For someone who has lived only twenty-four years, American actress, singer, and model Lindsay Lohan has experienced more than some do in an entire, long lifetime.

Born in New York City and raised on Long Island, New York, she is the first-born child of Michael Lohan (a Wall Street trader and heir to a pasta business) and Donata "Dina" Sullivan Lohan, who was a singer. The couple also has three other children, Michael, Jr., Aliana, and Dakota. All the children are involved and working in show business.

Lohan's heritage is Irish and Italian. She was raised as a Roman Catholic. She attended Cold Spring Harbor High School until the eleventh grade, when she began homeschooling. Her parents have had a difficult relationship. They separated first when Lohan was three, but later reunited. They separated again in 2005, and their divorce was final in 2007. Her father has had several brushes with the law.

Lohan began her career in show business at age three. Her parents signed her on with Ford Models, and she worked as a child model for Calvin Klein Kids and Abercrombie Kids. She appeared in more than one hundred television commercials, including a Jell-O spot with Bill Cosby. Later, she was cast as a soap opera character's child, in the daytime program, Another World. The next year she was hired to star in Disney's remake of the comedy, The Parent Trap. Her performance received rave reviews from critics and audiences alike. This launched Lohan on a meteoric rise to fame.

She starred in the remake of Freaky Friday, winning her an MTV award. She also began to record songs, including the closing theme of Freaky Friday, entitled "Ultimate." She signed recording contracts with major labels, including Casablanca. Lohan continued to star in successful films, catering largely to a teenage audience. One of the most noteworthy was Mean Girls, her first film independent of Disney. At age seventeen, she became the youngest-ever host of the MTV Awards. Her debut album, Speak, was released later that year and peaked at number four on the Billboard 200. She co-wrote six of the album's songs.

Despite these successes, and partially because of them, Lohan's health and emotional state began to suffer. In 2004 she was hospitalized with a kidney infection. On the set she became difficult to work with. With the release of Mean Girls, the paparazzi began to follow her, which led her to live in hotels for several years. She had a series of auto accidents. Her parent's second separation and subsequent divorce added to stresses. Further accidents and arrests followed, including some for driving under the influence of alcohol.

She has several times entered rehabilitation centers, in an effort to eliminate addictions and achieve emotional balance in her life. When her hectic childhood and adolescence are taken into consideration, her problems are understandable, and perhaps even remarkable that she has survived the stresses and traumas. However, the media continued to portray a spoiled, ungrateful, irresponsible young woman. With the multiple court appearances and rehab entries and exits to consider, Hollywood stopped calling Lohan, and contracts with her were cancelled. In late 2010, having failed a court-mandated drug test, Lohan was sent to jail. A few days later she voluntarily entered the Betty Ford Center, where a judge ordered her to remain until January 3, 2011. Her next court hearing date is set for February 25, 2011.