Early Life:
Hilary Erhard Duff was born on the 28th of September, 1987 in Houston, Texas. Her father Robert Erhard Duff is the owner of a chain of convenience stores and her mother Susan Colleen is a homemaker. Hilary has an elder sister Haylie Katherine Duff. She is also an actress and a singer.

Their mother used to encourage both the sisters to take part in acting classes. Both girls took part in various local theatrical productions. Together, they participated in ‘The Nutcracker Suite’ with the Columbus Ballet Met when they were eight and six years respectively. This encouraged them to pursue acting as a career. To further their career, the girls and their mother moved to California with their mother. Their father stayed back in Houston to take care of the business.

Soon, both the sisters managed to get parts in television commercials.

Actress Hilary Duff: Music and Movie Career
Hilary managed to get some parts in television series, mostly playing extras, where she went pretty much unnoticed. In 1998 she managed to get a leading role in ‘Casper Meets Wendy’ where she played the role of Wendy the Witch. Since the movie was released direct-to-video, it got mostly unenthusiastic reviews.

She then appeared in a supporting role in the television film called ‘The Soul Collector’ in 1999.

Hilary Duff got her first big break at name and fame with ‘Lizzie McGuire’, a television show on the Disney Channel which aired in 2001. The show became an instant hit with children from the age of 7 to 13. Eventually, after the show was over, a movie called ‘The Lizzie McGuire Movie’ was released in 2003.

Meanwhile, in 2002, Hilary had also starred in Disney’s television film ‘Cadet Kelly’. Meanwhile Hilary also made several appearances in episodes of several television shows such as Chicago Hope (2000), George Lopez (2003), American Dreams (2003 – this was along with her sister), and Joan of Arcadia (2005).

In 2002, Hilary also recorded the cover of ‘I Can’t Wait’ for ‘The Lizzie McGuire Movie’. The same year she released ‘Santa Claus Lane’ an album of Christmas songs.

In 2003 Hilary’s album ‘Metamorphosis’ reached the No. 1 spot on the US and Canadian Charts and went on to sell more than 3.5 million copies which included singles like ‘So Yesterday’ and ‘Come Clean’.

Hilary also acted in a movie called ‘Human Nature’ in 2002 which was shown in the Cannes and the Sundance film festivals. She also starred in a major role in ‘Agent Cody Banks’ in 2003. This movie and ‘The Lizzie McGuire Movie’ ensured that Hilary Duff became a box office success.

In 2003 she also played in ‘Cheaper By The Dozen’ and then in 2005 in ‘Cheaper By The Dozen 2’. The first part of this movie is her biggest grossing hit.

In 2004 she starred in ‘A Cinderella Story’ which was a moderate hit. In the same year she starred in ‘Raise Your Voice’ which was not much of a success at the box office compared to her other movies. She even received Razzie Award nominations for both these movies.

In 2005 she starred in ‘A Perfect Man’ which again did not gross well at the box office. In that year, she was again nominated for the Razzie Award for ‘A Perfect Man’ and ‘Cheaper By The Dozen 2’.

In 2005, she released an album titled ‘Most Wanted’ which contained the single ‘Wake Up’ which was the No. 1 on the US Top Hot 100.

In 2006 she starred along with her sister in movie called ‘Material Girls’ for which Hilary was again nominated for 2 Razzie Awards.

In 2007 both the sisters lend their voices to the computer animated movie ‘Foodfight!’ and Hilary Duff is to star in ‘War, Inc.’.

She is also to release her third album ‘Dignity’.

Personal Life
Hilary Duff dated singer Aaron Carter in 2002. They had met on the sets of ‘Lizzie McGuire’ when he played a cameo in one of the episodes of the series. They dated for a year and half. After this they broke up because he left her for Lindsay Lohan. Then he left Lindsay Lohan and then he and Hilary began seeing each other again. Eventually, they broke up in 2004.

This is when she began to date singer Joel Madden. They broke up in 2006.

Hilary is also involved in several charitable activities such as ‘Kids With A Cause’ and is an animal rights activist. She even donated 2.5 million dollars to the victims of the Hurricane Katrina.