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Biography
Use mdy dates|date=April 2011pp-semi-blp|small=yesInfobox person| name = Zac Efron| image = Zac Efron 2012.jpg| image_size = 220px| caption = Efron at the premiere of The Lucky One , Sydney, Australia, April 9, 2012| birth_name = Zachary David Alexander Efron| birth_date = Birth date and age|1987|10|18|mf=yes| birth_place = Nowrap begin San Luis Obispo, California , U.S.Nowrap end| occupation = Actor, singer| years_active = 2002& ndash;present Zachary David Alexander "Zac" Efron (born October 18, 1987) is an American actor and singer. He began acting professionally in the early 2000s and became known with his lead roles in the List of Disney Channel Original Movies|Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical , the The WB Television Network|WB series Summerland (TV series)|Summerland , and the 2007 film version of the Broadway musical Hairspray (2007 film)|Hairspray .cite news|url= http://et.tv.yahoo.com/newslink/15071|title=Zac Efron Joins Cast of Hairspray|publisher=CBS Studios|date=June 26, 2006|accessdate=August 15, 2006 Efron has since starred in the films 17 Again (film)|17& nbsp;Again , Me and Orson Welles , Charlie St. Cloud (film)|Charlie St.& nbsp;Cloud , '' New Year's Eve (film)|New Year's Eve , and The Lucky One (film)#Adaptation|The Lucky One .
In 2007, Rolling Stone declared him the "poster boy for tweenyboppers" and featured him in their late August 2007 issue.
Early life and education
Efron was born in San Luis Obispo, California ,cite book|url= http://books.google.com/? id=E1_62i8rtSAC& pg=PA6& dq=%22zac+efron%22+jewish#v=onepage& q=%22zac%20efron%22%20jewish& f=false |title=Zac Efron |publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group |year=2009 |author=Katie Franks |accessdate=March 11, 2011|isbn=978-1-4042-4465-8 and later moved to Arroyo Grande, California . His father, David Efron, is an electrical engineer at a power station, and his mother, Starla Baskett, is a former secretary who worked at the same power plant.cite journal|title=Zac Efron|journal=Life Story |page=11|url= http://x-zac-efron-x.skyrock.com/pics/481761434_small.jpg Efron has a younger brother, Dylan, and had, as he has described it, a "normal childhood" in a middle class family.cite news |last=Ouzounian|first=Richard|title=Zac Efron: The High School hunk|work=The Toronto Star |date=August 4, 2007 |url= http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/242589|accessdate=August 7, 2007 He is an Agnosticism|agnostic , having never been religious. His surname, " Efron ", means " lark " in Hebrew language|Hebrew (his paternal grandfather was Jewish).Cite news|last=Bloom|first=Nate|coauthors=|title=Jews in the News: Celebrity Scoop:Ashley Tisdale, The Extra Man and Im Still Here!|pages=|publisher=Let My People Grow|date=September 3, 2010|url= http://letmypeoplegrow.org/2010/09/jews-news-celebrity-scoopashley-tisdale-extra-man-here/|accessdate=February 23, 2011cite journal|last=Millea|first=Holly|title=Zac Attack|journal=Elle|publisher= Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. |date=July 2007|url= http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g52/Hairspray-Movie-Musical/ellejuly2007.jpg |accessdate=August 10, 2007cite news|last=Culture staff|first=|coauthors=|title=Zac Efron to Smuggle Cocaine (in a movie)|pages=|publisher=ShalomLife|date=April 16, 2010|url= http://www.shalomlife.com/eng/10878/Zac_Efron_to_Smuggle_Cocaine_(in_a_movie)/|accessdate=May 1, 2010
Efron has said that he would "flip out" if he got a "B" and not an "A" in school, and has also described himself as having been a class clown .cite news|title=It's True!|publisher=BOP|year=2006|url= http://bopmag.com/its_true/18/1.shtml|accessdate=July 19, 2007 His father encouraged him to begin acting when he was 11 years old. Efron subsequently appeared in theater productions at his high school,cite journal|title=The Inside Scoop on Zac Efron|journal=Life Story III|url= http://x-zac-efron-x.skyrock.com/pics/481761434_small.jpg worked in the theater The Great American Melodrama and Vaudeville, and began taking singing lessons. He performed in shows such as Gypsy: A Musical Fable|Gypsy ; '' Peter and Wendy|Peter Pan; or, The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up ; Little Shop of Horrors (musical)|Little Shop of Horrors ; and The Music Man . He was recommended to an agent in Los Angeles by his drama teacher, Robyn Metchik (the mother of actors Aaron Michael Metchik and Asher Metchik).cite news|last=Pemberton|first=Patrick S.|title=A Rising Star|publisher=SanLuisObispo.com|date=July 19, 2007|url= http://www.sanluisobispo.com/ticket/story/95872.html|accessdate=July 19, 2007 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20070927212631/ http://www.sanluisobispo.com/ticket/story/95872.html |archivedate = September 27, 2007cite journal|title=Getting to Know Zac Efron|journal=Life Story I|url= http://www.zefron.com/gallery/displayimage.php? album=143& pos=33 Efron was later signed to the Creative Artists Agency .cite news|first=Dave |last=McNary|url= http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117971688.html? categoryid=13& cs=1|title=New Line taps Steers to drive 17|accessdate=September 9, 2007 | work=Variety | date=September 9, 2007
Efron graduated from Arroyo Grande High School in 2006cite web|url= http://www.locallinks.com/zac_efron_high_school_graduation.htm|title=Zac Efron High School Graduation and was then accepted into the University of Southern California , but has deferred his enrollment to work on film projects. He also attended Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts , a community college located in Santa Maria, California , which provided him with the opportunity to perform as a "young player" during the years of 2000 and 2001.cite web |url= http://www.pcpa.org/Default.asp? Page=139|title=The PCPA Alumni Page
Career
Early work
In 2002, Efron began to appear in guest roles on several television series, including Firefly (TV series)|Firefly , ER (TV series)|ER , and The Guardian (TV series)|The Guardian . He portrayed Cameron Bale on the now-cancelled The WB Television Network|WB series Summerland (TV 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 (TV series)|NCIS , The Suite Life of Zack & Cody|The Suite Life of Zack& nbsp;& Cody and The Replacements (TV series)|The Replacements . In 2003, Efron starred in the Lifetime (TV network)|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& nbsp;Movie, Mini-series or Special& nbsp; Supporting Young Actor.cite web|title=IMDB|work=IMDB Awards for Zac Efron|url= http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1374980/awards|accessdate=March 13, 2006 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.
Breakthrough
In 2006, Efron starred in the Disney Channel original movie High School Musical as Troy Bolton, a 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, even though his singing voice was overdubbing|overdubbed . As a result, he placed as high as #4 on the Internet Movie Database|IMDBPro's STARMeter for the week of January& nbsp;29, 2006.cite web|title=IMDB Pro |work=IMDB Prop StarMeter|url= http://pro.imdb.com/name/nm1374980/graph-data|accessdate=March 13, 2006 In August 2006, Efron won a Teen Choice Award in the Breakout Star and the TV& nbsp; Choice Chemistry categories, shared with Vanessa Hudgens . The film's cast, along with Efron, toured Sydney|Sydney, Australia , London|London, England , and other locations to promote the film.
Shortly after High School Musical aired, on February& nbsp;4, 2006, Efron debuted with two simultaneous charted songs on Billboard Hot 100|Billboard Hot& nbsp;100 from the film: " High School Musical (soundtrack)|Get'cha Head in the Game " and " Breaking Free ", a duet with Hudgens. On the following week's chart, Efron had five simultaneous song credits from High School Musical : "Get'cha Head in the Game", " High School Musical (soundtrack)|Start of Something New ", " What I've Been Looking For|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 was beaten by Beyoncι and Shakira 's " Beautiful Liar ".cite web|work=Billboard |url= http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp? vnu_content_id=1003564845|title=Akon Scores Second No 1 Hit from Konvicted|accessdate=March 29, 2007 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 Drew Seeley 's voice was blended with his on the High School Musical (soundtrack)|soundtrack of High School Musical .cite news|url= http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/chart_beat/chat_display.jsp? vnu_content_id=1001995389 |title=Billboard.com |publisher=|date= |author=|accessdate=March 11, 2011dead link|date=March 2011 An August& nbsp;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.
2007present
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|Say& nbsp;OK ", in which he played her love interest. The video aired on March& nbsp;16, 2007 on the Disney Channel. That year, he was named one of People (magazine)|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 (as of August 2007, he was& nbsp;5'8")cite news|last=Elkin|first=Michael|title='High' Times Ahead|publisher= The Jewish Exponent |date=August 2, 2007|url= http://www.jewishexponent.com/article/13651|accessdate=August 7, 2007 and was teased for the "huge gap" in his teeth.cite journal|title=Coming of Age|journal=People|date=May 7, 2007|page=171
In 2006, Efron was cast as Link Larkin in a film version of Hairspray (2007 film)|Hairspray released on July& nbsp;20, 2007. Efron performed all of his own vocals in the role,cite web |title=MSNBC|work=Hollywood: Hello to Hairspray|url= http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13531836/site/newsweek|accessdate=June 25, 2006Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot which was filmed in Toronto , Ontario, from September& nbsp;5 to December& nbsp;2, 2006. He cut and dyed his hair dark brown and gained about 15 pounds for the role.cite web|title=Canada.com|work=Summer of stars|url= http://www.canada.com/topics/entertainment/story.html? id=9f391590-9a3f-4f6e-90da-e8328b66219c& k=14936|accessdate=June 25, 2006 His performance and the film received positive reviews. Efron was not able to perform with his fellow castmates in High School Musical: The Concert because of commitments on the film Hairspray . Drew Seeley took over for him.
High School Musical 2 was released in August 2007. Additionally, Lycos reported searches for Efron surged by 81%.cite web|first=Kathy|last=O'Reilly|url= http://www.sys-con.com/read/419294.htm|title=Lycos Announces HBO 'Weeds' Star Mary Louise Parker Sparks Online Interest, Making First-Ever Appearance on Search List; Golf Continues to Score Hole in One with Web Users|date=August 22, 2007 The film set a new record, becoming the most watched basic cable program in U.S. history, with 17.2& nbsp;million viewers.cite news|url= http://www.reuters.com/article/televisionNews/idUSN2140314620070822|title=Disney Channel crushes rivals in weekly ratings |agency=Reuters | date=August 22, 2007 Efron also appeared on the cover of the August 2007 edition of Rolling Stone .Strauss, Neil (August 23, 2007), http://www.zefron.com/gallery/displayimage.php? album=352& pos=5 Zac Efron the new American hearthrob, The Rolling Stone, pg 43. Retrieved August 21, 2007. The article about him revealed that he hoped to someday play an action hero . Efron presented the 2007 Teen Choice Award for "Favorite Movie" along with Queen Latifah , and later that year, he co-hosted the Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards with The Veronicas on October& nbsp;10 in Sydney.cite web|url= http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx? id=289741|title=Efron to host Aussie Kids Choice awards|date=August 26, 2007
In early 2008, Efron was cast in the lead role in the film Me and Orson Welles . Based on Robert Kaplow 's novel of the same name,cite news|author=Martin Tsai/The Star-Ledger |title= Robert Kaplow on the making of 'Me and Orson Welles'|work=Newark Star-Ledger|quote= Robert Kaplow teaches 12th grade ... even he found Zac Efron's screaming fans to be overwhelming. ... Released in December, "Me and Orson Welles" garnered many favorable reviews ...|date= April 17, 2010|url= http://www.nj.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2010/04/robert_kaplow_on_the_making_of.html|accessdate= January 10, 2010 the story, set in 1937 New York, tells of a teenager hired to star in Orson Welles' production of Julius Caesar , where he becomes attracted to a career-driven production assistant. The film was shot in the Isle of Man , London and New York, during February& nbsp; April 2008. It was introduced to North America via the Toronto Film Festival on September& nbsp;5, 6, and 11, 2008cite news|url= http://www.variety.com/index.asp? layout=festivals& jump=story& id=1061& articleid=VR1117990479 cs=1|title=Toronto fest adds 20 films to lineup | work=Variety and was released in 2009. Efron was also scheduled to star in Paramount's musical remake of the film Footloose (2011 film)|Footloose ,cite news |last=Gans|first=Andrew|title="Hairspray" Star Efron Will Be "Footloose" in Film Remake|work=Playbill |date=July 11, 2007 |url= http://www.playbill.com/news/article/109472.html|accessdate=July 11, 2007 and has said that he would like to add his "own little bit of flair" to the role originated by Kevin Bacon . In March 2009, he dropped out of the film.cite web|url= http://movies.yahoo.com/news/movies.eonline.com/105699- |title=Zac Efron No Longer Cuttin Footloose Efron was quoted as saying that while it was a promising gig, he left the project because he "was looking for a new challenge, and this was another musical."cite web|url= http://www.gossipgirls.com/zac-efron/zac-efron-talks-turning-down-footloose-286955|title=Zac Efron Talks Turning Down "Footloose"|date=April 3, 2009|publisher= Gossip Girls |accessdate=May 26, 2009
Efron reprised his role in High School Musical 3: Senior Year|High School Musical& nbsp;3: Senior Year , which was theatrically released on October& nbsp;24, 2008. His next role was in 2009's 17 Again (film)|17& nbsp;Again , a high school-set comedy-drama produced by Adam Shankman and based on a pitch by Jason Filardi ;cite news|last=McNary|first=Dave|coauthors=Michael Fleming |title=School ties for New Line|publisher=Variety|date=February 27, 2007|url= http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117960264.html? categoryid=13& cs=1|accessdate=June 19, 2007 the plot involved an adult who is transformed into a 17-year old (played by Efron).cite news|last=Carroll|first=Larry|title='High School Musical' Star Zac Efron Pulling A Reverse Tom Hanks With Seventeen|publisher=MTV Movie News|date=June 19, 2007|url= http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1562778/20070618/story.jhtml|accessdate=June 19, 2007
On April 8, 2009, Efron's participation in a comedic short video entitled "Zac Efron's Pool Party" for the website Funny Or Die was released for public viewing.cite web|url= http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/557c57321b/zac-efron-s-pool-party |title=Zac Efron's Pool Party from Zac Efron, Thomas Lennon, Nicole Sullivan, Vanessa Hudgens, Justin Long, Brody Jenner, Nicole Richie, Joel Madden, Jessica Stroup, Brittany Snow, Carmen Electra, Queen Latifah, Lance Bass, and Abby Pivaronas Video |publisher=Funnyordie.com |date= |accessdate=April 21, 2010 On April& nbsp;11, 2009, Efron hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live .cite web|url= http://snl.jt.org/ep.php? i=200904110 |title=SNL Archives , Episode |publisher=Snl.jt.org |date=April 11, 2009 |accessdate=April 21, 2010 In early June 2009 it was confirmed that Efron would be making a guest appearance during the sixth season of HBO's comedy series Entourage (TV series)|Entourage .cite web|url= http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b127065_zac_efron_joins_hbos_entourage.html |title=Zac Efron Joins HBO's Entourage |publisher=E& #33; Online |date=June 2, 2009 |accessdate=April 21, 2010 Efron starred in a series of advertisements, along with Kristen Bell and Sean Combs , promoting the 2010 MTV Movie Awards and the host, Aziz Ansari . In 2009, he signed on to play title character in the movie Charlie St. Cloud (film)|Charlie St.& nbsp;Cloud .cite web|url= http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/marc_malkin/b106717_zac_efron_putting_high_school_musical.html |title=Zac Efron: Putting High School Musical Behind Him |date=March 30, 2009 |accessdate=March 31, 2009 The film was released on July& nbsp;30, 2010.
Efron was second on People (magazine)|People 's 2011 Most Beautiful list.cite web|title=PEOPLE's Most Beautiful 2011|url= http://www.people.com/people/package/gallery/0,,20360857_20481337,00.html#20936759|work=People|date=April 13, 2011 That year, he appeared in Garry Marshall 's '' New Year's Eve (film)|New Year's Eve , which did well on the box-office despite receiving many negative reviews from critics. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/new_years_eve_2011 In 2012, he voiced Teg Wiggins in The Lorax (film)|The Lorax and starred in The Lucky One (film)|The Lucky One '', a film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks ' The Lucky One (novel)|novel of the same name . He will co-star in The Paperboy (2012 film)|The Paperboy alongside Nicole Kidman .
Upcoming roles
Efron has been slated to star in the title role of the live-action adaptation of the Jonny Quest cartoons.cite web|url= http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php? id=54424 |title=Zac Efron Confirmed for Jonny Quest|date=April 13, 2009 |accessdate=April 13, 2009 Additional projects include Einstein Theory cite web|url= http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1374980/|title=IMDB:Zac Efron|publisher= IMDB |accessdate=July 10, 2010 and an adaptation of Fire (Image Comics)|Fire , by Image Comics . On February& nbsp;11, 2011, it was reported that Efron will star in the action romance Charlie Countryman .cite news|url= http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/exclusive_zac_efron_to_star_in_the_necessary_death_of_charlie_countryman/|title=Zac Efron Attached To Star In 'The Necessary Death Of Charlie Countryman'|last=Jagernauth|first=Kevin|work= indieWire |publisher= SnagFilms |date=February 11, 2011|accessdate=February 12, 2011Cite news|last=Sturdivant|first=Kristy|coauthors=|title=Zac Efrons Charlie Countryman gets a director|pages=|publisher=Flix 66|date=March 15, 2011|url= http://www.flix66.com/2011/03/15/zac-efrons-charlie-countryman-gets-a-director/|accessdate=March 15, 2011 He is also set to star in and produce the American remake of Swedish crime film Easy Money (2010 film)|Easy Money .Daniel Ekeroth: Swedish Sensationsfilms: A Clandestine History of Sex, Thrillers, and Kicker Cinema, (Bazillion Points, 2011) ISBN 978-0-9796163-6-5.cite web |url= http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1637088/zac-efron-star-drug-thriller-snabba-cash.jhtml? rsspartner=rssBloglines |title=Zac Efron To Star In Drug Thriller 'Snabba Cash' |first=Adam |last=Rosenberg |work=MTV |date=April 15, 2010 |accessdate=April 28, 2011
http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/zac-efron/news/192497 Zac Efron at TV Guide
Navboxes|title = Awards for Zac Efron |list = MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough PerformanceMTV Movie Award for Best PerformanceNickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards
Persondata|NAME = Efron, Zachary David Alexander |ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Efron, Zac |SHORT DESCRIPTION = American actor |DATE OF BIRTH = October 18, 1987 |PLACE OF BIRTH = San Luis Obispo, California |DATE OF DEATH = |PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Efron, Zac Category:1987 births Category:Actors from California Category:American agnostics Category:American child actors Category:American child singers Category:American film actors Category:American people of Jewish descent Category:American television actors Category:American voice actors Category:Arroyo Grande, California Category:Living people Category:Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts alumni Category:People from San Luis Obispo, California
