Zachary David Alexander "Zac" Efron was born October 18, 1987 and is an American actor and singer. He began acting in the early 2000s, and became known to young audiences after his roles in the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical, the WB series Summerland, and the film version of the Broadway musical Hairspray. Speaking to Newsweek in June 2006, director Adam Shankman described Efron as "arguably the biggest teen star in America right now." In 2007, right before the release of High School Musical 2, Rolling Stone declared him the "poster boy for tweenyboppers" and featured him in their late August issue. Zac owns an apartment and has two dogs, Australian shepherds named Dreamer and Puppy. He also has a Siamese cat named Simon. Zac is currently dated High School Musicla co-star Vanessa Hudgens.