Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen

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

Ashley Fuller Olsen (left) and Mary-Kate Olsen (right)

Road to fame

Born in Sherman Oaks, California to David Olsen and Jarnette Jones, the Olsens started their acting careers on the television series Full House in 1987. The show was widely popular during the late 80s and early 90s, and both sisters played one character, Michelle Tanner, taking turns during the tapings 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 tweens by storm, their names have become a very profitable industry, with their likeness seen in clothes, fragrances ,magazines, movies, posters, and even video games like Mary Kate and Ashley's Magical Mystery Mall.

Today, Mary-Kate and Ashley are popular figures in today's tween 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. They also have their own book series.

In 2004 Mary-Kate and Ashley surprised many when they announced that they would be attending college after graduating high school. Most child and teenage actors usually choose to pursue acting full time after graduating from high school, with few (such as Brooke Shields, Jodie Foster, Julia Stiles, and Natalie Portman) choosing to further their education. They both studied at New York University at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study until Mary-Kate took a break in 2005.

Selected filmography

Theatrical

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

Direct to video

Made for TV

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

Trivia

The twins received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 29, 2004. They are the youngest celebrities to receive this honor. They are reported to be worth $150 million each [1].

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

They ranked at number three on the VH1 program 100 Greatest Child Stars.

They are mentioned and insulted along with other celebrities in the song Ass Like That by rapper Eminem. The song was released as a single in 2005. A portion of the music video 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.

Their paternal heritage is Danish.

Who is who

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

Feature	Ashley Olsen	Mary-Kate Olsen
Height	5 ft 3 in (160 cm)	5 ft 2 in (157 cm)
Handedness	Right-handed	Left-handed
Eye color	Green-Blue	Green-Blue, moreso green
Age difference (two minutes)	Older	Younger
Facial structure	Oval face	Round face
Academic major	Psychology	Photography

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 flip-flops usually, as well as a large number of accessories, such as large sunglasses.

External links