Hollywood Reporter.^[23][24][25] The film received 17 million viewers on its premiere night and became Disney Channel's most-watched television movie.^[26] Tisdale received a voice role in Disney Channel's Phineas and Ferb, portraying the series' main antagonist Candace Flynn and also contributed to the show's 2009 soundtrack, performing numerous songs as her character.^[27]

In 2008, Tisdale starred as Mandy Gilbert, an unpopular teenager at high school, in the ABC Family Original Movie Picture This and was also one of the film's executive producers.^[28] She reprised her role for the last time^[29] as Sharpay Evans in the third installment of the High School Musical series, High School Musical 3: Senior Year, which premiered in October 2008 in theaters.^[9] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly labeled her one of film's breakout stars and said her portrayal of Evans makes "narcissism a goofy, bedazzled pleasure",^[30] while English film critic Mark Kermode gave to Tisdale the title of "Best Supporting Actress" of 2008.^[31] Tisdale was nominated for numerous awards for her performance in the film, winning the MTV Movie Award for "Breakthrough Performance Female" in 2009.^[32] High School Musical 3 earned $42 million in its domestic opening weekend, which became the biggest opening for a musical film.^[33]

After months working on her second studio album, Tisdale released Guilty Pleasure in 2009,^[7] an album that generated mixed reviews and has a 54% rating on Metacritic, based on five critic reviews^[34], including one by Billboard, where they claimed the album "doesn't give the singer room to comfortably let loose".^[35] When compared to Headstrong, Tisdale stated its follower includes "more rock and edgier" music.^[36][37] Guilty Pleasure debuted at number twelve on the Billboard 200, selling 25,000 copies in its first week, archiving a low commerical performance in comparison with her debut album,^[38] and it was later chosen as the seventh best album of the decade by Billboard readers.^[39] The song "It's Alright, It's OK" was released as the album's lead single on April 2009 in the United States in airplay and digital formats^[36] and a second single, "Crank It Up", was released in October.^[40] Tisdale made a special appearance in Boys Like Girls' music video for "Love Drunk".^[41]

Tisdale starred in the 2009 20th Century Fox family feature film Aliens in the Attic as Bethany Pearson, the elder sister of the family^[8] and although she is credited as one of the main characters, The New York Times said Tisdale "spends much of the film off screen".^[42] The film was a minor sucess in box office, grossing $60 million worldwide and staying in release in the US for seventeen weeks.^[43][44] In 2009, she reprised her role as Maddie Fitzpatrick during a episode of Disney Channel's The Suite Life on Deck and also made a guest appearance as the celebrity volunteer of an episode of the reality show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.^[45][46] As a producer^[47], Tisdale owns a production company named Blondie Girl Productions and is currently working on several projects including an animated series^[47][48] and a reality show with FremantleMedia.^[47] In October 2009, Tisdale was cast in the film, Sleepless Beauty.^[49]

Musical style

Tisdale's music is predominantly pop^[1] and has included ballads and pop rock.^[50] Love and heartbreak are major themes in Tisdale's songs and her output makes use of electronic instruments such as drum machines and electric guitars. She co-wrote several songs on her studio albums.^[51][52][53] Her musical influences include Kelly Clarkson,^[54] The Used,^[54] Boys Like Girls,^[54] Michael Jackson,^[55] My Chemical Romance,^[56] and Lady GaGa.^[57] and in an AOL interview, Tisdale said, "I’ve been a big fan of Pink ever since she started. I love Katy Perry’s sense of humor and her pop/rock feel. I love Pat Benatar's music. I’m inspired by all these women when I’m going into the studio, but almost anything inspires me."^[58]

Public image and personal life

Tisdale and fans at Q100 Jingle Ball 2008

Tisdale is a member of the Creative Artists Agency.^[59] In 2007, Tisdale appeared in a promotional campaign for Staples, Inc.'s "Geared 4 School" sweepstakes and appeared in promotional campaigns for Eckō Red clothing brand, that included a mall tour in the US which performances in fashion shows hosted at each^[21] Tisdale was romantically involved with Jared Murillo and ended their relationship in March 2009.^[60] In March 2007, Tisdale told Blender she was drug and alcohol-free, and does not smoke and went on to add, "my mom really instilled confidence in me, so I'm not somebody who'd be under peer pressure".^[61] She was ranked #10 in Maxim's 2008 Hot 100 list and was ranked #94 on Forbes' 2008 Celebrity 100 list.^[62][63]

She underwent a septoplasty procedure on November 2007 to correct her partially deviated septum. According to Tisdale, this was done for "health-related reasons and not out of a belief in plastic surgery". The procedure corrected two small fractures in her nose which were interfering with her breathing. She spoke to People magazine about the surgery, saying that it was important to her to be honest with her fans.^[64]

In 2008, Tisdale was ranked #17 in "Forbes' High Earners Under 30" list and earned $2.8 million from High School Musical 3.^[65] She also teamed up with Huckleberry Toys to produce a limited quantity of dolls modeled after her.^[66] She was the face of Degree Girl in the U.S. and recorded several commercials and songs to promote the product.^[67] In 2009, Tisdale signed a five-year endorsement contract with Italian clothes line, Puerco Espin^[68] and became a volunteer for the 2009 "Get on the Bus" charity campaign.^[69]

Filmography

Films

Television

Discography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ashley Tisdale

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• The Official Ashley Tisdale Site
• Ashley Tisdale at the Internet Movie Database
• Ashley Tisdale at TV.com
• Ashley Tisdale at YouTube