Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Dee Lohan (born
July 2,
1986), known professionally as
Lindsay Morgan Lohan, is an
American actress and
pop music singer. 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.
Personal
Lohan was born in
New York City and raised in
Merrick and
Cold Spring Harbor on
Long Island in
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.
She originally pronounced her name
but later settled on
and, in 2005, explained to a
TEENick audience that she had changed her middle name to something that sounded more professional.
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, which he later sold 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, 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, 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, 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. As of 2006, she was reported to be dating Harry Morton, the son of
Hard Rock Cafe owner Peter Morton.
Early work
Lohan 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 as a
fashion model.
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. Her 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.
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.'"
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, 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, 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.
Breakout role
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. "[T]he smartly written script is a perfect match for her intelligent brand of comedy."
was scripted by
Tina Fey and featured several alumni of
Saturday Night Live; 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."
did well at the box office, earning more in international release than in the United States.
Her 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.
.
Music
Hoping to become a "triple threat" (actor/model/singer) like her idol,
Ann-Margret, 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.
|
Lohan's début album, Speak |
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." 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.
"[W]ith just two hit films under her belt", wrote Stephen Thomas Erlewine of
All Music Guide, "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".
In December 2005, her second album,
A Little More Personal (Raw), débuted at number 20 on the Billboard 200 chart, but fell under the top 100 within six weeks. Reviews were unfavorable; critics wondered why an album in which Lohan poured out her heart came across instead as a "slick pop production."
magazine called it "contrived ... for all the so-called weighty subject matter, there's not much meat on these bones."
Still,
A Little More Personal (Raw) was certified Gold on
January 18,
2006. The music video for the album's 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."
Universal Music Group moved Lohan from Casablanca to
Motown Records in February 2006.
In March, she told
OK! magazine that she was writing lyrics for her third album, which she called "a little different [from] the last one".
Media spotlight
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, she 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).
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, 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."
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".
In July 2006, Lohan was taken to a hospital while shooting
Georgia Rule, complaining that she was "overheated and dehydrated";
Morgan Creek Productions CEO James G. Robinson had a letter delivered to Lohan in which he accused her of "all night heavy partying" and making up "bogus excuses", and threatened to take action to recover any "monetary damages".
Her mother later appeared on
Access Hollywood to refute the accusation, saying her asthmatic daughter was working in 105-degree heat. Calling Robinson's letter "way out of line", Dina Lohan said, "I don't know him. I can't judge him. I don't think it was a smart thing to do to a young girl."
TMZ.com reported in August 2006 that Lohan's mother was being sued for fraud by two men who claim they helped cut half of the songs for the
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen soundtrack. Published court documents show a claim filed in Nevada and a request "to take a deposition outside the State of Nevada of Lindsey [sic] Lohan, who resides in the State of California."
Films
Television
*
Another World -
1996–
1997*
Bette (
2000–
2001) (appeared
October 11,
2000, in
pilot episode only)
*
Punk'd - one episode,
December 14,
2003 (see above)
*
Saturday Night Live - Host,
May 1,
2004*
2004 MTV Movie Awards - Host,
June 10,
2004*
That '70s Show - "Mother's Little Helper" episode,
November 10,
2004*
Saturday Night Live - Cameo for
Weekend Update,
December 11,
2004*
Saturday Night Live - Host of the season finale,
May 21,
2005*
Saturday Night Live - Host,
April 15,
2006Albums and singles
Soundtracks
*2003:
Freaky Friday*2004:
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen*2004
That's So Raven*2005:
Herbie: Fully Loaded*2006:
A Prairie Home Companion*
Footnotes
Press coverage
*
*
Official website*
Casablanca (Universal) Records site*
List of Fan Sites at Yahoo! Directory{{Persondata
NAME=Lohan, Lindsay Morgan | ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Lindsay Dee Lohan | SHORT DESCRIPTION=American actress and pop singer | DATE OF BIRTH=July 2, 1986 | PLACE OF BIRTH=New York City, New York, United States | DATE OF DEATH= | PLACE OF DEATH=
|
