Zachary David Alexander Efron (born October 18, 1987) is an American actor and singer.

He’s 20!

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.

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 in an agnostic household. 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).

Most Recent Projects:

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 Seventeen, 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.

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