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Zachary David Alexander Efron (born October 18, 1987) is an American actor and singer.

Speaking to Newsweek, director Adam Shankman described Efron as "arguably the biggest teen star in America right now".

Biography

Early life

Zac Efron was born in San Luis Obispo, California to David Efron and Starla Baskett, of Jewish descent. He has a brother, Dylan, and owns two Australian Shepherds named Dreamer and Puppy, as well as a Siamese cat named Simon. At age eleven, his singing talent was discovered and encouraged, and he was cast in the musical Gypsy for 90 performances. He went on to have roles in stage productions of Peter Pan, Little Shop of Horrors, The Music Man, and Mame.

Career

In 2002, Efron began to have guest roles on television series, including Firefly, ER, and The Guardian.

Efron is best known for portraying Cameron Bale on the now-cancelled WB series Summerland. Originally introduced as a guest star, Efron became a regular cast member on the show in the second season in 2004. Since appearing in Summerland, he has also had guest roles on the shows CSI: Miami, NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.

In 2003, Zac starred in the Lifetime original TV movie Miracle Run. He played Steven Morgan, one of two autistic twins. Overcoming incredible odds, with his mother's support, he achieved the unimaginable, winning a cross country competition. For his performance, he was nominated for a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Movie, Miniseries or Special - Supporting Young Actor.

In 2005, Zac was a main character in Hope Partlow's music video for "Sick Inside"

In 2006, At age 18, Efron starred in the Disney Channel original movie High School Musical as Troy Bolton alongside actresses Vanessa Anne Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale and actor Lucas Grabeel. This role helped Efron gain recognition among teenage audiences as both an actor and a successful singer. Combined with his simultaneous appearances on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and NCIS, Efron placed as high as #4 on the IMDBPro's STARMeter for the week of January 29, 2006. Efron's singing talents were disputed when it was revealed that Andrew Seeley's voice was blended with Efron's voice on the soundtrack of High School Musical.

Efron became the first artist to debut with two charted songs in the same week on the February 4, 2006 Billboard Hot 100, with the songs, Get'cha Head In the Game (feat. Basketball team) and Breaking Free, a duet with Vanessa Anne Hudgens from High School Musical. On the following week, Efron had five simultaneous song credits, all from High School Musical, including, once more, Get'cha Head in the Game, Breaking Free (which made the fastest climb in the history of the Billboard charts, from #86 to #4 between the two weeks), Start of Something New and What I've Been Looking For: Reprise, as well as We're all in this Together, which was credited to the High School Musical cast. Zac is also in the first ever Disney Channel Games as captain of the Red Team. On his team are Kay Panabaker, Anneliese van der Pol, Moises Arias, Dylan Sprouse, and Shin Koyamada.

In June of 2006, Efron was cast as Link Larkin in the upcoming film version of Hairspray, also starring Amanda Bynes, Queen Latifah and John Travolta. Efron will perform all of his own vocals in the film. Filming will take place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada from September 5 to December 8, 2006. Zac will be dying his hair black and gaining about 15lbs for the role in Hairspray.

Television and film roles

HE Hot

Guest appearances

• TRL April 26, 2006 - As himself alongside with Ashley Tisdale
• The Suite Life of Zack and Cody (2006) - Trevor
• Navy NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service (2006) - Danny
• Heist (TV series) (2006) - Pizza Delivery Guy
• CSI: Miami (2005) - Seth Dawson
• The Guardian (2004) - Luke Tomello
• ER (2003) - Bobby Neville
• The Big Wide World of Carl Laemke (2003) - Pete Laemke
• Firefly (2002) - Young Simon
• Sick Inside (2005) - Hope Partlow- Cheating Guy
• Room Raiders

Discography

Albums

• 2006: High School Musical: The Soundtrack — #1 US (2x Platinum) (US Sales: 2,008,000)
• 2007: High School Musical 2: The Soundtrack — early 2007

Singles

• 2006: Breaking Free with Vanessa Anne Hudgens & Andrew Seeley #4 US
• 2006: Start of Something New with Vanessa Anne Hudgens #28 US
• 2006: We're All In This Together with High School Musical Cast #34 US
• 2006: I Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You with Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, and Lucas Grabeel
• 2006: What I've Been Looking For (Reprise) with Vanessa Anne Hudgens

References

Footnotes

1. ^ "MSNBC". Hollywood: Hello to Hairspray. Retrieved June 25. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
2. "IMDB". IMDB Awards for Zac Efron. Retrieved March 13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
3. "IMDB Pro". IMDB Prop StarMeter. Retrieved March 13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
4. Billboard.com
5. "Canada.com". Summer of stars. Retrieved June 25. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

External links

• Zac Efron at IMDb
• Fan site
• Zac Efron Forums

• 1987 births
• American actor-singers
• American child actors
• American child singers
• American television actors
• Disney child actors
• Jewish American actors
• Living people
• People from California
• The Suite Life of Zack & Cody guest stars