Zac Efron was born Zachary David Alexander Efron on October 18, 1987 in San Luis Obispo, California to parents David Efron, a power plant engineer, and Starla Baskett Efron, a former secretary. Zac is best known for his role in the Disney original movie High School Musical. He has also starred in the TV series Summerland as well as the film version of Hairspray. He has been touted to be the biggest teen star in the US as of 2006. He has been featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine which declared him to be the “poster boy for tweenyboppers.”
Zac Efron has always considered his childhood to be normal. He was born to a middle class family and has a younger brother named Dylan. He is an agnostic, but is of Jewish ancestry. In school, Zac was very studious, always aiming to get straight A’s. He was also considered to be the class clown. When he was eleven, Zac’s father encouraged him to act and take up singing lessons. He then performed at their local theater in plays such as Peter Pan, Gypsy, Little Shop of Horrors, and The Music Man. His drama teacher then recommended him to an agent in Los Angeles who later signed Zac on to the Creative Artists Agency.
In 2002, Zac Efron started making guest appearances on television shows such as ER, The Guardian, and Firefly. He had his first recurring role as Cameron Bale on Summerland, which he starred in along with actors Lori Loughlin and Jesse McCartney. He continued with guest roles on several TV shows such as The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, The Replacements, and CSI-Miami. In 2003, Efron was nominated for Best Supporting Actor Performance in a TV Movie at the Young Artist Awards for his role as one of two autistic twins in the drama Miracle Run.
Efron got his biggest break in 2006, when he starred as Troy Bolton in the Disney Channel original movie High School Musical alongside girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens. This role garnered Efron several awards including Teen Choice Awards’ Breakout Star and the Choice Chemistry award with Vanessa Hudgens. The songs Getcha Head in the Game and Breaking Free from High School Musical sung by Efron and Hudgens debuted at the Billboard Hot 100 shortly after the TV movie’s release. After High School Musical, Efron appeared in Vanessa Hudgens’ music video “Say OK” as well as on an episode of Punk’d. He also went on to star in the big screen adaptation of the Broadway musical Hairspray, which received positive reviews. In 2007, High School Musical 2 was released again as a TV movie which set a new record in US history with over 18 million viewers watching its premiere. High School Musical 3 was then released in 2008 in theaters. Zac Efron will be starring in upcoming films such as 17 Again, Me and Orson Welles, as well as the remake of Footloose.