Lindsay Lohan

Lindsay Dee Lohan (born July 2, 1986) is an American actress, model, and pop singer. Lohan started in show business as a child fashion model for magazine advertisement and television commercials. At age 10, she began her acting career in the soap opera Another World; at 11, she made her motion picture debut by playing identical twins in Disney's 1998 remake of The Parent Trap.

Lohan rose to stardom with her leading roles in the films Freaky Friday, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, Mean Girls and Herbie: Fully Loaded. Her subsequent roles include appearances in A Prairie Home Companion and Bobby. In 2004, Lohan launched a second career in pop music yielding the albums Speak (2004) and A Little More Personal (Raw) (2005).

Lohan's personal life has been a frequent subject of celebrity and tabloid journalism.

Acting career

Lohan began her career with Ford Models at age three, but found little work as a fashion model. She persisted and eventually appeared in more than 100 print-ads for companies like Toys "R" Us. She also modeled for Calvin Klein Kids (usually with siblings Michael and Ali) and Abercrombie Kids.

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 went on to appear in over 60 commercials, including a Jell-O 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 10-year-old in daytime serials" of the time.

Lohan gave up Another World for the big screen when director Nancy Meyers cast her to play the dual roles of the estranged twin sisters who try to reunite their long-divorced parents (Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson) in the 1998 remake of The Parent Trap. 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".

She starred in two original television movies, Life-Size (2000) (with Tyra Banks) and Get a Clue (2002). 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 won a lead role in another Disney remake: Freaky Friday (2003), starring Jamie Lee Curtis. Lohan's character in the movie was originally written as a Goth, but she did not think anyone would relate to that, and decided to dress in a preppy style for her audition, and the character ended up being re-written. Through 2005, Friday was Lohan's biggest commercial film success, earning US$160 million worldwide. In 2004, 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 modest success at the box office, grossing about US$30 million, but was a failure with critics. "Though still a promising star, Lohan will have to do a little penance before she's forgiven for Confessions," Robert K. Elder wrote.

Far more successful was Mean Girls, her first PG-13 (and first non-Disney) film. Her breakout lead performance pushed the critical and commercial hit to gross US$128 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; Lohan was asked to host the show three times, in 2004, 2005, and 2006.

With Mean Girls Lohan's public profile was raised significantly and paparazzi began following her. Lohan's attitude to the paparazzi and tabloids is ambivalent. She has said that while she doesn't ask them to follow her, if they're not around she wonders if it means people are bored of her or no one cares anymore. Her manager worked with the paparazzi during the shooting of Labor Pains to encourage the media to show Lohan working, as opposed to partying.

In 2005, Lohan became the first living person to have a "My Scene Goes Hollywood" doll released by Mattel. She also voiced herself in the direct-to-DVD feature film based on the dolls.

Lohan returned to Disney in 2005 for Herbie: Fully Loaded, the fifth film in the Herbie series. Her popularity allowed her to choose from a wider variety of projects; Lohan felt the post-college character she portrayed in Herbie would help her make the transition into more grown-up roles. Fully Loaded earned US$144 million worldwide. Vanity Fair described Herbie as Lohan's "first disastrous shoot"; how she—stressed out from issues in her personal life and strained from trying to record her first album during the shoot—eventually ended up hospitalized with a kidney infection. The magazine also recounted how Lohan terminated Herbie's European promotional tour, and how Disney de-emphasized her on the movie poster due to "un-Disney-like behavior".

Lohan's next film in wide release, Just My Luck, opened in May 2006 to poor reviews and earned $38 million worldwide.

Following Just My Luck, Lohan focused on smaller roles in more mature, independent movies. In June 2006, A Prairie Home Companion, in limited release, ended its run earning $25 million globally. "Lohan rises to the occasion, delivering a rock-the-house version of 'Frankie and Johnny'," wrote Peter Travers. Lohan completed filming the independent Emilio Estevez film, Bobby, in December 2005; the film was released in theaters on 23 November 2006, earning $19 million worldwide. While Bobby received generally mixed reviews (45% on Rotten Tomatoes), Lohan got some praise for her performance, particularly a scene opposite Sharon Stone.

She then appeared in Chapter 27 as a John Lennon fan who befriends Mark David Chapman (Jared Leto) on the day he murders the singer. It was filmed in New York between January and March 2006. The film had trouble finding a distributor for the United States and received a very limited release. Chapter 27 was widely panned by critics.

On May 11, 2007, the drama Georgia Rule, in which Lohan starred alongside Felicity Huffman and Jane Fonda, was released. The production received adverse publicity when a letter from a studio executive to Lohan criticizing her professionalism was made public. James G. Robinson, CEO of the film's production company, wrote: "You and your representatives have told us that your various late arrivals and absences from the set have been the result of illness; today we were told it was 'heat exhaustion'. We are well aware that your ongoing all night heavy partying is the real reason for your so-called 'exhaustion'." The film received mostly negative reviews and grossed US$24 million worldwide.

After entering a rehabilitation facility in January 2007, Lohan withdrew from a film adaptation of Oscar Wilde's A Woman of No Importance, her publicist stating that Lohan needed to "focus on getting better". During her stay, she was allowed to continue shooting her latest film I Know Who Killed Me, returning to the center at night. Production on the film was previously halted when Lohan underwent appendix surgery earlier in the month. Lohan also dropped out of The Edge of Love in late April 2007, just before filming was to begin with the director citing "insurance reasons" and Lohan later explaining that she "was going through a really bad time then." Lohan was then cast in the film adaptation of Poor Things. She ultimately lost, or perhaps withdrew from, the part following her May 2007 DUI arrest, although the film's producers voiced support for her decision to once again enter rehab.

On July 24, 2007, Lohan—in the wake of her second DUI arrest—withdrew from a scheduled appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to promote her starring role as a stripper in the thriller-mystery film I Know Who Killed Me. Lohan plays a young woman who appears to suffer from split personalities after being rescued from a serial killer. The film premiered "to an abysmal $3.5 million" and made $9,595,945 at the box office worldwide. and earned Lohan two nominations for worst actress at the Golden Raspberry Awards. She came in first and second, tying with herself.

Entertainment Weekly quoted the head of a major film studio as saying, "Her career was over long before she had these troubles ... Right now, she'd have to pay a studio to get herself into a movie." The article continues, "There's the L.A. bar scene that serves underage stars and Hollywood's compulsion to turn child actors into products, plus a frenzied 21st century media culture that has made Lohan and other celebs into exotic prey in flashbulb cages." ABC News quoted publicist Michael Levine as calling Lohan unemployable "for the next 18 months." The head of a talent agency agreed, noting that her personal issues likely made the insurance and other costs required for any film production to proceed prohibitively expensive. James Robinson, the producer of Georgia Rule, stated he would still like to work with her. "She's a good person who's making some bad choices. She needs time to get the proper medical care, but when she's in the right emotional state, I'd put her in a movie right away ... She's probably one of the most talented young women in the movie business today."

In May 2008, Lohan appeared on ABC's Ugly Betty television series, her first screen appearance since I Know Who Killed Me. Subsequently guest starring in a total of four episodes, spanning seasons two and three in 2008, Lohan played Kimmie Keegan, an old schoolmate of America Ferrera's character Betty Suarez.

Lohan's latest film project, Labor Pains, in which she plays a young woman who pretends to be pregnant to avoid being fired, is not being released to theaters in spring 2009 as originally planned. Instead, it will appear as a TV movie on the ABC Family cable channel in July 2009 and be released on DVD a month later.

It was announced in May 2009 that Lohan has landed the lead role in the upcoming 2010 film The Other Side, alongside Jason Lee, Woody Harrelson, Alanis Morissette and Eddie Izzard. She will star as a grad student who discovers a mystery involving the strange residents of a remote island.

She is also set to appear in Dare to Love Me which is also slated for a 2010 release.

Music career

Hoping to become a triple threat - actor, singer and dancer - like her idol, Ann-Margret, Lohan began showcasing her singing talent 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." 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 Tommy Mottola. In 2006, Lohan was switched from Casablanca to Motown Records by Universal Music Group.

Her debut 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 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 Total Request Live and was nominated for Best Pop Video at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards. "Rumors" eventually earned a Gold certification in America.

The album spawned the second single "Over" and the third single "First." which was featured in Lohan's 2005 film Herbie: Fully Loaded. The music video also featured Herbie the Love Bug. Both music videos were directed by Jake Nava, who also directed the music video for "Rumors."

"With just two hit films under her belt, Lohan decided it was time to turn herself into a multimedia, cross-platform star," wrote Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic, "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. 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), debuted at number 20 on the Billboard 200 chart, but fell under the top 100 within six weeks. Slant magazine called it "contrived ... but for all the so-called weighty subject matter, there's not much meat on these bones." A Little More Personal (Raw) was certified Gold on 18 January 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 debut 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... I hope he sees the positive side of the video rather than the negative". It was Lohan's first song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #57.

Lohan started work on a third album in 2007. Lohan stated that she wants the album to be dance, hip-hop, and R&B - "kind of Kylie Minogue-meets-Rihanna." She was working with a wide range of producers and songwriters, including J. R. Rotem, Stargate, Ne-Yo, Akon, Snoop Dogg, Timbaland, Bloodshy & Avant, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, The-Dream, Thaddis "Kuk" Harrell, Pharrell Williams, 50 Cent, and Sam Sparro, among others. In May, 2008, a song entitled "Bossy" was leaked and later officially released as a "buzz single" from the album and received a favourable reaction from consumers. Bossy became Lohan's first single to enter the Hot Dance Club Play chart, and her first #1 hit on this chart.

On November 13, 2008, Access Hollywood reported that Lohan has been avoiding calls and e-mails from her Motown manager about finishing work on the album, feeling “on the defensive.” “I just — I didn’t want to,” she explained. “With my other records, I kind of just did it, just to do it.” Lohan said she struggled while working on her movies and music at the same time and wants to avoid the stress of simultaneous major projects in the future. “I want to be able to focus and balance my life,” she continued. “So, I can enjoy each thing as I do it and as it comes”. Lohan also stated in the interview that she called back her manager to resume work on the album. As a result the album, reportedly titled "Spirit in the Dark", was not released on November 4, 2008 as scheduled. A new release date has not been announced. Tracks that were confirmed and scheduled to be on the album were "Bossy", "Problem Solver", "Washing My Hands", and "Playground" featuring Pharrell, which was slated to be released as the album's first single in September 2008.

Other work

Lohan was voted #10 on the list of "100 Sexiest Women" by readers of FHM. Maxim placed her at #3 on its 2006 Hot 100 list. In 2007, Lohan placed at #1 on the Maxim "Hot 100".

Lohan has a long-lasting admiration for Marilyn Monroe going back to when she saw Niagara during the The Parent Trap shoot. In the February 25, 2008 Spring Fashion edition of New York, Lohan re-created Monroe's final photo shoot, known as the Last Sitting, including nudity. Her mother said doing the photo shoot was an "honor."

Lohan makes a cameo in the music video for the single "Everyone Nose" by N*E*R*D, released in May 2008. A song about the restroom drug usage of young party-goers, the video also has appearances by friends of Lohan.

Lohan is the face of the 2008 Visa Swap UK fashion campaign. Lindsay was photographed for the campaign in early 2008 in Los Angeles, California.

In 2008 Lohan launched a leggings line named 6126, choosing 6126 as her brand name because it represents Marilyn Monroe's birth date. Lohan also started a brand development firm called Stay Gold. In April 2009 Lohan released a self-tanning spray under the brand name Sevin Nyne in collaboration with Sephora.

Lohan will be a guest judge on U.S. TV style contest “Project Runway.” She will sit in with show host Heidi Klum and designer Michael Kors on the series’ sixth season premiere episode in 2009, Access Hollywood reports.

In May 2008 Lohan was chosen as the face of Italian clothing company Fornarina for its Spring/Summer 2009 campaign. Lohan has also been the face of Jill Stuart, Miu Miu, and Dooney and Bourke.

In April 2009, following her break up with Samantha Ronson, Lohan appeared in a skit on the comedy website Funny or Die. The self-deprecating video is a spoof of the personal ads on dating website eHarmony. It was viewed 2.7 million times in the first week and received favorable comments from the media.

Personal life

Lohan was born on July 2, 1986 in New York City and grew up in Merrick and Cold Spring Harbor on Long Island in New York. She is the eldest child of Donata "Dina" (née Sullivan) and Michael Lohan. Lohan has three younger siblings, all of whom were child models: Michael Jr., who appeared with her in The Parent Trap, sister Aliana, who is also an actress, and Dakota, the youngest Lohan child. Lohan is of Irish and Italian heritage and was raised as a Catholic.

Her maternal family were "well known Irish Catholic stalwarts" in Merrick, with her great-grandfather, John L Sullivan, being a co-founder of the Pro-life Party in Long Island. Lohan attended public school on Long Island and was a cheerleader. She finished her studies at home through Laurel Springs School of Ojai, California.

Lohan's parents have a turbulent history. They married in 1985, separated when she was three, and later reunited.

Lohan's father has been in trouble with the law repeatedly. He was a Wall Street trader and in the late 1980s he served a four year sentence for stock fraud. Lohan has said her mother only told her that he was busy working. He went to jail in 1998 for a probation violation, and in 2000 after violating an order of protection to prevent him from seeing his children.

Following one separation when Michael Lohan was not allowed near the children, Dina went to live with the children at her parents' because they were afraid to live in their own home. Lohan spoke in 2007 about her younger siblings: "I feel like a second parent in the sense that I helped raise my family." And speaking about her parents' conflicts: "I was put between my mother and father a lot. Well, I would put myself between them to try and keep the peace, and I felt good doing that."

In December 2005, Michael and Dina Lohan signed a separation agreement. According to Vanity Fair, Dina Lohan accused Michael of threats and domestic abuse in the legal papers. Michael Lohan in turn insinuated through the media that Dina had been drinking and doing drugs, possibly together with Lindsay. In 2007, Lohan's parents announced that their divorce proceedings had been finalized.

Despite the conflicts, Lohan calls herself "a family girl" and has spoken very fondly of her family, including her father. However, in 2007 and again in 2008 she stated that she is no longer in contact with him, describing his unpredictable behavior as hard to deal with.

Lohan has suffered from asthma since the age of two. Despite this she is a smoker.

Following Mean Girls in 2004 Lohan spent several years living out of hotels in Los Angeles, two of those years at Chateau Marmont. In fall 2007 she settled down in more permanent residency, and later explained that she spent so much time in hotels because she "didn't want to be alone" but that "it wasn't a way of life ... not very consistent."

Lohan has had a series of car accidents that have been widely reported, with minor crashes in August 2004, October 2005, and November 2006, when Lohan suffered minor injuries because 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 is well known on the celebrity party scene. In 2006, Lohan attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

On January 18, 2007, Lohan checked herself in to the Wonderland Center rehabilitation facility. Through her representative, she issued a statement saying, "I have made a proactive decision to take care of my personal health". Lohan checked out on February 16, 2007 after completing a 30-day stay.

On May 26, 2007, Lohan lost control of her car and ran the vehicle up a curb. Beverly Hills police also found a "usable" amount of cocaine in her car and the police lab detected cocaine in her blood. After receiving treatment for minor injuries, Lohan was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence of alcohol. Two days later, Lohan entered the Promises Treatment Centers rehabilitation facility, where she stayed for 45 days.

On July 24, 2007 the police found Lohan by a parking lot in Santa Monica having a "heated debate" with her former assistant who was fired several hours earlier. After failing field sobriety tests Lohan was taken to a police station where her blood alcohol level was found to be above the legal limit. While conducting a search, the police found a small amount of cocaine in her pocket. Lohan was booked on a felony charge of possession of cocaine and misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license.

In August 2007 Lohan entered Cirque Lodge Treatment Center in Sundance, Utah for a third stint at rehabilitation, staying until discharge on 5 October 2007.

On August 23, 2007, Lohan pleaded guilty to cocaine use and driving under the influence and was sentenced to one day in jail and 10 days community service. She was also ordered to pay fines and complete an alcohol education program, and was placed on three years probation. “It is clear to me that my life has become completely unmanageable because I am addicted to alcohol and drugs,” Lohan said in a statement. On November 15, 2007, Lohan served only 84 minutes in jail. A sheriff spokesman cited overcrowding and the nonviolent nature of the crime as reasons for the reduced sentence.

In 2004, Lohan stated that she did not like to talk about politics because she did not want to risk alienating any part of her fanbase. However, in 2006 she expressed an interest in going to Iraq on a USO tour with Hillary Clinton. During the 2008 US presidential campaign, she offered her services to Barack Obama's election effort, including hosting events aimed at young voters; but her offer was declined, reportedly because the campaign considered her "not exactly the kind of high-profile star who would be a positive for us." She nonetheless weighed in publicly on her choices in that election, urging voters to support Obama, criticizing media coverage of vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, and posting MySpace blogs describing Palin as homophobic, anti-abortion and anti-environmentalist.

Lohan began dating singer Aaron Carter in 2001. It was reported that Carter left Hilary Duff for Lohan, but soon broke up with Lohan and resumed dating Duff. On March 23, 2007, Claymation facsimiles of Lohan and Duff appeared on the celebrity wrestling series Celebrity Death Match episode "Where's Lohan?". Duff and Lohan were later reported to have been involved in a feud with each other over their relationship with Carter. In 2007, Duff and Lohan had reconciled. Lohan attended the release party for Duff's album Dignity and Duff told People magazine that she thought Lohan was "fun" and "a nice girl".

Lohan started dating Wilmer Valderrama in 2003, though the couple were not seen together until May 2004 and didn't go public with their romance until Lohan's 18th birthday bash at the Hollywood nightclub Avalon two months later; the couple broke up in late 2004. Lohan has also dated Pink Taco restaurant owner Harry Morton and British TV personality Calum Best.

While seeking treatment at the Cirque Lodge in Utah, Lohan met and began dating Riley Giles; however, in late November 2007, it was announced that they had split up. Lohan's mother, Dina Lohan said, " took desperate measures to hurt Lindsay because she broke up with him".

In 2008, several media outlets began commenting on Lohan and Samantha Ronson, who were regularly seen being affectionate in public. In July 2008, several newspapers, including The Times and Los Angeles Times, published opinion pieces describing their relationship as romantic. Lohan's father, Michael Lohan, has been very outspoken in his disapproval of Lohan's relationship with Samantha Ronson, and on September 24, 2008, Lohan wrote a response to him via e-mail to the New York Post: "Samantha is not evil, I care for her very much and she's a wonderful girl ... She loves me, as I do her." Lohan opened up about her relationship with Ronson in the December 2008 issue of Harper's Bazaar magazine. She stated, "I think it's pretty obvious who I'm seeing ... I think it's no shock to anyone that it's been going on for quite some time ... She's a wonderful person and I love her very much." While speaking about her sexual orientation, Lohan said she was not a lesbian, but when asked if she was bisexual, she responded "Maybe. Yeah." She then added, "I don't want to classify myself." Lohan said her family, with the exception of her father Michael, had been supportive of her relationship with Ronson. The couple broke up in early April 2009. Lohan was interviewed about the break up in Us Weekly.