Hilary Duff was born in Houston, Texas. Hilary Duff’s unusual middle name of “Erhard” was the maiden name of her part German American paternal grandmother, Mary Erhard. Most of Hilary Duff’s first few acting roles were small, starting off with an uncredited appearance in Hallmark Entertainment’s western miniseries True Women (1997), an adaptation of the novel by Janice Woods Windle. Duff ended up winning a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Movie or Pilot (Supporting Young Actress).
After fulfilling her entire sixty-five episode contract, as well as participating in a film spin-off entitled The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003), Disney toyed with the idea of continuing the franchise in further movies and a prime-time television series to be broadcast on ABC, but Duff refused the proposal. Duff’s second role in a theatrical motion picture was in Human Nature, an independent film released in most countries in 2002 following a good reception at the Cannes and Sundance film festivals. Tim Robbins and Rhys Ifans co-starred. Duff played the younger version of Arquette’s character.
Hilary then reprised the role of Lizzie McGuire in The Lizzie McGuire Movie, which was her first million-dollar movie role. Duff in A Cinderella Story (2004).In 2004, she appeared in the romantic comedy A Cinderella Story, a twenty-first century update of Charles Perrault’s fairy tale Cinderella. Comedienne Jennifer Coolidge played the wicked stepmother of the picture, which was directed by Mark Rosman, a veteran of Duff’s Lizzie McGuire. The film became a modest sleeper hit, and many critics were impressed by Duff’s performance, as well as her chemistry with co-star Chad Michael Murray, another actor popular with teens, who plays Duff’s love interest in the film.
Later that year, she starred in the romance film Raise Your Voice, which marked the third collaboration between Duff and director Sean McNamara (after Casper Meets Wendy and episodes of Lizzie McGuire). While some critics praised Duff for appearing in a more dramatic role than she had previously been seen in, the film was heavily panned, with many slating in particular the striking similarities to the musical film Fame (1980). The film also received a muted reception at the box office, where it became Hilary Duff’s least commercially successful film to date.
In Hilary Duff’s latest film, The Perfect Man, she plays the eldest daughter of a divorced woman, played by Heather Locklear, who moves to New York City as she desperately searches for a good man to settle down with. The movie saw Duff once again united with director Mark Rosman. Reviews were mostly negative.
Duff has recently filmed the satirical comedy Material Girls. The Martha Coolidge-directed film, co-produced by Madonna’s independent film production company Maverick Entertainment, stars Hilary and her real-life sister Haylie Duff as wealthy siblings who must fight to reclaim their fortune following a scandal. The Duff sisters are also due to lend their vocal talents to the computer animated comedy Foodfight!, to be distributed by Lions Gate Films in the fall of 2006. The film’s director, Larry Kasanoff, said that he is “absolutely thrilled to have Hilary Duff and Haylie Duff as part of the cast.” In late October 2005, reports emerged that Hilary is likely to star in the third sequel to the supernatural horror film Poltergeist (1982), in a role originated by the late Heather O’Rourke.
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