Zachary David Alexander Efron (/ˈɛfrɒn/; born October 18, 1987) is an American actor. He began acting professionally in the early 2000s, and rose to prominence in the late 2000s for his leading role in the High School Musical franchise (2006–2008). During this time, he also starred in the musical film Hairspray (2007) and the comedy film 17 Again (2009). He has since appeared in the films New Year\'s Eve (2011), The Lucky One (2012), The Paperboy (2012), Neighbors (2014), Dirty Grandpa (2016), Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016), Baywatch (2017) and The Greatest Showman (2017).\n', '

Efron was born in San Luis Obispo, California, and later moved to Arroyo Grande, California. His father, David Efron, is an electrical engineer at a power station, and his mother, Starla Baskett, is a secretary who worked at the same power plant. Efron has a brother, Dylan, and had, as he has described, a "normal childhood" in a middle-class family. His surname, "Efron" (אפרון), is an Ashkenazi Jewish surname, taken from a Biblical place name. Zac has described himself as Jewish; though he was raised in an agnostic household and did not practice religion as a child.\n', '

Efron has said that he would "flip out" if he got a "B" and not an "A" in school, as well as that he was a class clown. His father encouraged him to begin acting when Zac was eleven years old. Efron subsequently appeared in theater productions at his high school, worked in the theater The Great American Melodrama and Vaudeville, and began taking singing lessons. He performed in shows such as Gypsy; Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn\'t Grow Up; Little Shop of Horrors; and The Music Man. He was recommended to an agent in Los Angeles by his drama teacher, Robyn Metchik (the mother of actors Aaron Michael Metchik and Asher Metchik). Efron was later signed to the Creative Artists Agency.\n', '

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