Mary-Kate

Mary-Kate Olsen (born June 13, 1986) is an American actress, producer, author and fashion designer. She made her career debut in 1987 alongside her twin sister Ashley Olsen in the television series Full House. Following the huge success of Full House in America, Mary-Kate and Ashley established a successful career starring in television and film roles that saw her become an international household name. Founded in 1993, the production company Dualstar was created to produce and merchandise films and TV shows starring Mary-Kate and Ashley, becoming an extremely profitable enterprise. Mary-Kate became joint CEO of Dualstar in 2004, securing her position in the Forbes celebrity rich list. Mary-Kate is the older sister of Elizabeth Olsen. Since 2006, Mary-Kate has been pursuing acting roles independent of her sister and the "Mary-Kate and Ashley" tag. Her first part was a supporting role in the 2006 film Factory Girl. She has also starred in TV shows such as Weeds and Samantha Who?.

The 2011 release Beastly is her first major role in a film without her sister Ashley. Mary-Kate's personal life has also been the subject of tabloid attention. In 2004 her health and subsequent admittance to a treatment facility for anorexia nervosa were subject to intense tabloid attention. Following the death of Heath Ledger in early 2008 Mary-Kate received worldwide press attention speculating her connection to the case, however she was never interviewed by investigating officers. Her sometimes controversial fashion choices have often found her on both the best and worst dressed fashion lists, particularly for her decision to wear fur. Olsen was born in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Jarnette (née Fuller), a personal manager, and David Olsen, a real estate developer and mortgage banker. Mary-Kate began her career in 1987, aged just nine months old, when she and her twin sister Ashley were given a shared role as Michelle Tanner on the television show Full House. The twins were cast as one character in the shared role because of labor laws that limited the amount of time children their age could work. By hiring twins, the producers were able to double the available filming time. The producers also liked that in their audition, Mary-Kate and Ashley loved playing their role and never cried.

Their huge success on Full House led to the creation of Dualstar in 1993, which produced their TV and film roles, and also marketed an extremely profitable line of merchandising including make-up and clothes. Whilst still starring in the series, Mary-Kate and Ashley were given roles in TV movies especially created for them as twins and seeking to expand their fan base beyond the viewers of Full House. When the show ended in 1995, Mary-Kate continued to work with Ashley, and together they released a string of successful straight-to-video movies and became popular figures in the preteen market during the late 1990s and early 2000s. They became a household name, with their likeness seen in clothes, books, fragrances, magazines, movies and posters. There were even fashion dolls made by Mattel from 2000–2005. They starred in the video series The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley, the ABC show Two of a Kind, and ABC Family's So Little Time, for which Mary-Kate received a nomination for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series at the 2002 Daytime Emmy Awards. They were ranked number three on the VH1 program 100 Greatest Child Stars. In 2004, Mary-Kate appeared alongside her twin sister in the theatrical comedy, New York Minute, also starring Eugene Levy.

Seeking to establish independent identities for herself and her sister, Mary-Kate has asked the public and the media to refer to them not as "the Olsen twins" but as Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen respectively. Subsequently, Mary-Kate's first solo acting appearance was in the movie Factory Girl, released in December 2006. The short scene was ultimately cut from theatrical release, but made part of the DVD. In addition, she has had a recurring role on Showtime's Weeds as Tara Lindman. She appears in the 2008 film The Wackness as Union. At the Sundance Film Festival, co-star and Academy Award–winner Sir Ben Kingsley praised her by saying "Mary-Kate's portrayal of this girl is perfect — she's hysterical. She's a pro. It makes sense. She's been in this business a lot longer than I have." However, this is hyperbole; as Kingsley's first film credit was in 1966, and he even won his Academy Award a few years before Olsen was born. Mary-Kate made a one-episode appearance on the ABC comedy Samantha Who?. On November 10, 2008 during the second season of the show, Mary-Kate played Natalie in episode 5, a self-destructive, bad girl whom Samantha tries to help while doing community service. Her most recent job was a role in the movie Beastly, which was based on the book of the same name by Alex Flinn. She also landed the role as Stacey in the movie Story of a Girl, which is currently in pre-production and stars Kevin Bacon, Julian Thome and Terrence Howard.

On her 18th birthday in 2004, Mary-Kate became joint CEO of Dualstar Entertainment Group. At the time, the majority of Dualstar's market share was made up of the "tween" market, built heavily around the image of Mary-Kate and Ashley. Upon taking control of the company, Mary-Kate and Ashley made moves to secure the future of the company by releasing products that appealed to the teen market, including home decoration and fragrances. Their success has been marked on Forbes The Celebrity 100 list since 2002, and in 2007 Forbes ranked the twins as the eleventh-richest women in entertainment, with an estimated net worth of $100 million. In 2006, the sisters appeared together in an ad campaign for an upscale fashion line Badgley Mischka. Mary-Kate and her sister have released The Row, a high-end fashion line inspired by London's Savile Row. The clothing is sold at high-end retailers such as Barneys, Maxfield, Harvey Nichols, Brown's, and others around the world. Ashley continued her expansion in the fashion industry with the Fall '07 launch of Elizabeth and James and "The Rowe" their contemporary collection inspired by many of their unique vintage finds and pieces in their personal wardrobes. In Fall 2008, Mary-Kate and Ashley co-authored a book entitled Influence as a tribute to designers, artists and other industry creative individuals who inspired them. In addition, Mary-Kate has embarked on a solo fashion project with celebrity stylists Jane Belfry and Fred Holston. The line is currently in development. Mary-Kate and Ashley have a new Fashion Line for adults called Olsenboye which is available at JCPenny.