Lindsay Lohan Biography
Lindsay Lohan (born on July 2, 1986), known professionally as Lindsay Morgan Lohan, is an American actress, pop music singer, and former fashion model. She
started in show business as a child model for magazine ads and television
commercials. At age ten, she began her acting career on a soap opera; at eleven,
she made her motion picture début by playing both twins in Disney's 1998 remake
of The Parent Trap. Lohan's breakout role as a leading actress came six years
later with 2004's Mean Girls, which shone the media spotlight on her
professional and personal lives—including her nightlife and her parents' marital
and legal struggles.
As an adult, Lohan began to take on more varied roles and projects, including
Robert Altman's A Prairie Home Companion. While filming Herbie: Fully Loaded in
2004, Lohan launched her career in music, recording and releasing her first
studio album, Speak; her second album, A Little More Personal (Raw), was
released in 2005.
Biography
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Lindsay Lohan was born in New York City and raised in Merrick and Cold Spring Harbor,
Long Island, New York. She is the eldest child of Michael and Dina (née
Sullivan) Lohan, both former actors. She has three younger siblings: brother
Michael had a role as "Lost Boy at Camp" in The Parent Trap (1998), sister
Aliana is an aspiring model and actress, and brother Dakota (Cody) has modeled
fashions. Lohan is of Irish and Italian heritage and was raised Catholic.
Lohan and her family have donated time and money to charity projects such as The
Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Foundation, Save the Children, The United
Cerebral Palsy Associations, and Dream Come True.
Lohan's family was financially comfortable from its inception; her father had
inherited his family's pasta business, and Lindsay helped him create Denata's
Pasta Chips. Michael Lohan later sold the business to trade in futures (briefly
becoming President of New York Futures Traders). More recently, he worked as
an investment banker, securing funding for independent films. Lindsay's mother,
a former Rockette at Radio City Music Hall, was a Wall Street analyst before
becoming her daughter's manager. Despite the family's wealth, Lindsay Lohan—when
she wasn't tutored on film sets—attended public schools in Long Island until
just before her high school graduation, finishing her studies at home.
Like most celebrities, Lindsay Lohan and her family have endured public scrutiny of
their private lives. It was revealed in 2004 that Michael Lohan had spent much
of Lindsay's preteen years in prison for securities fraud. In 2005, he was sent
back to prison for "aggravated unlicensed driving" and attempted assault. Later
that year, Lindsay's parents settled their divorce case; her mother's attorney
said, "Dina and the children are delighted that this chapter in their lives is
finally over", while her father (through his lawyer) said, "I look forward to
the opportunity to rebuild my relationship with my children."
In 2004, Lindsay Lohan shared an apartment in the Los Angeles, California, area with
actress Raven-Symoné. The following year, she bought a home in West Hollywood
while still spending much of her time at her family's home in New York.
Lindsay Lohan's first acting scene, on Another WorldLohan began her career with
Ford Models at age three and, at a time when blue-eyed blondes were in highest
demand, the freckle-faced, auburn-haired child found little work at first.
She persisted, and eventually appeared in more than 100 print ads for Toys "R"
Us. She also modeled for Calvin Klein Kids (usually with siblings Michael and
Ali) and Abercrombie Kids. Through young adulthood, Lohan was featured in such
diverse magazines as Vogue, Elle, Bliss (UK), Хай Клуб (High Club, Bulgaria),
and Blenda (Japan).
Lohan's first auditions for television work did not go well; by the time she
tried out for a Duncan Hines commercial, she told her mother that she would give
up if she did not get the job. She was hired, and Lohan went on to appear in
over 60 commercials, including a Jell-O pudding spot with Bill Cosby. Lindsay
Lohan's ad work led to roles in soap operas, and she was already considered a
show-business "veteran" in 1996 when she landed the role of Alexandra "Alli"
Fowler on Another World, "where she delivered more dialogue than any other
ten-year-old in daytime serials" of the time.
Lindsay Lohan gave up Another
World for the big screen when director Nancy Meyers cast her as estranged twin
sisters who try to reunite their long-divorced parents (Dennis Quaid and Natasha
Richardson) in The Parent Trap (1998). Hired in 1997 at age 10, Lohan was 11
when filming began in England and California (in Los Angeles and the Napa
Valley). "I left school for eight months," she said. "When I came back, my
friends asked, 'Where'd you go?' I said, 'My family and I went on a long
vacation.' Then the movie came out, and they were, like, 'Um, Lindsay? That's
you in Parent Trap,' and I said, 'Oh, yeah. I also did this movie while we were
gone.'" Trap was well-received for a family comedy, bringing in US$92 million
worldwide. Film critic Janet Maslin found Lohan's dual performances so
forceful "that she seems to have been taking shy violet lessons from Sharon
Stone." Critic Kenneth Turan called Lohan "the soul of this film as much as
Hayley Mills was of the original, and ... she is more adept than her predecessor
at creating two distinct personalities".
Signed by Disney to a three-film contract, Lindsay Lohan was offered the role of
Penny in Inspector Gadget but, after seven months' work on The Parent Trap, she
turned it down. Later, she starred in two original television movies, Life-Size
(with Tyra Banks) and Get a Clue. She also played Bette Midler's daughter in the
first episode of the short-lived series, Bette (2000), but Lohan—then 14—quit
when the production moved from New York to Los Angeles. In 2001, she hosted the
ABC-TV commercial series commemorating Walt Disney's 100th birthday during a
rebroadcast of The Parent Trap.
Following a brief hiatus, Lindsay Lohan attended her first-ever film audition and won
the lead teen role in another Disney remake; Freaky Friday (2003) starred Jamie
Lee Curtis and Lohan as a mother and daughter who each get trapped in the
other's body. Critic Roger Ebert praised Lohan's "Jodie Foster sort of
seriousness and intent focus beneath her teenage persona," while Carrie
Rickey—who panned the film—called her performance "unpredictable and inspired." Through 2005, Friday was Lohan's
biggest commercial film success.
Actor/producer Ashton Kutcher considered Lohan a sufficient ratings draw in
December 2003 to feature her in the second-season finale of Punk'd, his MTV
series that plays practical jokes on celebrities (the episode was widely
reported as the end of the series—also a practical joke). Eleven months
later, Lohan appeared on That '70s Show opposite Kutcher and her then-boyfriend,
actor Wilmer Valderrama.
Lindsay Lohan was given the
lead in two films, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (her first feature that
was not a remake) and Paramount's Mean Girls, both released in 2004. Drama Queen
was a moderate success at the box office, but a failure with critics; "Though
still a promising star," Robert K. Elder wrote, "Lohan will have to do
a little penance before she's forgiven for Confessions." That "penance" came with
Mean Girls, her first PG-13 (and first non-Disney) film. Her breakout lead
performance pushed the critical and commercial hit to grosses of over US$86
million domestically and US$129 million worldwide, "cementing her status as the
new teen movie queen," wrote Brandon Gray. "Lohan dazzles us once
more," said Steve Rhodes. "The smartly written script is a perfect match for her
intelligent brand of comedy."
Mean Girls was scripted by Tina Fey and featured several alumni of Saturday
Night Live; Lindsay Lohan was asked to host the show three times, in 2004, 2005, and
2006.
Lohan returned to Disney for Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005), the fifth film in the
long-dormant Herbie series. Her rising popularity allowed her to choose from a
wider variety of projects and, at age 19, Lohan felt Herbie would help her make
the transition into more grown-up roles. "In most of my other films, I was in
high school," she said. "Here, my character is just out of college. It's nice to
be able to do something that I think will be acceptable to the fan base I've
accumulated from my Disney movies, but subconsciously they'll see me getting
older and maturing." Fully Loaded did well at the box office, earning more in
international release than in the United States.
Lindsay Lohan's next film, Just My Luck, opened in May 2006 to poor reviews and
tepid box office receipts. The following month, A Prairie Home Companion—an ensemble
film directed by Robert Altman—fared far better, debuting at #7 in limited
release. "Lohan rises to the occasion," writes Peter Travers, "delivering a
rock-the-house version of 'Frankie and Johnny'." Lohan completed filming the
independent Emilio Estevez film, Bobby, opposite Elijah Wood, in December 2005;
its release is scheduled for November 22, 2006. Chapter 27 with Jared Leto began
filming in New York on January 9, 2006, and had wrapped by March.
Three new projects were announced in April 2006: Lohan will play a girl molested
by her stepfather in Georgia Rule opposite Felicity Huffman and Jane Fonda
(filming began in June), and a speech assistant to Adrien Brody in Speechless (she also was set to portray the friend of a rebellious
teenage boy in the comedy Bill, but dropped out). In May, Lohan joined
Annette Bening and Sean Bean as the announced stars of the film adaptation of
Oscar Wilde's A Woman of No Importance.
Hoping to become a "triple threat" (actor/model/singer) like her idol,
Ann-Margret, Lindsay Lohan began by showcasing her singing talents through her
films. For the Freaky Friday soundtrack, she sang the closing theme,
"Ultimate"; she also recorded four songs for the Confessions of a Teenage Drama
Queen soundtrack.
Producer Emilio Estefan, Jr. signed Lohan to a
five-album production deal in 2002. "The minute I heard her sing, I knew she was
gifted," he said, "and she has an incredible ability to connect with her
audience. I am very excited to be working with her." Lindsay Lohan, who
said she was "extremely excited", added, "I am surrounded by a group of very
talented people." Two years later, Lohan signed a recording contract with Casablanca
Records, headed by "diva-maker" Tommy Mottola. Her début album, Speak, was
released in December 2004, and peaked at number four on the Billboard 200. By
early 2005, it was certified Platinum. Though primarily a pop-rock album, Speak
was introduced with the single "Rumors", described by Rolling Stone as "a
bass-heavy, angry club anthem". Its sexually suggestive video reached number
one on MTV's TRL and was nominated for Best Pop Video at the 2005 MTV Video
Music Awards. "Rumors" eventually earned a Gold certification.
"With just two hit films under her belt", wrote Stephen Thomas Erlewine of All
Music Guide, "Lindsay Lohan decided it was time to turn herself into a multimedia,
cross-platform star ... and so Speak was recorded quickly and rushed into the
stores". He called her music "a blend of old-fashioned, Britney-styled dance-pop
and the anthemic, arena rock sound pioneered by fellow tween stars
Hilary Duff
and Ashlee Simpson. However, Lohan stands apart from the pack with her
party-ready attitude and her husky voice".
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The music video for her first single, "Confessions of a Broken Heart (Daughter to Father)"—directed by Lohan and featuring the acting début of her sister, Ali—was a dramatization of the pain Lohan says her family has suffered at the hands of her father. She said "It's kind of offensive" but "I hope he sees the positive side of the video rather than the negative."
Lohan announced plans to record a third album starting in April 2006. She also is set to perform "If it's Alright" for Flushed Away.
Lindsay Lohan became a regular subject of tabloid media after reports of a catfight with Hilary Duff in 2003 over their relationships with singer Aaron Carter. Lohan and Duff both later said there was no "feud". Lohan was 17 when she moved in with Valderrama in early 2004, and their breakup that November made the gossip columns; numerous romantic rumors followed, forcing actors such as Bruce Willis to refer to their relationships with Lohan as "purely professional." Lohan was also portrayed as a "party girl" who frequented clubs with Nicole Richie and Paris and Nicky Hilton, among others ("people say, 'Oh, she goes out and she parties,'" Lohan said. "No, we are just going out and having fun."), while accidental exposures to paparazzi brought repeated rumors of breast enhancement ("they're real though," she affirmed.). Lohan later lampooned the various rumors on Saturday Night Live.
In July 2005, Lindsay Lohan participated in the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, an effort to help prevent teenagers from smoking cigarettes and to help current smokers quit. Lohan, who began smoking in 2004, was also trying to break the habit as of early 2006.
Lohan's three car accidents in 2005 made headlines. The first was a minor rear-ender, though the victims later threatened to sue her. She suffered minor injuries when a paparazzo who was following her for a photograph hit her car (police called the crash intentional, but prosecutors said there was not enough evidence to file criminal charges). Lindsay Lohan also struck a van in West Hollywood; police ruled that the van's driver made an illegal U-turn. When VH1 named Lohan "Big 'It' Girl" for its 'Big' in '05 Awards in December, it was, Lohan quipped, "because being Big in '05 means getting in three car crashes in one year, people!"
A Lindsay Lohan My Scene doll was released by Mattel in 2005.
That same year, Lindsay Lohan exhibited dramatic weight loss, which she
attributed to "old-school working out." Later, Lohan admitted that she "nearly
died" and said, "I'm working out with a trainer and eating healthily. I want my
boobs back." Lohan spent about two days at a Miami, Florida, hospital after
suffering a serious asthma attack in January 2006. That same week, Vanity Fair
released an interview in which Lohan admitted using drugs "a little" (she denied
ever using cocaine, calling it a "sore subject"). The article said she had
recovered from "bulimic episodes", and that her 2005 hospitalization was for "a
swollen liver and kidney infection". Lohan later said she was "appalled" that
her words were "misused and misconstrued" for the article; the magazine replied,
"Every word was recorded on tape. Vanity Fair stands by the story."
Lindsay Lohan was interviewed for the March 2006 issue of Allure magazine; she said she
hoped to be taken seriously as an actress, adding, "I hate it when people call
me a teen queen." She addressed the numerous romantic rumors ("I know now that I
don't need a boyfriend.") and her weight loss ("I will say that I went through a
phase. I lost weight when I was in the hospital, and then I wanted to keep it
off."). Lohan says 2005 "felt like five lifetimes because I've grown up a
lot".
This Lindsay Lohan Biography Page is Copyright The Planets © 2004 - 2006 Chuck Ayoub