Zachary David Alexander Efron (born October 18, 1987) is an American actor and singer. He began acting in the early 2000s, and became known to young audiences after his roles in the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical, the WB series Summerland, and the film version of the Broadway musical Hairspray. Speaking to Newsweek in June 2006, director Adam Shankman described Efron as "arguably the biggest teen star in America right now." In 2007, right before the release of High School Musical 2, Rolling Stone declared him the "poster boy for tweenyboppers" and featured him in their late August issue.

Efron was born in San Luis Obispo, California and later moved to Arroyo Grande, California. His father, David Efron, is an engineer at a power plant, and his mother, Starla Baskett, is a former secretary who worked at the same power plant as Efron's father. Although of Jewish ancestry, Efron was raised agnostic and has never been religious. Efron had a self-described "normal childhood" in a middle class family, and has a younger brother, Dylan. He has said that he would "flip out" if he got a 'B' and not an 'A' in school, and that he was a "class clown." Efron's father encouraged him to begin acting when Efron was eleven. He subsequently appeared in theater productions at his high school, worked in a theater called the Melodrama, and began taking singing lessons. Efron performed in plays such as Gypsy, Peter Pan, Little Shop of Horrors, The Music Man and Mame, appearing at the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts. Efron was recommended to an agent in Los Angeles by his drama teacher, Robyn Metchik (the mother of actors Aaron Michael Metchik and Asher Metchik).

Efron was accepted to the University of Southern California, but deferred his enrollment while he works on film projects. He plans to return at some time.

In 2002, Efron began to appear in guest roles on several television series, including Firefly, ER, and The Guardian. He portrayed Cameron Bale on the now-cancelled WB 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 and Lori Loughlin. Since appearing in Summerland, he has also had guest roles on the shows CSI: Miami, NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and The Replacements. In 2003, Efron starred in the 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 Movie, Mini-series or Special - Supporting Young Actor. 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.

In 2006, Efron starred in the Disney Channel original movie High School Musical as Troy Bolton, alongside actresses Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale and Monique Coleman (who, like Efron, have all appeared on the series The Suite Life of Zack and Cody), as well as actors Lucas Grabeel and Corbin Bleu. The film, which he initially made with "low expectations", helped Efron gain recognition among teenage audiences as both an actor and a singer. As a result, he placed as high as #4 on the IMDBPro's STARMeter for the week of January 29 2006. In August 2006, Efron won a Teen Choice Award in the Breakout Star and the TV - Choice Chemistry categories, shared with Hudgens. The film's cast, along with Efron, toured Sydney, Australia, London, England, and other locations to promote the film, although Efron did not participate in the High School Musical Concert that toured the U.S. and Canada throughout the fall and winter 2006 as he was filming Hairspray in Toronto at the time.

Shortly after High School Musical aired, Efron debuted with two simultaneous charted songs on February 4, 2006, Billboard Hot 100, with "Get'cha Head in the Game" and "Breaking Free," a duet with Vanessa Anne Hudgens from High School Musical. On the following week's chart, Efron had five simultaneous song credits from High School Musical: "Get'cha Head in the Game," "Start of Something New," "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 has since been beaten by Eminem and Akon's "Smack That." 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 Andrew Seeley's voice was blended with his on the soundtrack of High School Musical. An August 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. Efron's subsequent singing performances in Hairspray and High School Musical 2 were genuine, though arguably not as polished as those of Seeley's. Efron stated in interviews that he feels his future is that of a serious dramatic actor, not necessarily a singer.

On April 7, 2007, Efron appeared in an episode of Punk'd with High School Musical co-star Ashley Tisdale. Efron also starred in the music video for Vanessa Hudgens's single "Say OK", where he played her love interest. The video aired on March 16, 2007 on Disney Channel. That year, he was named one of People magazine's 100 Most Beautiful People in 2007. A picture and short profile of him was in the section "Coming of Age," along with pop singer/actress Hilary Duff, actress Hayden Panettiere and R&B singer Chris Brown. In it, he related how he was always the shortest kid in school (he is now 5'8") and was teased for the "huge gap" in his teeth.

In 2006, Efron was cast as Link Larkin in a film version of Hairspray, also starring Amanda Bynes, Queen Latifah, and John Travolta and released on July 20, 2007. Efron performed all of his own vocals in the role, which was filmed in Toronto, Ontario, from September 5 to December 2, 2006. He cut and dyed his hair dark brown and gained about 15 pounds for the role. Both Efron's performance and the film have received positive reviews.

Efron presented the 2007 Teen Choice Award for "Favorite Movie" alongside Queen Latifah.

Efron's upcoming roles include Seventeen, a high school-set drama/comedy produced by Adam Shankman and based on a pitch by Jason Filardi; the plot involves an adult who is transformed into a 17-year old (to be played by Efron). Efron is also scheduled to star in Paramount's musical remake of the film Footloose; he has said that he would like to add his "own little bit of flair" to the role originated by Kevin Bacon.

For his portrayal of Link Larkin in Hairspray, Efron (along with his co-star Nikki Blonsky) won the "One to Watch" award of the Young Hollywood Awards.

Efron appeared on the cover of the August 2007 edition of Rolling Stone. The article about him revealed that he hopes to someday play an action hero.

Efron has finalized negotiations with the producers of 17, a film slated to commence shooting in November 2007.

Before the release of High School Musical 2, Efron topped IMDBPro's Star Meter at #1, indicating that he was the most searched celebrity. Additionally, Lycos reported searches for Efron surged by 81%. Amid the frenzy surrounding Zac Efron, the release of High School Musical 2 set a new record, becoming the most watched basic cable program in U.S. history, with 17.2 million viewers.

Efron co-hosted the 2007 Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards with The Veronicas on October 10 in Sydney.

Efron is represented by the Creative Artists Agency.

Efron cites peer actress Eliska Amor and actor Mark Wahlberg as his personal favorites.

Efron has two dogs, Australian shepherds named Dreamer and Puppy, along with a Siamese cat named Simon.

He is involved in a relationship with his High School Musical and High School Musical 2 co-star Vanessa Hudgens.

*2006: High School Musical: The Soundtrack - January 10, 2006 *2007: Hairspray Soundtrack - July 10, 2007 *2007: High School Musical 2: The Soundtrack — August 14, 2007

Awards *2007 - Teen Choice Award: Choice Male Hottie *2007 - Hollywood Film Award: Ensemble of the Year (shared with the rest of the Hairspray cast) *2007 - Young Hollywood Award: One to Watch in Hairspray *2006 - Teen Choice Award: Choice Breakout Star *2006 - Teen Choice Award: Choice Chemistry for High School Musical (with Vanessa Hudgens)

Nominations *2007 - Young Artist Award: Best Performance in a TV Movie, Miniseries or Special by a Lead Actor for High School Musical *2005 - Young Artist Award: Best Performance in a TV Movie, Miniseries or Special by a Supporting Actor for Miracle Run

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