Born October 18, 1987 in California

October 18, 1987

Efron was born in San Luis Obispo, California and later moved to Arroyo Grande, California. His father, David Efron, is an engineer at a power plant, and his mother, Starla Baskett, is a former secretary who worked at the same power plant as Efron's father. Although of Jewish ancestry, Efron was raised agnostic and has never been religious. Efron had a self-described "normal childhood" in a middle class family, and has a younger brother, Dylan. He has said that he would "flip out" if he got a 'B' and not an 'A' in school, and that he was a "class clown."

Efron's father encouraged him to begin acting when Efron was eleven. He subsequently appeared in theater productions at his high school, worked in a theater called The Great American Melodrama and Vaudeville, and began taking singing lessons. Efron performed in plays such as Gypsy, Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, Little Shop of Horrors, The Music Man and Mame, appearing at the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts and graduating from the same. Efron was recommended to an agent in Los Angeles by his drama teacher, Robyn Metchik (the mother of actors Aaron Michael Metchik and Asher Metchik).

Becomes Regular Cast Member on Summerland

January 20, 2004 - July 18, 2005

In 2002, Efron began to appear in guest roles on several television series, including Firefly, ER, and The Guardian. He portrayed Cameron Bale on the now-cancelled WB series Summerland. Originally introduced as a recurring character, Efron became a regular cast member on the show in 2004, starring opposite the likes of Kay Panabaker and Lori Loughlin.

Since appearing in Summerland, he has also had guest roles on the shows CSI: Miami, NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and The Replacements. In 2003, Efron starred in the Lifetime original television movie Miracle Run. He played Steven Morgan, one of two autistic twins. For his performance, he was nominated for a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Movie, Mini-series or Special - Supporting Young Actor. In 2005, he played a main character in Hope Partlow's music video for her song "Sick Inside." Also in 2005, he played horse-loving Patrick McCardle in The Derby Stallion, where his character wants to beat the town bully at the steeple chase race.

High School Musical

January 20, 2006

In 2006, Efron starred in the Disney Channel original movie High School Musical as Troy Bolton. The film, which he initially made with "low expectations", helped Efron gain recognition among teenage audiences as both an actor and a singer. As a result, he placed as high as #4 on the IMDBPro's STARMeter for the week of January 29, 2006. In August 2006, Efron won a Teen Choice Award in the Breakout Star and the TV - Choice Chemistry categories, shared with Vanessa Anne Hudgens. The film's cast, along with Efron, toured Sydney, Australia, London, England, and other locations to promote the film.

Efron Releases "Get'cha Head in the Game" and "Breaking Free"

Feburary 4, 2006

Shortly after High School Musical aired, Efron debuted with two simultaneous charted songs on Billboard Hot 100 on February 4, 2006, with "Get'cha Head in the Game" and "Breaking Free," a duet with Vanessa Anne Hudgens from the film. On the following week's chart, Efron had five simultaneous song credits from High School Musical: "Get'cha Head in the Game," "Start of Something New," "What I've Been Looking For: Reprise," "We're All in This Together" and "Breaking Free." "We're All in This Together" was credited to the whole High School Musical cast. "Breaking Free," at the time, made the fastest climb in the history of the Billboard charts, from #86 to #4 between the two weeks; the record has since been beaten by Beyoncé and Shakira's "Beautiful Liar." [16] Efron also appeared in the 2006 Disney Channel Games as captain of the Red Team.

Zac Appears with Vanessa Hudgens in Music Video

March 16, 2007

Efron also starred in the music video for Vanessa Hudgens's single "Say OK", where he played her love interest. The video aired on March 16, 2007 on Disney Channel. That year, he was named one of People magazine's 100 Most Beautiful People in 2007. A picture and short profile of him was in the section "Coming of Age". In it, he related how he was always the shortest kid in school (he is now 5'8") and was teased for the "huge gap" in his teeth.

Zac Stars in "Hairspray" Remake

July 20, 2007

In 2006, Efron was cast as Link Larkin in a film version of Hairspray released on July 20, 2007. Efron performed all of his own vocals in the role, which was filmed in Toronto, Ontario, from September 5 to December 2, 2006. He cut and dyed his hair dark brown and gained about 15 pounds for the role. Both Efron's performance and the film have received positive reviews. Because of this, he was not able to perform with his fellow castmates in High School Musical: The Concert. Drew Seeley took over for him.

Zac Defends his Singing

August 23, 2007

Efron's singing talents were disputed when it was revealed that Andrew Seeley's voice was blended with his on the soundtrack of High School Musical. An August 23, 2007 interview in Rolling Stone magazine revealed that he had been cast in High School Musical after the songs were written, and the songs (written for a tenor) were somewhat out of his baritone vocal range. Efron's subsequent singing performances in Hairspray and High School Musical 2 were genuine, though arguably not as polished as those of Seeley's. Efron stated in interviews that he feels his future is that of a serious dramatic actor, not necessarily a singer.

Emergency Appendectomy

January 15, 2008

On January 15, 2008 Efron was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for an emergency appendectomy.