Ashley Tisdale

Tisdale was born in West Deal, Monmouth County, New Jersey on July 2, 1985, to Lisa and Mike Tisdale, who run a construction company. She grew up in Ocean Township. While her elder sister, Jennifer Tisdale, is also an actress and model, her maternal grandfather, Arnold Morris, developed the Ginsu Knives; through her grandfather, she is also related to businessman Ron Popeil.

Tisdale is Jewish on her mother's side and considers herself Jewish.
At the age of three, Tisdale was discovered by Bill Perlman, her current manager, at a New Jersey mall. He sent Tisdale on auditions for commercials and on her first audition, Tisdale landed a JC Penney spot and went on to appear in more than 100 commercials as a kid. At the age of eight, she was cast in a leading role in the Broadway musical, Les Misérables, and later toured internationally with the cast of Annie. She began her theatrical career by appearing in Gypsy: A Musical Fable and The Sound of Music at the Jewish Community Center of Monmouth County. At the age of twelve, Tisdale sang for Bill Clinton in the White House.
Tisdale was a Ford Model. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, Tisdale made minor appearances on several television series such as George Lopez, Smart Guy, 7th Heaven, Strong Medicine and Bette, where she co-starred with Brenda Song for the first time. For her role in Boston Public she received a 2000 Young Artist Award nomination for "best guest performance in a TV drama". Tisdale had a voice role in the 1998 animated movie A Bug's Life, and a minor role in the 2001 film Donnie Darko. She had recurring roles on The Hughleys in 2002 and Still Standing in 2003.