Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen

Template:Message box

Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Fuller Olsen (born June 13, 1986) are twin American actresses who have appeared in television and films since the age of nine months. Despite their near-identical looks, the pair are actually fraternal rather than identical twins.

Contents

1 Road to Fame 2 Selected filmography 2.1 Theatrical 2.2 Direct to Video 2.3 Made for TV 3 Trivia 3.1 Who is who 4 External links

Road to Fame

Born in Sherman Oaks, California, the Olsens started their acting careers on the television series Full House. The show was widely popular during the late 80s and early 90s, and both sisters played one character, Michelle Tanner, taking turns during the recordings to do so, in order to comply with child labor laws regarding child actors. Because the producers did not want viewers to know that Michelle was played by twins, the sisters were originally credited as "Mary Kate Ashley Olsen", but later credited as separate people.

Shortly after the end of Full House, they returned to the entertainment industry, riding the momentum of their role on Full House by heavily merchandising their image. Taking the world of pre-teens and children by storm, their names have become a very profitable industry, with their likeness seen in movies, posters, magazines, clothes, and even video games like Mary Kate and Ashley's Magical Mystery Mall.

As of 2004 the Olsen twins are popular figures in today's pre-teen market, following along the lines of such Hollywood child stars as Shirley Temple, Ron Howard and Macaulay Culkin among others.

They starred in The Adventures of Mary-Kate and Ashley and the ABC show Two of a Kind (now rerun on ABC Family), as well as ABC Family's So Little Time.

Selected filmography

Theatrical

• The Little Rascals (1994) (cameo appearance)
• It Takes Two (1995) - The only film in which they don't play sisters.
• Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003) (sequel) (cameo appearance)
• New York Minute (2004)

Direct to Video

• Billboard Dad (1998)
• Passport To Paris (1999)
• Our Lips Are Sealed (2000)
• Holiday in the Sun (2001)
• Winning London (2001)
• Getting There (2002)
• When In Rome (2002)

Made for TV

• To Grandmother's House We Go (1992)
• Double, Double, Toil and Trouble (1993)
• How the West Was Fun (1994)
• Switching Goals (1999)
• The Challenge (2003)

Trivia

Mary-Kate Olsen accidentally crashed into her bodyguard's car on May 21, 2004, when her brakes failed on a jammed Los Angeles freeway, and she could not stop in time to avoid crashing into his car. No one was injured in the accident.

On June 22, 2004, it was revealed that Mary-Kate had entered a rehabilitation program for the eating disorder anorexia nervosa. Gossip had swirled for months that her appearance was more and more drawn, but the actress and her management refused to discuss the issue. She herself had poked fun at the rumors on an episode of Saturday Night Live, which she had hosted with Ashley. In this episode, Ashley, Mary-Kate, and Amy Poehler posing as photographers, yelled to "Mary-Kate", "You're too skinny! Eat a sandwich!"

Rumors started swirling that Mary-Kate had also attempted suicide, the headlines accompanied by a photograph of a scar on her wrist.

It was reported, on July 7, that the Olsens' participation in the Got Milk campaign would be cancelled, mainly due to Mary-Kate's illness. The ad in which they would have appeared read, in part: "we want our fans to be healthy".

The same day, rumors began to spring that Mary-Kate Olsen was rehabilitating for a cocaine addiction, contrary to the previous rumors of her having anorexia.

The Strange Truth About Twins questions the supposed fact that they are fraternal twins, citing that just because they are different-handed, doesn't mean they have different genetics [1] (http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/columns/?article=twinsmain).

They are currently studying at New York University at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study.

In February of 2005, Ashley Olsen was featured on the cover of National Enquirer, a gossip magazine that claimed that she was using drugs. Ashley Olsen announced on February 14 that she was suing the company for about 40 million dollars for making that claim.

The two are currently (as of March 2005) going through some turmoil, living separately and hardly seeing each other, at least until their apartment is finished. Both are doing internships for credit, Mary-Kate with photographer Annie Leibovitz, and Ashley with fashion designer, Zac Posen.

The twins received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in April 2004 [2] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3672417.stm). They are reported to be worth $150 million each [3] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3672417.stm).

In the episode of Family Guy "Fifteen Minutes of Shame", the Olsen twins replaced Brian and Stewie in the show-within-a-show The Real Live Griffins.

Mary-Kate and Ashley were ranked at number three on the VH1 program 100 Greatest Child Stars.

There are mentioned in the song Ass Like That by Eminem. The song was released as a single in 2005. The music video, which was also released in 2005, features the two as puppets who engage in lesbian activity together. The song also makes references about the 2004 movie New York Minute which they both starred in.

Who is who

This is a table comparing the significant differences between the two:

Though both have become style icons, Mary-Kate dresses more boho- (also called homeless-)chic, while Ashley is more conventionally stylish. Both are known for wearing a large number of accessories, and large sunglasses.

External links

Template:Wikiquote

• Official website (http://mary-kateandashley.com/)
• Olsen Twins Dot Org (http://olsen-twins.org/)
• Olsen Twins News (http://www.olsen-twins-news.com/)
• Dutch fansite including a forum (http://www.olsen-twins.nl/)
• English fansite including a forum (http://www.olsen-twins.com/)
• Template:Imdb name
• Template:Imdb name

de:Mary-Kate und Ashley Olsen nl:Mary-Kate en Ashley Olsen pl:Bliźniaczki Olsen fi:Mary-Kate ja Ashley Olsen