Mary-Kate Olsen

Mary-Kate Olsen (born June 13, 1986) is an American businesswoman, fashion designer, equestrian, and former actress. She is the identical twin sister of Ashley Olsen.
== Early life and education ==
Mary-Kate Olsen was born on June 13, 1986, in Sherman Oaks, California. She is the daughter of Jarnette "Jarnie" (née Jones; b. 1954), a personal manager, and David "Dave" Olsen, a real estate developer and mortgage banker. She is two minutes younger than her twin sister Ashley Olsen. She has an older brother Trent, a younger sister (actress Elizabeth Olsen), and two half-siblings Courtney and Jake (from her father's second marriage). Olsen's parents divorced in 1996. The twins and their siblings have Norwegian ancestry while their mother is of French, German and Italian ancestry.
Olsen attended the Campbell Hall School in Los Angeles. After graduating from Campbell Hall in 2004, Olsen and her twin sister went on to attend the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University.
== Acting career ==
=== Career beginnings ===
Olsen began her acting career at the age of nine months old when she and her twin sister, Ashley Olsen, were hired to share the role of Michelle Tanner on the popular television sitcom Full House (1987–1995). She starred alongside her twin sister in the films, To Grandmother's House We Go (1992), Double, Double, Toil and Trouble (1993), How the West Was Fun (1994), It Takes Two (1995), Billboard Dad (1998) and in the television series, Two of a Kind (1998–1999). In 1997, the Olsen twins guest starred in an episode of Sister, Sister, which starred twin actresses Tia Mowry and Tamera Mowry.
=== Dualstar ===
Main article: Dualstar
In 1993, following Mary-Kate and Ashley's success on Full House, a limited liability company, Dualstar Entertainment Group was created to produce Mary-Kate and Ashley-branded products. It produced a successful long string of TV movies and direct-to-video releases featuring the girls. They starred in Passport to Paris (1999), Switching Goals (1999), Our Lips Are Sealed (2000), Winning London (2001), Holiday in the Sun (2001) and in the television series, So Little Time (2001–2002).
They became household names and popular figures in the preteen market during the late 1990s and early 2000s, with Mary-Kate's likeness seen in clothes, books, fragrances, magazines, movies, and posters, among others. There were fashion dolls of her made by Mattel from 2000 to 2005. They also starred in the films Getting There (2002), When in Rome (2002), The Challenge (2003) and made cameos in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003). In 2004, the twins appeared in their final and light-hearted romantic comedy film, New York Minute.
That same year upon their 18th birthday, both Mary-Kate and Ashley took control of Dualstar, becoming joint-CEOs and presidents of the company, which at the time had its merchandise being carried in over 3,000 stores in America and 5,300 stores worldwide.
These ventures, combined with an array of licensing deals for their names and likenesses, made Olsen wealthy at a young age. In 2004, Olsen's and her twin sister’s wealth was estimated at $137 million each.
=== Retirement ===
Olsen's first solo acting appearance was in the movie Factory Girl (2006). Her one short scene was ultimately cut from theatrical release, but was included on the film's Unrated version on DVD and Blu-ray.
In 2007, she had a recurring role on the television show, Weeds, and the twins said that if they became involved in movies together again, it would be as producers.
In 2008, Olsen made a guest appearance on the ABC comedy Samantha Who? as a self-destructive girl that Samantha tries to help. That same year, she also appeared in the film The Wackness. In 2011, Olsen appeared in the motion picture adaption of the Alex Flinn novel Beastly, which was her final acting project.
In March 2012, both Mary-Kate and Ashley indicated their interest to retire as actresses in order to focus on their careers in fashion. They discussed wanting to open a store as one of their future fashion-based endeavors.
In 2015, it was announced that John Stamos signed on with Netflix to produce and co-star in Fuller House, a spin-off of Full House that would reunite the original cast members for a 13-episode series. However, in May of that year, Mary-Kate and Ashley announced that they would not reprise their role as Michelle Tanner. A month prior to the announcement, Nickelodeon acquired the rights to the twins' video library.
=== Net worth and influence ===
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In 2007, Forbes ranked the twins jointly as the eleventh-richest women in entertainment, with an estimated combined net worth of $100 million.
== Filmography ==
* The Little Rascals (1994)
* Passport to Paris (1999)
* Our Lips Are Sealed (2000)
* Winning London (2001)
* Holiday in the Sun (2001)
* Getting There (2002)
* When in Rome (2002)
* The Challenge (2003)
* Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003) (cameo)
* New York Minute (2004) (last film with her twin sister)
* Beastly (2011) (last film)