Hilary Duff

(born September 28, 1987) is an American actress and singer. After working in local theater plays and television commercials in her childhood, Duff gained fame for playing the title role in the Disney Channel television series Lizzie McGuire. Duff subsequently ventured into feature films, with many successful movies to her credit including The Lizzie McGuire Movie, Cheaper by the Dozen, A Cinderella Story and Cheaper by the Dozen 2. She has most recently appeared in According to Greta and Stay Cool. As of November 2010, her upcoming films include, Bloodworth, The Story of Bonnie and Clyde and She Wants Me.

Duff has since expanded her repertoire into pop music with the release of three RIAA-certified platinum albums and over thirteen million records sold worldwide as of February 2007.[1] Her first studio album, Metamorphosis, was certified triple platinum and supplemented it with two more platinum albums, Hilary Duff and Most Wanted. Duff released her third studio album, Dignity, which was certified gold in August 2007[2] and released two singles, "With Love", her highest charting US single to date and "Stranger". In November 2008, she released a compilation of her greatest hits, Best of Hilary Duff, whose single "Reach Out" became her third #1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play.

Duff has also branched into fashion with the launch of her own clothing lines, Stuff by Hilary Duff and Femme for DKNY Jeans, and two exclusive perfume collections with Elizabeth Arden as well as being signed on as a model to IMG Models New York.[3] Other business ventures include the scribing of a young adult novel Elixir and being acredited as a producer and executive producer for the movies Material Girls[4] and According to Greta respectively.

On February 19, 2010, Duff became engaged to NHL player Mike Comrie. The couple married on August 14, 2010 in Santa Barbara, California.

Early life
Duff with her sister in April 2008.Duff was born in Houston, Texas[6] as the second of two daughters of Susan Colleen (née Cobb), a homemaker, and Robert Erhard Duff, a partner in a chain of convenience stores.[7] She has an elder sister, Haylie Duff, who is also an actress/singer. Duff's mother encouraged Hilary to take up acting classes alongside her elder sister, which resulted in both girls winning roles in various local theatre productions.[8] At the ages of eight and six, respectively, the Duff sisters participated in the ballet, The Nutcracker Suite with Columbus BalletMet in San Antonio.[6] The siblings became more enthusiastic about the idea of choosing acting as a profession, and eventually relocated to California with their mother, while their father resides at the family home in Houston to take care of their business.[7][8] After several years of auditions and meetings, the Duff sisters were cast in various television commercials.[7] In a 2009 interview with Vanity Fair, Duff mentioned that she was home schooled due to her early start of an acting career.