Ashley Tisdale

Ashley Michelle Tisdale is an American actress, singer, and producer. Born on July 2, 1985, in Monmouth County, New Jersey, she is best known for her roles as Maddie Fitzpatrick on the Disney Channel sitcom The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and Sharpay Evans in the High School Musical film franchise. She also provided the voice of Candace Flynn in the animated series Phineas and Ferb. Parallel to her acting achievements, Tisdale established a music career with several studio albums and formed her own production company, Blondie Girl Productions.

Tisdale was raised in New Jersey by her parents, Lisa Morris and Michael Tisdale, and is the younger sister of actress Jennifer Tisdale. At age three, she was discovered by manager Bill Perlman and subsequently appeared in over 100 commercial advertisements as a child. She began performing in theatrical productions such as Les Misérables and Annie before moving with her family to Los Angeles, California. As a teenager, she modeled for Ford Models and landed early television and film appearances, including guest roles on Smart Guy, 7th Heaven, and Boston Public, as well as a small part in the film Donnie Darko (2001).

In 2005, Tisdale joined the main cast of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, playing Maddie Fitzpatrick until the series concluded in 2008. Her major breakthrough arrived in 2006 when she was cast as Sharpay Evans in High School Musical. The project achieved massive ratings, and its soundtrack featured several songs by Tisdale, including her top-40 duet "What I've Been Looking For" with Lucas Grabeel. Following the movie's success, Tisdale signed a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records and released her debut studio album, Headstrong, in 2007. The album debuted at number five on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold by the RIAA.

Tisdale reprised her role as Sharpay Evans in High School Musical 2 (2007) and High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008), the latter earning her an MTV Movie Award for Breakthrough Performance Female. In 2007, she also began voicing Candace Flynn on Phineas and Ferb. Expanding into executive production, Tisdale formed Blondie Girl Productions in 2008 and starred in the television film Picture This. She released her second studio album, Guilty Pleasure, in 2009, which debuted at number twelve on the Billboard 200, before parting ways with her record label.

Over the next decade, Tisdale expanded her screen and production credits. She starred in the television drama Hellcats (2010), the High School Musical spin-off film Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure (2011), and the horror comedy Scary Movie 5 (2013). Her voice work as the title character in Sabrina: Secrets of a Teenage Witch earned her a Daytime Emmy Award nomination. As a producer, she worked on television projects such as Miss Advised (2012), Cloud 9 (2014), and ABC Family's Young & Hungry (2014–2018).

In 2013, Tisdale released the independent promotional single "You're Always Here," written about her grandfather. She joined the main cast of the sitcom Clipped in 2015 and returned to music in 2018 with the singles "Voices in My Head" and "Love Me & Let Me Go." Her third studio album, Symptoms, was released in 2019. Tisdale's subsequent work includes playing Jenny Kenney in the CBS sitcom Carol's Second Act (2019–2020), appearing as a panelist on The Masked Dancer (2020–2021), and starring in the interactive video game The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes (2021).