name	ABC Family
logosize	275px
logofile	ABC Family logo.svg
slogan	''A New Kind of Family''
launch	April 29, 1977(original launch; as CBN Satellite Service)August 1, 1988(relaunch; as The CBN Family Channel)September 15, 1990(renamed as The Family Channel)August 15, 1998(relaunch; as Fox Family Channel)November 10, 2001(relaunch; as ABC Family)
network	Disney-ABC Television Group
owner	ABC Family Worldwide Inc.The Walt Disney Company
headquarters	Burbank, California, United States
former names	CBN Satellite Service (1977-1984)CBN Cable (1984-1988)The CBN Family Channel (1988-1990)The Family Channel (1990-1998)Fox Family (1998-2001)
sister names	Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, ABC, ABC News Now
web	www.abcfamily.com
picture format	480i (SDTV)720p (HDTV
sat serv 1	DirecTV
sat chan 1	Channel 311 (SD/HD)1311 (VOD)
sat serv 2	Dish Network
sat chan 2	Channel 180
cable serv 1	Verizon FiOS
cable chan 1	Channel 199 (SD) Channel 699 (HD)
cable serv 2	Available on most cable systems
cable chan 2	Check local listings
iptv serv 1	AT&T; U-Verse
iptv chan 1	Channel 178 (East, SD)Channel 179 (West, SD)Channel 1178 (HD) }}

ABC Family, stylized as abc family, is an American television network, owned by ABC Family Worldwide Inc., a subsidiary of the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. ABC Family offers contemporary and family programming, including off-network syndicated reruns and original series, feature films and Made-for-TV original movies, and some religious programming.

The network was founded in 1977 as an extension of televangelist Pat Robertson's Christian television ministry, and eventually evolved into The Family Channel by 1990. In 1998, it was sold to Fox Kids Worldwide Inc. and renamed Fox Family. On October 24, 2001, Fox Family Worldwide Inc was sold to The Walt Disney Company. The sale to Disney included Saban Entertainment and Fox Family. The channel generally offers programming aimed at a wide audience, but primarily features series and movies aimed at teenage girls and young women (age 15-30).

History

ABC Family launched on April 29, 1977, as the CBN Satellite Service, an arm of Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). The name later changed to the CBN Cable Network in 1984 and grew to a million homes by that year. On August 1, 1988, the word "Family" was incorporated into the name to better reflect the format, becoming The CBN Family Channel. By 1990, the network had grown too profitable to remain under the CBN banner without endangering CBN's non-profit status. CBN spun it off to a new company called International Family Entertainment Inc. (run by Robertson's son, Tim Robertson), and the name was changed to simply The Family Channel on September 15, 1990.

As The Family Channel, it attracted a slightly older (and religious) audience not sought by advertisers; only about one-third of homes watching the network included children or youth. The Family Channel started airing television shows for preschool children, preteens, and teenagers to target all members of the family.

International Family Entertainment, Inc. was sold to Fox Kids Worldwide Inc. in July 1997, and Fox Kids Worldwide Inc. was renamed Fox Family Worldwide Inc. The Family Channel was officially renamed Fox Family Channel on August 15, 1998. Following the sale to News Corporation, ''The 700 Club'' was scaled back to two airings a day (though the sale agreement required the channel to air it three times daily, once each in the morning, late evening and overnight hours), with the evening broadcast being moved out of prime time, pushed an hour later to 11 p.m. ET from 10 p.m., while ''Columbo'' was moved from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET on Sundays. More cartoons were added to the lineup, many of which were from the Fox Kids library, with about eight hours of cartoons airing a day. However, Fox Family also became a cornerstone for syndicating foreign TV series, such as the popular British S Club 7 TV series, which became their flagship series for the channel until the early 2000s. The channel also syndicated many Canadian series, both animated and live action, including ''Angela Anaconda'', ''Big Wolf on Campus'', ''I Was a 6th Grade Alien'', and briefly ''The Zack Files''; along with running cartoons and anime based on video games, such as ''Donkey Kong Country'', ''Megaman'', and ''Monster Rancher'', mostly a part of the channel's morning lineup. The channel aired reruns of some Fox Kids series such as ''Bobby's World'', ''Eek! The Cat'', and ''Life with Louie'', and added some recent family sitcoms as well. The new schedule also included reruns of the CBS Saturday morning series ''Pee-wee's Playhouse'', which had not been seen on television since 1991. When Fox bought the channel in 1997, programmers sought a new dual audience—kids in daytime, families at night. In 1999, Fox tried to spin off two digital cable networks from Fox Family, the Boyz Channel and the Girlz Channel, which both contained content focusing on each gender; both networks went off the air a year later due to lack of demand and the controversy that developed over the gender-segregated channels. To a point, Disney is attempting to relaunch the concept somewhat in February 2009 with the conversion of Toon Disney into the tween boy-targeting Disney XD, while Disney Channel has shifted towards featuring programming appealing to girls (though not necessarily in the same gender-exclusionary manner as the Boyz/Girlz Channel concept).

Under Fox's ownership, Fox Family saw its ranking slide from 10th to 17th place as a result of an increasingly competitive race for younger viewers and the bickering over ownership between News Corp. and Haim Saban. Some observers believe that it chased away some of the older viewers and never really replaced the core audience. As a result, primetime ratings declined 35% in the past three years. It is also suggested that Fox hired more employees than needed, and when Disney took over, as many as 500 were laid off (this came at a time when Disney itself was downsizing, with 400 others laid off from its failed Go Network online service), but Fox Family also used many freelancers for certain aspects of the channel, such as their short-lived "block jocks" and most of the monikers for the network were created by freelance artists. However, the Disney acquisition took the channel into a deeper decline in its early years.

Fox Family Worldwide Inc was sold to The Walt Disney Company, for $2.9 billion on October 24, 2001. The sale to The Walt Disney Company included Saban Entertainment. The Walt Disney Company bought Capital Cities/ABC in February 1996, and changed the corporate name to ABC, and the network was officially renamed ABC Family on November 10, 2001.

The sale to Disney was considered one of the largest mistakes or problems occurring during the tenure of Michael Eisner. The failure was primarily due to the acquisition being done by the strategic planning department of Disney, without consulting anyone at ABC. The original plan was to use the channel to essentially show re-runs of ABC programming, but this plan was completely impossible since ABC had no syndication rights to the majority of their own programs. During this time, the network did air same-season repeats of ''Alias'', ''Less Than Perfect'', ''Life with Bonnie'', and ''The Bachelor'', almost all of which were Touchstone Television productions (''The Bachelor'' is distributed by Time Warner's Telepictures). But in trying to change the focus of the channel, Disney also canceled several Fox Family series, like ''State of Grace'', and cut back on the network's TV movies, which were among the few programs Fox Family was doing well with. The ratings tumbled further as the network became dependent on syndicated reruns and no original programs (save for original wrap-around segments around ''Bachelor'' repeats, and children's programming).

The next major plan was to reposition the channel to market it to college students, young women, or to a more hip audience under the name XYZ, a reverse reference to ABC. Disney soon found that the channel could never be renamed as such. The original sale from CBN to Fox/Saban contained a stipulation that the channel contain the word "Family" in the name forever, no matter who owns the network. To create XYZ, the Family Channel would have had to cease to exist—terminating all existing cable TV contracts—and XYZ would have to be created as a new network. Cable companies would not be obligated to put XYZ in the spot vacated by the Family Channel. ABC scrapped the idea after discovering this clause.

The name was revisited at one point in 2003, serving as a program block entitled "The XYZ.", showing programs and movies aimed at the above groups. The network was also used as a buffer to burn off failed ABC series, such as ''All American Girl'', which featured Spice Girl Geri Haliwell.

Change

Another one of Robertson's stipulations in his sale of the original Family Channel to its future line of secular owners was that his syndicated talk show, ''The 700 Club'', be aired twice daily on the network (although the channel is only required to carry the program twice a day, ABC Family carries ''The 700 Club'' three times each weekday; once in the morning, twice at night), along with a shorter CBN talk show called ''Living the Life''. Following controversial remarks made by Robertson on the former program about Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, as well as other equally controversial comments regarding gays, feminists, Muslims, abortion, and many other social issues, ABC Family moved to distance itself from the program (the showing of which is also required under Robertson's original sale stipulations, along with the airing of a day-long CBN telethon in late January every year); On August 29, 2005, ABC Family changed the disclaimers before, during, and after the broadcasts from ''"The following/preceding program is/was brought to you by CBN"'' to ''"The following/preceding CBN telecast does not reflect the views of ABC Family."'' Since 2003, ABC Family has been producing more successful original movies and series.

Today

In August 2006, an all new slogan and visual style premiered on ABC Family: ''A New Kind of Family.'' As previously stated, the word "Family" is required under the terms of the lease from Robertson.

On August 31, 2006, ABC Family aired Jetix for the last time as a part of Disney's plan to convert all Jetix airings to Toon Disney. Jetix aired various programs since its debut on the network in 2002, which included ''Metabots'', ''Beyblade'', ''Digimon: Digital Monsters'', ''Daigunder'', ''Get Ed'', and many others. Of its long list of programs, the ''Power Rangers'' series was its most successful. Sitcom repeats currently air in Jetix's former timeslot from 7-9 a.m. ET, with the morning airing of the ''700 Club''/''Living the Life'' block pushed back a half-hour further to 9:30 a.m. ET and sitcom reruns airing during the 9 a.m. ET half-hour. Since the removal of Jetix, ABC Family has not aired any programming targeted at pre-teen audiences; those programs now air on sister network Disney Channel (though this is nothing new for the network, as just before the Fox purchase, ABC Family (as The Family Channel) did not carry any children's programming at all).

Despite being co-owned with Disney Channel—and targeting a similar audience, very little of Disney Channel's programming has aired on ABC Family (except for reruns of ''Boy Meets World'' and ''Sister, Sister'' which have previously aired on that network; in fact, episodes of ''Sister, Sister'' that aired on ABC Family until it was removed from the lineup in April 2010 were the edited Disney Channel versions as ABC Family did not purchase the original syndicated prints of the show from CBS Television Distribution). However, the channel has aired some films featuring performers that have been associated with Disney in recent years, such as Hilary Duff, The Jonas Brothers, Ashley Tisdale, Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez. The only Disney Channel productions to air on ABC Family were the 2008 movie ''Camp Rock'' and the 2011 film ''Lemonade Mouth'', both of which are also two of only four Disney Channel movies to air domestically on a non-Disney Channel branded network (''Cadet Kelly'' is the other having aired on ''The Wonderful World of Disney'' in 2002; though TV Guide once claimed that ABC Family once aired reruns of ''The Famous Jett Jackson'' just prior to the removal of the Jetix lineup).

In October 2007, ABC Family completely redesigned their website, giving it a more modern look as compared to its previous look. They also streamlined the Broadband Player, putting more content on it including reruns of ''Three Moons Over Milford'', and episodes of ''7th Heaven'', ''Grounded for Life'', ''Kyle XY'', and ''Greek'', as well as adding some Fox Kids programming they still own, such as ''Attack of the Killer Tomatoes''.

''Kyle XY'' had given the channel the most viewers in the network's history, but in 2008 that record was broken by the series premiere of ''The Secret Life of the American Teenager''. After nearly 3 years, the record was broken again with ''Switched at Birth'' premiering to 3.3 million viewers on June 6, 2011. Since then, ''ABC Family'' has launched more shows geared towards young females, such as popular dramas ''Make It or Break It'' and ''The Nine Lives of Chloe King'', and comedies ''10 Things I Hate About You'', ''Melissa & Joey'', and ''State of Georgia''

In July 2009, the network posted best-ever July deliveries in Prime and Total viewers thanks to returning series ''The Secret Life of the American Teenager'' and new series ''Make It or Break It'', ''10 Things I Hate About You'' and ''Ruby & The Rockits'' along with extended features from the ''Harry Potter'' film franchise and the TV debut of ''Labor Pains''. On June 8, 2010, the premiere of the ABC Family original drama series ''Pretty Little Liars'', successfully broke series premiere ratings records for ABC Family, across all major viewing demographics of women and young people.

Aside from some common programming and targeting the same audience, the various iterations of CBN/Fox/ABC Family have had no affiliation with the Canadian network Family, although some electronic guide providers confusingly display Family's 1988-1998 logo (which partially resembles ABC Family's pre-1998 logo as The Family Channel) as that of ABC Family's logo.

ABC Family HD

ABC Family HD is a 720p high definition simulcast of ABC Family that launched in early 2008. All of the network's original series and films currently are produced in high definition, which are aired in a widescreen letterbox forrmat on the SD channel. Films when possible also air in HD. ABC Family HD is being offered on select cable and satellite providers such as Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Verizon FiOS, AT&T; U-verse, Charter Communications and DirecTV. Dish Network does not carry the HD feed due to a carriage dispute with Disney.

Programming

ABC Family currently offers a slate of mostly reruns of contemporary comedies, such as ''Full House'', ''8 Simple Rules'', ''Grounded For Life'', ''Still Standing'', ''What I Like About You'', ''America's Funniest Home Videos'', ''That '70s Show'' and ''My Wife and Kids'', with the only off-network drama series on the schedule being ''Friday Night Lights'' (since moved to ESPN Classic due to low ratings and better audience compatibility) and ''Gilmore Girls'' (which resumed airing weekdays at 5pm ET in February 2012 as reruns of ''Secret Life'' performed under expectations). Since 2000, the network has aired several sitcoms that have aired on ABC's former TGIF block, including the Miller-Boyett produced ''Step by Step'' (one of the longest-running shows on the channel, running from 2001 to 2010), ''Family Matters'' (2003-2008), ''Two of a Kind'' (1999-2005), ''Sabrina, the Teenage Witch'' (2006-2011), with ''Full House'' and ''Boy Meets World'' the only two TGIF series that are currently airing on the network.

The channel also produces a limited amount of original series, such as ''The Secret Life of the American Teenager'', ''Make It or Break It'', ''Melissa & Joey'', ''Pretty Little Liars'', ''Switched at Birth'', and ''The Lying Game'', and former series such as ''Kyle XY'', ''GREEK'', ''Lincoln Heights'', ''10 Things I Hate About You'', ''Ruby and the Rockits'', ''Huge'', and the recently cancelled series, ''State of Georgia'' and ''The Nine Lives of Chloe King''. Of these original series, the channel has had minimal success with situation comedy programming as of recent, with its drama series having generally outlasted the original sitcoms. ABC Family airs their original series on Monday and/or Tuesday nights, and recently Wednesday nights for its new comedy block, typically preempting programming that airs in the 7 and 10 p.m. ET timeslots the rest of the week. The network airs each season of its original series in a relatively uncommon format for broadcast television or basic cable, as the first half of the season airs with consecutive episodes, followed by a 4-6 month break, then the remaining episodes of the season are broadcast afterward; ABC Family typically only reruns episodes of their original series in a marathon that airs prior to a season premiere, mid-season or season finale, or other special occasion, though the channel does air week-behind encores of original series that air in the 8 p.m. ET hour prior to the newest episode and a same-night encore of the newest episode the evening of an episode premiere.

The channel also airs a limited amount of religious programming, a remnant from the network's CBN ownership, including the aforementioned weekdaily broadcasts of ''The 700 Club'' and ''The 700 Club Interactive'', as well as ministry programs from Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, James Robison, Joseph Prince, Doug Batchelor, Ed Young and the late Zola Levitt; aside from the ''700 Club'' and ''700 Club Interactive'' airings, most of the religious programming carried by ABC Family generally airs between 5-7 a.m. ET each weekday and on Sunday nights from 12-1:30 a.m. ET.

It is one of only two Disney-owned cable channels in the U.S. (ESPN Classic being the other) to air infomercials and one of the only cable channels to air informercials before 2:30 a.m. ET.; they air from 1-7 a.m. ET weekdays, 2-7 a.m. ET Saturdays and 12-7 a.m. ET on Sundays.

Movies

ABC Family airs movies Wednesday nights at 9 p.m ET and Thursday nights (and if no original series are scheduled, Monday and/or Tuesdays also) at 8 p.m. ET and a day-long schedule of films on weekends from as early as 7 a.m. (sometimes later, such as around 7:30 or 8 a.m. ET) to as late as 2 a.m. ET on Saturdays and 12 a.m. ET on Sundays. Movies airing on the network are targeted at various audiences, from pre-teens to teens and adults, with a large amount of films airing on ABC Family being distributed by Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group (owned by ABC Family's parent company The Walt Disney Company), 20th Century Fox (owned by the channel's former parent News Corporation) and Warner Bros. Entertainment. ABC Family has also purchased the cable television rights to many film series, such as the ''Harry Potter'' film series (which ABC and Disney Channel also hold rights to), 2004's ''A Cinderella Story'' and its 2008 made-for-DVD spinoff ''Another Cinderella Story'' and most recently the ''Legally Blonde'' film series (after securing rights to the 2009 made-for-DVD release ''Legally Blondes''). From 1998 to 2002, ABC Family also secured cable rights to several films starring Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (this was around the time the network aired their short-lived ABC sitcom ''Two of a Kind'', but just prior to carrying ''Full House'').

The channel also produces its own original movies, as sister network Disney Channel does (though Disney Channel's movies are targeted at a slightly younger audience); some of ABC Family's most popular original movies include ''Night of the Twisters'', ''Holiday in Handcuffs'', the ''Au Pair'' trilogy, ''My Fake Fiance'' and ''Cyberbully''. ABC Family has also recently been generating high levels of viewers with their weekend movie events. The "Harry Potter Weekend" Block in July 2009 generated some of the highest levels of viewers for the year so far weekend events.

ABC Family is also becoming known for giving previews to upcoming movies, as it has done for ''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'', ''Hairspray'' and ''Stardust''.

Sports

For the 2000 and 2001 seasons, Fox Family was home to a weekly Thursday night Major League Baseball game (a game that had previously aired nationwide on Fox Sports Net from 1997–1999), as well as select games in the Division Series round of playoffs. As part of its purchase of Fox Family, in addition to that game, Disney acquired the MLB rights that were also held by Fox Family's sister station FX. Those two game packages were moved to ESPN beginning with the next baseball season, but the playoff games remained on ABC Family for one additional year due to contractual issues. A deal was made to move those playoff games to ESPN, who produced the games for ABC Family, starting with the 2003 season. Although the games aired on Disney networks, Fox kept the exclusive negotiation to renew the contract after the 2006 season. Fox chose not to renew their rights to the Division Series, which went to TBS as part of its new baseball contract.

Seasonal programming blocks

25 Days of Christmas

The channel has been known for airing many Christmas specials, such as the Rankin-Bass programs ''The Little Drummer Boy'' and ''Santa Claus Is Coming to Town''. ABC has since expanded this holiday programming, adding made-for-television movies, a litany of Rankin-Bass sequels (this was complicated somewhat because the broadcasting rights some of the original specials, including ''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer'', were still owned by CBS), and other original programming to create "The 25 Days of Christmas." This program block airs from December 1 through 25th, in prime time during the weekdays and from noon through prime time during the weekends. There have been some movies that aren't necessarily holiday related. In 2006, for example, Harry Potter movies were shown along with ''Mary Poppins'' (the 2004 Enhanced Home Theater Mix version with redubbed sound effects) and ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang''. Also that year, ''Dr. Seuss on the Loose'' and ''The Cat in the Hat'' were added, however, not with ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas''. However, ABC cuts a lot of parts of these specials out, including the "Peppermint Mine" scene in "Rudolph", and the song " I'm Kubla Kraus", in Jack Frost.

13 Nights of Halloween

The success of 25 Days of Christmas led to this holiday spin-off, which airs from October 19 to October 31 each year. It was previously known as the 13 Days of Halloween during the Fox Family era. Fox Family created The 13 Days of Halloween in 1998. The programming block became one of the biggest successes of the network, being repeated in 1999, 2000, and 2001. In 2002 after ABC purchased Fox Family, it was changed to the 13 Nights of Halloween. It was not aired in 2003 as new programming executives simply decided not to air the successful programming for reasons that remain unclear. The 13 Nights of Halloween returned in 2004, featuring reruns of Scariest Places on Earth, the premiere of the ABC Family Original Movie “The Hollow", and other shows like Smallville and Gilmore Girls. The 2005 schedule provided a return to more traditional Halloween programming and scary movies. It has been steadily growing ever since but still hasn't gotten the same attention it had in the Fox Family era. Films that air during 13 Nights of Halloween include ''The Sixth Sense'', ''Corpse Bride'', ''Scooby Doo'' and occasionally ''Stephen King's It'' and ''Nightworld: Lost Souls''.

ABC Family's Campus Crush

In 2009, ABC Family debuted this back-to-school-themed block, which airs from the first week of August. "Campus Crush" features episodes of its original series and romantic comedy and drama films, as well as school-themed episodes of its syndicated series.

Past programming blocks

ABC Family Action Block / Jetix

Aired various children's programs since its debut on the network in September 2002, which included ''Medabots'', ''Beyblade'', ''Digimon: Digital Monsters'', ''Daigunder'', ''Get Ed'', and many others. Was rebranded into Jetix in February 2004 when the Jetix block was launched on Toon Disney. Of its long list of programs, the ''Power Rangers'' series was its most successful. Discontinued on the network in September 2006, though it continued to air on Toon Disney. Sitcom repeats currently air in Jetix's former timeslot from 7-9 a.m. ET, with the morning airing of the ''700 Club''/''Living the Life'' block pushed back an hour further to 9 a.m. ET. Most of Jetix's programming was previously aired on Fox Kids and Fox Family. As of February 13, 2009, Jetix's official home, Toon Disney, was rebranded into Disney XD, and Jetix no longer exists.

International version

ABC Spark

On October 26, 2011, it was announced that Disney/ABC would be partnering with Toronto-based media company Corus Entertainment to launch a Canadian version of ABC Family under the name ABC Spark, which launched on March 23, 2012. The channel, which is licensed by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission as a Category B specialty channel (which under CRTC rules, Canadian digital cable and direct broadcast satellite providers can choose to carry the channel on an optional basis), is aimed at 15-34 year olds. The ABC Spark name was chosen to avoid viewer confusion and/or legal issues with the preexisting and unrelated Canadian channel Family, which is owned by competitor Astral Media, and carries programming from ABC Family sister network Disney Channel.

Criticism

Since 2006, the critics have gone after programming on ABC Family. Most feel the network has gone from family friendly to "too risqué," and shows like ''Greek'' and ''The Secret Life of the American Teenager'' are far too racy for "family viewers." Critics feel the executives at ABC Family are only after viewership numbers and are unconcerned about showing younger generations in questionable scenarios in series and film. Mostly, the main focus is on teenage pregnancy and underage drinking.

It should be noted that despite the channel's name including the word "Family" (the network is, as previously mentioned, legally required to keep the word in its name), the channel's programming content standards had changed several years earlier after the sale of the channel by International Family Entertainment, and the channel had been airing even some acquired series and movies that contain profanity, violence and sexual content or dialogue after the sale, particularly since being purchased by The Walt Disney Company. ABC Family does air parental advisory tags at the beginning of some TV-14 rated programs, such as ''That '70s Show'' and some episodes of ''The Secret Life of the American Teenager''.

Network slogans

''Stay with Us''/''Just Watch Us'' (1977–1988; as CBN Satellite Service and CBN Cable)

''The Greatest in the Family'' (1988–1991; as The CBN Family Channel)

''Together with Family'' (1991–1995; as The Family Channel)

''There's Nothing Stronger'' (1995–1996)

''Just Watch Us Now!'' (1996–1998)

''You Belong'' (1998–2000; as Fox Family)

''It's Electric'' (2000–2001)

''Everything You Want to Know from A to Z'' (2001–2003; as ABC Family)

''It's All About You'' (2003–2006)

''A New Kind of Family'' (2006–present)

References

External links

TheFutonCritic: ABCFamily

Official YouTube Channel

Category:Television channels and stations established in 1977 Category:Walt Disney Company subsidiaries Category:English-language television stations in the United States

ar:ايه بي سي فاميلي de:ABC Family es:ABC Family fa:ای‌بی‌سی خانوادگی fr:ABC Family id:ABC Family it:ABC Family he:ABC Family ja:ABCファミリー pl:ABC Family pt:ABC Family ru:ABC Family sv:ABC Family tr:ABC Family

name	Katie Leclerc
birth name	Katie Lynn Leclerc
birth date	November 06, 1986
birth place	San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
occupation	Actress
years active	2005–present
website	}}

Katie Lynn Leclerc (born November 6, 1986) is an American actress. She has appeared on several television series, including ''Veronica Mars'' and ''Fashion House''. In 2011, she received a lead role on the show ''Switched at Birth'', starring as Daphne Vasquez.

Personal life

Katie Leclerc was born in San Antonio, Texas, and grew up in Lakewood, Colorado. She is the youngest of three siblings. She is hard-of-hearing and at age 20 was diagnosed as having Ménière's disease, a degenerative inner ear disorder whose symptoms include fluctuating hearing loss and vertigo; both her father and older sister have Ménière's disease as well. Although she is hard of hearing, she is able to use speech.

Career

Katie Leclerc discovered her passion for acting in grade school when she got the lead role in a production of ''Annie''. When she moved to San Diego, Katie continued to pursue theatre at Valley Center High School with VC Drama's International Thespian Society Troupe 6199. She took part in commercials for Pepsi, Cingular, Comcast, and GE. In 2006, she was in the Rascal Flatts video "What Hurts the Most" as a student in the classroom. She started her television career when she guest-starred on ''Veronica Mars''. Since, she has acted in many other television shows. Her first main actress role was in the show ''Switched at Birth'', where she plays Daphne Vasquez, a girl who is deaf and was given to the wrong family at the hospital after she was born. On playing the character Daphne, she has commented:

"My agent submitted me for a nationwide casting call for the roles of Emma and Daphne. I ended up getting a call back, and that’s when I was asked to try a “deaf accent.” It’s something we discussed in depth. We wanted to make sure my portrayal was respectful and done correctly. At the same time, we felt that using a deaf accent would be a really strong choice for the character."

Filmography

+Film
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
2006	''Gravy Train''	Lydia Faye	Short film
2009	''Flying By''	Ally
2009	''''	Claire
2011	''Seven Lanterns''	Rachel Hawthorne	Short film, post-production
2011	''''	Katie	Post-production

+Television
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
2005	''Veronica Mars''	Crystal
2006	''Fashion House''	Sara	4 episodes
2007	''''	Tokersville Queen	Episode: "Salute to America"
2007		Bride	Episode: "Dance, Dance Revolution"
2008	''''	Teen Girl
2008	''''	Mila	Episode: "Protect and Serve"
2010	''''	Deaf Girl
2011–present			Main character
2011	''''	Emily

References

External links

Category:1986 births Category:Actors from Colorado Category:Actors from Texas Category:American deaf actors Category:American film actors Category:American television actors Category:Living people Category:People from Lakewood, Colorado Category:People from San Antonio, Texas

de:Katie Leclerc es:Katie Leclerc fr:Katie Leclerc pt:Katie Leclerc

name	Nikki Blonsky
birth name	Nicole Margaret Blonsky
birth name	Nicole Margaret Blonsky
birth date	November 09, 1988
birth place	Great Neck, New York, U.S.
yearsactive	2007–present
occupation	Actress, singer, dancer
height	4'10" }}

Nicole Margaret "Nikki" Blonsky (born November 9, 1988) is an American actress, singer and dancer. She is best known for her role as Tracy Turnblad in the 2007 film ''Hairspray'' and as Maggie Baker in the 2008 television movie ''Queen Sized.'' She is also known for her starring role in the ABC Family original series ''Huge.''

Personal life

Blonsky was raised in Great Neck, New York, in Nassau County on Long Island, the daughter of Karen Smeja, a school aide, and Carl Blonsky, a municipal worker for the village water pollution control district. She grew up singing, since she was three years old, and started taking vocal training lessons at the age of eight. Blonsky was raised in her mother's Catholic religion (her father is Jewish).

In her sophomore year, Blonsky transferred from the John L. Miller-Great Neck North High School to the alternative, 50-student Village School, from which she graduated. During her time, she joined the theater program at the William A. Shine Great Neck South High School. There she was cast in roles in productions of ''Les Misérables,'' ''Sweeney Todd,'' ''Kiss Me, Kate'' and, in the title role, the opera ''Carmen''.

She went to Great Neck Public Library's Levels and was in shows such as ''Alice In Wonderland''. Blonsky has said that she wanted to play the role of Tracy Turnblad from the first time she saw ''Hairspray'' for her 15th birthday on Broadway. In 2007 she worked at Cold Stone Creamery when she found out she was cast as Tracy Turnblad in ''Hairspray''.

Career

Blonsky starred in the film ''Hairspray'' as Tracy Turnblad. She was accompanied by Queen Latifah as Motor-Mouth Maybelle, Zac Efron as Link, Michelle Pfeiffer as Velma Von Tussle, and John Travolta as Edna Turnblad.

Blonsky began work on her debut album in September 2007. She confirmed in November 2007 that she was working with alternative rock musician Duncan Sheik on a number of tracks. Her first single, "On a High," a cover of one of Sheik's tracks, was featured in the Lifetime Original Movie ''Queen Sized,'' in which Blonsky also starred. On December 18, 2007, she performed with the Turtle Creek Chorale in her first solo performance.

On 22 June 2008, she sang the American National Anthem in the pre-race ceremony at the 2008 Toyota\Save Mart 350 that took place at Infineon Raceway.

In 2009, Blonsky made a guest appearance on the ''Ugly Betty'' episode "Dressed for Success", in which she played Teri O'Shaughnessy, an assistant at ''Elle,'' the rival magazine of the show’s fictional ''Mode.'' Blonsky also co-starred in the MTV mystery series ''Valemont'' in 2009. She later starred in the short lived ABC Family series ''Huge''. The show premiered in June 2010, and was canceled by September.

Blonsky has earned a cosmetology license and as of December 2011 was working as a hairstylist in her hometown of Great Neck, New York. Blonsky stated she has not given up on her acting career.

Awards

2007 Critics' Choice Award for Best Young Actress (for ''Hairspray'').

2007 Critics' Choice Award for Best Ensemble (for ''Hairspray'')

Filmography

''Queen Sized'' ''Ugly Betty'' ''Huge (TV series) ''Waiting For Forever'' ''Fresh Beat Band''

Year			! Role	! Notes
2007	Hairspray (2007 film)>Hairspray''	Tracy Turnblad >
rowspan="2">2008	|	Maggie Baker	TV movie
''Harold (film)	Harold''	Rhonda
rowspan="2"	2009	|	Teri O'Shaughnessy	Dressed for Success (Ugly Betty)>Dressed for Success"
''Valemont''	Poppie
2010	Huge'' ||	Willamina "Will"	Main Role (June 28 - August 30, 2010)
2011	|	Dolores
2011	|	Ice Villain

References

External links

Official website

Nikki's MySpace page

Nikki's Facebook page

"17 Year-Old Nikki Blonsky Cast as Hairspray Film's Tracy", BroadwayWorld.com, June 8, 2006

"Breaking News: Unknown Lands Hairspray Lead", Cinematical.com, June 8, 2006

"A ‘Hairspray’ dream come true", MSNBC/Access Hollywood, June 15, 2006

Category:1988 births Category:Actors from New York Category:American child actors Category:American child singers Category:American film actors Category:American hairdressers Category:American musical theatre actors Category:American people of Jewish descent Category:American television actors Category:Living people Category:People from Great Neck, New York

de:Nikki Blonsky es:Nikki Blonsky fr:Nikki Blonsky it:Nikki Blonsky he:ניקי בלונסקי hu:Nikki Blonsky nl:Nikki Blonsky ja:ニッキー・ブロンスキー no:Nikki Blonsky pl:Nikki Blonsky pt:Nikki Blonsky ru:Блонски, Никки simple:Nikki Blonsky sr:Ники Блонски fi:Nikki Blonsky sv:Nikki Blonsky

name	Kirsten Prout
birth date	September 28, 1990
birth place	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
occupation	Actress
yearsactive	2000–present }}

Kirsten Prout (born September 28, 1990) is a Canadian actress born in Vancouver, British Columbia. She starred in ABC Family's drama ''Kyle XY'' as Amanda Bloom. She is also known for playing Charlotte "Char" Chamberlin on ABC Family's teen drama "The Lying Game"

Early life

After completing high school, Prout attended McGill University for one year, where she majored in English literature. The following summer she booked two new acting projects, and so decided to drop out of the university. Prout has a younger sister named Jennifer.

Career

Prout started acting at the age of 10. She has said that the decision to go into acting was in response to a "horrible teacher in grade 2" who stifled her and made her withdraw; in response Prout's mother asked 'what can I do to make you happy again?'. The answer was acting and starting Tae Kwon Do lessons.

Prout made her feature film debut as Abby Miller in the 2005 movie ''Elektra'', which was a commercial as well as critical failure. She has also had guest appearances on television shows such as ''Stargate SG-1'', ''Cold Squad'', ''The Dead Zone''. In 2010, Prout portrayed the vampire Lucy in ''The Twilight Saga: Eclipse''.

In 2010, Prout starred as Miranda in ''Seven Deadly Sins'', a two-part miniseries which premiered on Lifetime on May 23. She is also set to be cast in an unnamed short film filmed in Hawaii.

Also in 2010, Kirsten got one of the main roles in ''My Super Psycho Sweet 16: Part 2 as Alex Bell, Skye's little sister that she did not know about.

In 2012 she reprised her role Alex Bell in ''My Super Psycho Sweet 16: Part 3, the third and final installment of the franchise.

Filmography

''Mindstorm'' ''Stargate SG-1'' ''The Love Crimes of Gillian Guess'' ''Elektra (2005 film) ''Kyle XY'' ''Tell Me No Lies'' ''Class Savage'' ''The Twilight Saga: Eclipse'' ''The Lying Game'' ''My Super Psycho Sweet 16: Part 3''

Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
rowspan="2"	2000	''The Linda McCartney Story''	Stella
''Once Upon a Christmas (film)	Once Upon a Christmas''	Brittney Morgan
rowspan="3"	2001	|	Young Tracy Wellman
''The Wedding Dress''	Stella Carver
''Twice Upon a Christmas''	Brittany Morgan
2003	|	Nesa	Birthright (Stargate SG-1)>Birthright"
2004	|	Amanda Guess	TV movie
2005	Elektra'' ||	Abigail "Abby" Miller
2006–2009	|	Amanda Bloom	Main role
2007	|	Samantha Cooper	TV movie
2008	|	Julye	Main role
rowspan="5"	2010	|	Lucy
''Seven Deadly Sins''	Miranda
''My Super Psycho Sweet 16: Part 2''	Alex Bell
''Maternal Obsessions''	Taylin
''Meteor Storm''	Kara
2011–present	|	Charlotte "Char" Chamberlin	Main role(first 10 episodes only, recurring thereafter)
2012	|	Alex Bell	TV movie

References

External links

Kirsten Prout Interview at DaemonsTV.com

Category:1990 births Category:Actors from British Columbia Category:Canadian child actors Category:Canadian expatriate actors in the United States Category:Canadian film actors Category:Canadian television actors Category:Living people Category:McGill University alumni Category:People from Vancouver

de:Kirsten Prout es:Kirsten Prout eu:Kirsten Prout fr:Kirsten Prout ko:커스틴 프라우트 it:Kirsten Prout nl:Kirsten Prout ja:キルステン・プラウト pl:Kirsten Prout pt:Kirsten Prout ru:Праут, Кирстен sl:Kirsten Prout fi:Kirsten Prout sv:Kirsten Prout

:''For the daughter of Senator John P. Hale, see Lucy Lambert Hale''.

name	Lucy Hale
birth name	Karen Lucille Hale
birth date	June 14, 1989
birth place	Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
occupation	Actress, singer
yearsactive	2003–present
website	}}

Karen Lucille "Lucy" Hale (born June 14, 1989) is an American actress and singer. She won the reality show ''American Juniors''. She is known for her roles as Becca Sommers in ''Bionic Woman'', Rose Baker in ''Privileged'', Sherrie in the horror film ''Scream 4'', and Aria Montgomery on the hit ABC Family series ''Pretty Little Liars'' which first premiered in June 2010.

Personal life and career

Hale is a native of Memphis, Tennessee. She first appeared on television in the reality show ''American Juniors'' in 2003. She was part of the vocal quintet formed with the top 5 finishers.

After ''American Juniors'', Hale appeared as guest roles on shows such as ''Drake & Josh'', ''Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide'', ''The O.C.'', and ''How I Met Your Mother''. She appeared in two episodes of the Disney Channel show ''Wizards of Waverly Place'', which led to her dating co-star David Henrie for a short time.

Hale appeared in "NBC's" short-lived re-imagining of the ''Bionic Woman'' as Becca Sommers, younger sister to title character Jaime Sommers (played by Michelle Ryan). She made her big screen debut in ''The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2'' portraying Effie, the younger sister of Lena Kaligaris (played by Alexis Bledel).

Hale then co-starred in the ''CW'' TV show ''Privileged'' as Rose Baker, with Ashley Newbrough and Joanna Garcia. She starred in the ''Lifetime'' TV movie ''Sorority Wars''.

In December 2009, Hale was cast as Aria Montgomery in the TV series ''Pretty Little Liars'', based on the book series by Sara Shepard. Hale won a 2010 Teen Choice Award ("Choice Summer TV Star: Female") for her portrayal of Aria on the show.

In January 2010, Hale guest-starred on the ''CSI: Miami'' episode "Show Stopper". In August 2010, she was cast in a small cameo in ''Scream 4''.

Hale was cast as the lead for ''A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song''. Filming began in February 2011. The film aired in January 2012.

Filmography

''Secrets of a Small Town'' ''Drake & Josh'' ''The O.C.'' ''American Family'' ''How I Met Your Mother'' ''Bionic Woman (2007 TV series) ''Wizards of Waverly Place'' ''[[The Apostles'' ''The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2'' ''Privileged (TV series) ''Fear Island'' ''Ruby & The Rockits'' ''Sorority Wars'' ''Private Practice (TV series) ''CSI: Miami'' ''Pretty Little Liars (TV series) ''Scream 4'' ''A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song'' ''Secret of the Wings''

Year	Notes
2005	''Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide''	Amy Cassidy
2006	|	Tisha Steele	Episode: "Pilot"
2006	|	Hazel	Season 3 episodes for Drake & Josh>Theater Thug"
2006	|	Hadley Hawthorne	The Man of the Year (The O.C. episode)>The Man of the Year"
2007	|	Brittany Jane	TV movie
2007	|	Katie Scherbatsky	Episode: "First Time in New York"
2007	Bionic Woman'' ||	Becca Sommers	8 episodes
2007 to 2008	|	Miranda Hampson	2 episodes: "Wizards of Waverly Place (season 1)#First Kiss
2008	|	Rachel Rydell	TV movie
2008	|	Effie Kaligaris	''Supporting Role''
2008 to 2009	Privileged'' ||	List of Privileged characters#Main characters>Rose Baker	18 episodes (Credited as Lucy Kate Hale)
2009	|	Megan	TV movie
2009	|	Kristen	Ruby and the Rockits#Episodes>Smells Like Teen Drama"
2009	|	Katie Parker	TV movie
2009	Private Practice'' ||	Danielle	Private Practice (season 3)#Episode list>Pushing the Limits"
2010	|	Phoebe Nichols / Vanessa Patton	CSI: Miami (season 8)#Episodes>Show Stopper"
2010 to present	Pretty Little Liars'' ||	Aria Montgomery	Main role
2011	|	Sherrie	''Cameo''
2011	|	Katie Gibbs	Main role
2012	|	Periwinkle	Voice role

; Other

''An American Idol Christmas'' ''Jonas Brothers: Living The Dream'' ''Entertainment Tonight'' ''Made In Hollywood: Teen Edition'' ''Good Day L.A.'' ''Teen Choice Awards'' ''Teen Choice Awards''

Year	Notes
2003	''American Juniors''	Herself
2003	|	Herself
2008	|	Herself
2008	|	Herself
2010	|	Herself	Behind The Screen: Pretty Little Liars
2010	|	Herself	Guest
2010	|	Herself
2011	|	Herself

Discography

; Singles

2011: "Run This Town"

2011: "Make You Believe"

2011: "Bless Myself"

2011: "Extra Ordinary"

Awards

Choice Summer TV Star: Female Teen Choice Awards

Year !! Award !! Category !! Work nominated !! Result
2010	Teen Choice Awards	|	Pretty Little Liars (TV series)>''Pretty Little Liars''
2011	|	Choice Summer TV Star: Female	''Pretty Little Liars''

References

External links

Category:1989 births Category:Actors from Tennessee Category:American child actors Category:American child singers Category:American female singers Category:American television actors Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Tennessee Category:People from Memphis, Tennessee

ca:Lucy Hale de:Lucy Hale es:Lucy Hale fr:Lucy Hale hr:Lucy Hale it:Lucy Hale he:לוסי הייל nl:Lucy Hale pl:Lucy Hale pt:Lucy Hale ru:Хейл, Люси fi:Lucy Hale sv:Lucy Hale