Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Fuller Olsen (born June 13, 1986), also known as the Olsen twins as a duo, are American fashion designers and former actresses. The twins made their acting debut as infants playing Michelle Tanner on the television series '' Full House''. At the age of six,

Mary-Kate Mary-Kate Olsen (born June 13, 1986) is an American businesswoman, fashion designer, equestrian, and former actress. She began her acting career nine months after her birth, sharing the role of Michelle Tanner with her twin sister Ashley Olsen ...

and Ashley began starring together in other TV shows, film, and video projects, which continued to their teenage years. Through their company Dualstar, the Olsens joined the ranks of the wealthiest women in the

entertainment industry Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and Interest (emotion), interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have dev ...

at a young age.

Lives and career

Childhood and acting career

The

fraternal twins Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

were born in

Sherman Oaks, California Sherman Oaks is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California located in the San Fernando Valley, founded in 1927. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density than ...

, to David "Dave" Olsen and Jarnette "Jarnie" (née Jones). They have an elder brother, Trent, and a younger sister, actress Elizabeth, as well as a half-sister, Courtney Taylor, and a half-brother, Jake. The twins' parents divorced in 1995; Taylor and Jake are from their father's second marriage. The Olsen twins have Norwegian ancestry. In 1987, at the age of six months, the twins were cast in the role of Michelle Tanner on the ABC sitcom '' Full House''. They began filming at nine months old. In order to comply with child labor laws that set strict limits on how long a child actor may work, the sisters took turns playing the role. The Olsens continued to portray Michelle throughout the show's run, which concluded in 1995. In 1992, Mary-Kate and Ashley shared the role of Michelle Tanner when they guest-starred on the ''Full House'' crossover episode of '' Hangin' with Mr. Cooper''. While starring on ''Full House'', the Olsens also began appearing (as separate characters) in films for video and television. The first such film, '' To Grandmother's House We Go'', debuted in 1992 and featured cameos from several other ''Full House'' actors. In 1993, the Olsens established the company Dualstar, which would produce the twins' subsequent films and videos, including 1993's '' Double, Double, Toil and Trouble'' and 1994's '' How the West Was Fun''. A series of musical mystery videos called '' The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley'' premiered in 1994 and continued through 1997. In 1995, following the end of ''Full House'', the Olsens made their feature film debut in '' It Takes Two'', co-starring Steve Guttenberg and

Kirstie Alley Kirstie Louise Alley (January 12, 1951 – December 5, 2022) was an American actress. Her breakout role was as Rebecca Howe in the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1987–1993), for which she received an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe in 1991. From 1997 ...

. In the same year, they introduced a second video series, '' You're Invited to Mary-Kate & Ashley's...'', which continued to release new entries until 2000. The following year, the Olsens appeared in an episode of ''

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 20 ...

''. In 1997, they appeared once again as guest stars in an episode of '' Sister Sister''. Also, in 1998, the twins returned to series television with another ABC sitcom, '' Two of a Kind'', co-starring

Christopher Sieber Christopher Luverne Sieber (born February 18, 1969) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles Kevin Burke in ''Two of a Kind (American TV series)'' and Agatha Trunchbull in ''Matilda the Musical''. He was nominated for the Tony Awar ...

as their characters' widowed father. The series lasted only one season but aired in reruns on cable for several years afterward. 1998 also saw the release of '' Billboard Dad'', the first of a new string of direct-to-video films starring the Olsens. The final such film, '' The Challenge'', debuted in 2003. In 2000, the Olsens appeared in an episode of '' 7th Heaven'' as bad girls Sue and Carol Murphy. The following year, the sisters starred in two new series: '' So Little Time'', a live-action sitcom on Fox Family (later

ABC Family The American cable television, cable and satellite television network that is now known as Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through several different owners (and s ...

); and ''

Mary-Kate and Ashley in Action! ''Mary-Kate and Ashley in Action!'' is an American animated children's television series featuring the voices and likeness of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. It is also a series of books that spun off, from the show. The show premiered on October 20, ...

'', an animated series airing Saturday mornings on ABC. Both shows were canceled after one season, although Mary-Kate received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for her performance on ''So Little Time''. In early 2004, Mary-Kate and Ashley had a cameo voice role in an episode of '' The Simpsons'' as the readers of Marge's book-on-tape, ''The Harpooned Heart''. Also in 2004, the twins starred in a second feature film, '' New York Minute''. It would be their last film together, as well as Ashley's last acting role. Mary-Kate has continued to appear in film and television. Mary-Kate and Ashley had a fan club until 2000, "Mary-Kate & Ashley's Fun Club", where fans would pay to receive Mary-Kate and Ashley collectibles and photos. Each subscription included an issue of ''Our Funzine'', Mary-Kate and Ashley's fan club magazine, exclusively available through the club, and a collectibles catalog, where one could purchase T-shirts, posters, baseball caps, key rings, school folders, postcards, and various other items. Subscribers would also receive "surprise gifts" (usually key rings, book excerpts, or back issues of the ''Funzine''), lyric sheets to Mary-Kate and Ashley's songs, a school folder, a membership card, a full-sized poster, two black and white photos (one of each girl), and a color photo with reprint autographs. The club was advertised at the beginning of Mary-Kate and Ashley movies until 1998. Mary-Kate and Ashley were popular figures in the preteen market during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Their names and likenesses extended not only to movies and videos, but to clothes, shoes, purses, hats, books, CDs and cassette tapes, fragrances and makeup, magazines, video and board games, dolls, posters, calendars, and even telephones and CD players—with a market share made up mostly of the tween demographic. Mattel produced various sets of Mary-Kate and Ashley fashion dolls from 2000 to 2005, along with separate outfits and accessory packs. The sisters became co-presidents of Dualstar on their 18th birthday in 2004. 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. The Dualstar brand has been sold in more than 3,000 stores in the United States and over 5,300 stores worldwide. The Olsens have appeared on the '' Forbes'' "Celebrity 100" list since 2002; in 2007, ''Forbes'' ranked them (collectively) as the eleventh-richest women in entertainment, with an estimated net worth of US$100 million.

Fashion career

As the sisters have matured, they expressed greater interest in their fashion choices, with '' The New York Times'' declaring Mary-Kate a fashion icon for pioneering her signature "homeless" look. The style sometimes referred to by fashion journalists as "ashcan" or "bohemian-bourgeois",La Ferla, Ruth
"Mary-Kate: Fashion Star."
March 6, 2007. is similar to the

boho-chic Boho-chic is a style of fashion drawing on various bohemian and hippie influences, which, at its height in late 2005 was associated particularly with actress Sienna Miller, model Kate Moss in the United Kingdom and actress/businesswoman Mary-Kate ...

style popularized in Britain by

Kate Moss Katherine Ann Moss (born 16 January 1974) is a British model. Arriving at the end of the "supermodel era", Moss rose to fame in the early 1990s as part of the heroin chic fashion trend. Her collaborations with Calvin Klein brought her to fas ...

and Sienna Miller. The look consists of oversized sunglasses, boots, loose sweaters, and flowing skirts, with an aesthetic of mixing high-end and low-end pieces. The twins were tapped as the faces of upscale fashion line Badgley Mischka in 2006. The Olsens had a clothing line for girls ages 4–14 in Wal-Mart stores across North America, as well as a beauty line called "Mary-Kate and Ashley: Real fashion for real girls". In 2004, they made news by signing a pledge to allow full maternity leave to all the workers that sew their line of clothing in Bangladesh. The National Labor Committee, which organized the pledge, praised the twins for their commitment to worker rights. The Olsens have also launched their own couture fashion label, The Row, named after Savile Row in London. In 2007, they launched ''Elizabeth & James'', a contemporary collection inspired by many of their unique vintage finds and pieces in their personal wardrobes. They have also released a women's clothing line for

J.C. Penney Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Girl ...

, called ''Olsenboye'', and a T-shirt line called "StyleMint". In 2008, the sisters published the book ''Influence'', a compilation of interviews with many of the most prominent people in the field of fashion. In August 2013, the twins launched a new fashion line in Oslo, Norway. The Olsens were first named Womenswear Designer of the Year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) for The Row in 2012. They received the award again in 2015. The CFDA also named the Olsens Accessories Designer of the Year in 2014 for their work with The Row."And the 2014 CFDA Fashion Awards Winners are…"
. cfda.com June 3, 2014.

Filmography

: ''This filmography is of the twins as a duo. See Mary-Kate Olsen for other productions in which she has appeared.''

Awards and nominations

Footnotes

References

External links

Dualstar Entertainment Group Corporate Website
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Olsen, Mary-Kate And Ashley 1986 births Living people Actresses from California American child actresses American child singers American women singers American film actresses American television actresses American women in business People from Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles American people of Norwegian descent American people of English descent Sibling duos Olsen family Fraternal twin actresses American twins Businesspeople from Los Angeles