Vanessa Anne Hudgens

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Vanessa Anne Hudgens
Born December 14, 1988 {{{1}}}
United States Salinas, California
Height 5'3" (1.60 cm)[1]
Other name(s) Vanessa Hudgens
Notable roles Gabriella Montez in High School Musical

Vanessa Anne Hudgens[2] (born December 14, 1988) is an American actress and singer. She made her screen debut in 2003 and appeared in the Hollywood films Thirteen and Thunderbirds, before coming to fame in the 2006 hit made-for-television film, High School Musical. Hudgens also began a music career and released her debut album, entitled V, in 2006.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early Life

Hudgens was born in Salinas, California and grew up in San Diego; she has a younger sister, Stella Hudgens, who is also an actress. Her father, Greg Hudgens, is of Irish and Native American descent and her mother, Gina Guangco, is of Filipino, Chinese, and Spanish desent. All of her grandparents were musicians during the big band period. Starting at the age of eight, Hudgens performed in musical theatre as a singer, and appeared in local productions of Evita, Carousel, The Wizard of Oz, The King and I, The Music Man, Cinderella, and Damn Yankees, among others. Hudgens successfully auditioned for a commercial and subsequently moved to Los Angeles with her family, with whom she is still close.

[edit] Career

Hudgens made her feature debut in Thirteen as Noel and appeared in the 2004 summer film, Thunderbirds as Tintin. Her television appearances include guest roles on Quintuplets, Still Standing, Cover Me, Robbery Homicide Division, Brothers Garcia and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, as a classmate of Ashley Tisdale and Brenda Song's characters. Hudgens also appeared on Drake & Josh, playing Drake's girlfriend. She came to fame among teenage audiences after starring opposite Zac Efron, Ashley Tisdale and Lucas Grabeel in the Disney Channel Original Movie, High School Musical, which premiered in January of 2006; BBC News specified that the film's success turned Hudgens into a "household name" in North America[3]. Hudgens and Efron won the "Best Chemistry" award at the Teen Choice Awards for their roles[4]. As a result of the film's popularity, Hudgens was offered a contract by Old Navy to appear in multiple commercials for the company; Hudgens had previously appeared in a swimwear commercial for the company in 2005[5].She also appeared in a Blockbuster commercial for no late fees, as the teenage daughter.

Hudgens participated in the Disney Channel Games 2006, which were filmed in April of 2006 and aired two months later. She was on the winning Blue Team, along with Brenda Song, Corbin Bleu, Cole Sprouse, Monique Coleman and Jason Earles.

In June of 2006, Hudgens signed a recording contract with Hollywood Records; her album, V was released September 26, 2006 in the United States and debuted at #24 on the album charts with 34,000 copies sold during its first week.[6] The album is scheduled for a January 2007 release in the U.K.[7] Hudgens has described her album as "pop-rock, pop-R&B and pop-dance... almost like a mix-tape".[7] The first music video from the album, for the song "Come Back to Me", premiered on the Disney Channel in August of 2006; In the fall of 2006, Hudgens opened for The Cheetah Girls in their "The Party's Just Begun" tour; she performed in 20 of the cities included in the tour, between October 17, 2006 and November 15, 2006. She is also confirmed to be a part of the High School Musical tour which will cover 40 cities from November 29, 2006 - January 28, 2007. The only cast member not present on the tour will be Zac Efron, due to a scheduling conflict with filming another project.

[edit] Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
2002 Still Standing Tiffany Episode: "Still Rocking"
2002 Robbery Homicide Division Nicole at 10 Episode: "Had"
2003 Thirteen Noel
2003 The Brothers Garcia Lindsey Episode: "New Tunes"
2004 Thunderbirds Tintin
2005 Quintuplets Carmen Episode: "Coconut Kapow"
2006 Drake & Josh (TV Series) Rebecca Episode: "Little Sibling"
2006 High School Musical Gabriella Montez made-for-television
2006 The Suite Life of Zack and Cody Corrie Episodes: "Kept Man", "Neither a Borrower Nor a Speller Bee", "Not So Suite 16" & "Forever Plaid"
2007 High School Musical 2 Gabriella Montez made-for-television

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Album Cover Album Information
V

[edit] Soundtracks

Album Cover Album Information
High School Musical

[edit] Singles

Year Song U.S. Hot 100 UK singles AUS NZ SPA Album
2006 "Breaking Free" (with Zac Efron) 4 9 13 4 7 High School Musical OST
"Start of Something New" (with Zac Efron) 28 - - - -
"We're All in This Together"
(featuring High School Musical Cast)		 34 40 89 15 -
"What I've Been Looking For (Reprise)"
(featuring Zac Efron)		 67 - - - -
"When There Was Me and You" 72 - - - -
"Come Back to Me" 55 - - 6 17 V
2007 "Say OK" TBR TBR TBR TBR TBR

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ http://www.celebheights.com/s/Vanessa-Anne-Hudgens-4229.html
  2. ^ Hudgens was born under the name "Vanessa Anne Hudgens", rather than the sometimes-reported "Hutchinson", according to the State of California. California Birth Index, 1905-1995. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California. Accessed at Ancestry.com
  3. ^ BBC News. UK debut for hit High School film. Retrieved on October 3, 2006.
  4. ^ Businesswire.com. Vanessa Hudgens will tour with the Cheetah Girls. Retrieved on July 28, 2006.
  5. ^ Vanessa Hudgens. Vanessa Hudgens' Old Navy Commercial. Retrieved on September 26, 2006.
  6. ^ Reuters. Chart-toppers Ludacris, Janet suffer lower sales. Retrieved on October 5, 2006.
  7. ^ a b News Shopper. High School Musical: The new Grease. Retrieved on September 19, 2006.

[edit] External Links

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