Mary-Kate Olsen Biography

MARY-KATE OLSEN

Date of Birth: June 13, 1986

Mary-Kate and her twin sister Ashley became the youngest self-made millionaires in American history by the time they were ten. It all began when they were just seven months old. On their first audition, they landed the role of baby Michelle on the TV sitcom Full House. They took turns: Mary-Kate played Michelle during comedic scenes while Ashley took on the more serious moments. The show was a huge success that ended up running for eight seasons, mainly due to the precocious qualities of the twins. Their amazing ability to deliver lines like pros as soon as they were old enough to talk won them a high TVQ (popularity rating), second only at the time to Bill Cosby.

They won three Young Artist Awards—Best Young Actor/Actress—Under Five Years of Age, Outstanding Performance by an Actress Under Nine Years of Age and Exceptional Performance by a Young Actress Under Ten during their time on Full House. Lawyer Robert Thorne saw potential in the girls and signed on to be their manager, immediately getting them raises to $150,000 per episode. He then formed a production company with the twins called Dualstar, and they branched out into TV films such as To Grandmother's House We Go (1992) and Double, Double, Toil and Trouble (1993) (for which they won their fourth Young Artist Award) playing sisters together on screen for the first time.

In 1993, they launched a music career, releasing their first music video and CD, and they began their video and book series The Adventures of Mary-Kate and Ashley, in which they played detectives. By 1994, they also began a series of videos in which the twins hosted various types of parties.

In 1995, Mary-Kate and Ashley, who are fraternal, played girls who look so much alike that they're able to switch identities in the big screen feature It Takes Two and won a Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actresses. Although Full House ended in 1995, the girls kept busy doing their video series and musical CDs, as well as feature length videos such as Billboard Dad (1998). By 1998 they were back in a weekly series, playing sisters in Two of a Kind. As they entered their teens, they stopped doing their detective and party videos and concentrated on making full length videos that featured them having adventures while on holiday in various parts of the world.

Fashion dolls modeled after them were a big hit when they were released in 2000, and the girls followed that up with a line of their own fashions and accessories. They were named the Most Powerful Young Women in Hollywood by The Hollywood Reporter in August 2000. The same year, their Mary-Kate and Ashley in ACTION! animated series debuted on Saturday mornings on ABC. They did another sitcom called So Little Time from 2001 to 2002 on Fox Family Channel, and Mary-Kate received a Daytime Emmy nomination for her role as Riley Carlson. In September 2002, the twins shot their last small-screen movie, The Challenge, on location in Mexico. Summer of 2003 found them in New York City, shooting the feature film New York Minute (2004).

After much speculation in the media about which college the twins would attend, it was announced that they have enrolled at the New York University for the fall of 2004. However, just before her 18th birthday in June 2004, Mary-Kate entered rehab for an eating disorder.

Known as the more athletic of the two, Mary-Kate rode her first horse while filming To Grandmother's House We Go in 1992 in Vancouver, and at one time was a devoted equestrian, with two horses of her own. She appeared in independent films before returning to the big screen with a supporting role in the major motion picture Beastly (2011).

Currently Mary-Kate and Ashley are focusing on their couture fashion labels, including, "The Row" and "Elizabeth & James," named for their siblings. Mary-Kate is engaged to Olivier Sarkozy.

Filmography:

Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s (2013)
Beastly (2011)
The Wackness (2008)
Factory Girl (2006)
New York Minute / Escapade à New York (2004)
Charlie’s Angels : Full Throttle (2003)
Our Lips Are Sealed (2002)
Billboard Dad (1998)
It Takes Two (1995)
The Little Rascals (1994)
The Flintstones (1994)