Lauren Conrad Biography

Lauren Katherine Conrad (born February 1, 1986), also known by her nickname L.C., is an American television personality, fashion designer, and author. Born and raised in Laguna Beach, California, she attended Laguna Beach High School. In September 2004, Conrad came to prominence after being cast in the reality television series Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, which documented the lives of her and her friends.

After moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the fashion industry in May 2006, Conrad was commissioned to star in her own spin-off series The Hills, which chronicled the personal and professional lives of her and friends Heidi Montag, Audrina Patridge, and Whitney Port. During its production, she attended the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising and held positions with Teen Vogue and Kelly Cutrone's PR firm People's Revolution. As the series progressed, a widely-publicized feud developed between Conrad against Montag and her boyfriend Spencer Pratt. Consequentially, the conflict became the central focus of the series, and was carried through each subsequent season.

In May 2009, Conrad left The Hills after five seasons, and was replaced by former Laguna Beach cast member Kristin Cavallari. She filmed an alternate ending for the series finale in July 2010, which was broadcast in August 2013. Conrad launched the fashion lines "LC Lauren Conrad" and "Paper Crown" in 2009 and 2011, respectively. She released the L.A. Candy book trilogy in 2010 and the spin-off The Fame Game series in 2012.

Life and career

1986"2005: Early life and Laguna Beach

Lauren Katherine Conrad was born in Laguna Beach, California on February 1, 1986, to parents Jim and Kathy (née Lawrence), who were both employed as architects. She is the elder sibling of her sister Breanna, also a former television personality, and brother Brandon. Conrad first expressed an interest in a career in the fashion industry when she was in the sixth grade.

Alongside eventual castmates Lo Bosworth, Kristin Cavallari, and Stephen Colletti, Conrad was educated at Laguna Beach High School. In 2004, they starred in Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, a former MTV reality television series which documented their lives during high school. The series proved successful for the network, which Conrad described as being "definitely a different way to grow up". The first season notably focused on the love triangle between Conrad, Cavallari, and Colletti, and the subsequent feud between the former two. Upon the conclusion of the first season, Conrad appeared on an episode of MTV Cribs.

After graduating high school in 2004, Conrad attended the Academy of Art University in San Francisco for one semester, where she met Heidi Montag. Conrad left the series after the second season, during which period she moved back home and transferred to the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles. After her sister Breanna became a primary cast member, Conrad made a guest appearance on the series during the third season.

2006"09: The Hills

After moving to Los Angeles in May 2006, the spin-off series The Hills was developed to chronicle the lives of Conrad, her housemate Heidi Montag, and their friends Audrina Patridge and Whitney Port. During production of the first season, Conrad and Port held internships with Teen Vogue under the direction of West Coast Vogue editor Lisa Love; she stated that they had to interview successfully for the positions, "regardless of what the cameras wanted". By the second season, their friendship had deteriorated after Montag began dating Spencer Pratt. After Montag moved in with Pratt, Patridge and Lo Bosworth later became roommates with Conrad.

During the third season, Conrad ended her friendship with Montag after she suspected that Pratt was responsible for rumors of a sex tape involving her and her former boyfriend Jason Wahler; the ensuing feud carried through each subsequent season. Conrad briefly dated fellow castmate Brody Jenner, which she commented had been subject to "editing to drag it out" during the series. In January 2007, Conrad was announced as the inaugural spokeswoman of Avon Products's "mark." line, marketed towards young women; she was succeeded by actress Ashley Greene in June 2010. Later in 2007, Conrad appeared as a satirical version of herself in the comedy film Epic Movie. In 2008, Conrad and Port began employment with Kelly Cutrone's PR firm, People's Revolution. Conrad later made a cameo appearance in an episode of Greek and provided her voice for a cartoon version of herself in an episode of Family Guy. In March, she premiered her first fashion line "The Lauren Conrad Collection". After underwhelming sales figures, Conrad ended the line the following year to further familiarize herself with the industry.

Upon the conclusion of the fourth season of The Hills in December 2008, Conrad wished to leave the series to pursue other career opportunities. However, per the producers' requests, she filmed ten episodes for the following season, in which she closed her storylines. Conrad made her final appearance on the series in May 2009, attending Montag and Pratt's wedding after much deliberation during the mid-season finale of the fifth season. However, in the July 2009 issue of Cosmopolitan, she stated that producers had pressured her into a reconciliation with Montag throughout the season, adding that she was displeased when they would not allow otherwise. Conrad was replaced by former Laguna Beach castmate Kristin Cavallari until the series' conclusion in July 2010.

That September, Conrad revealed that she had filmed an alternate ending for The Hills with Jenner. Upon the conclusion of their month-long morning marathon of the series, titled "RetroMTV Brunch", MTV aired the footage in August 2013. The scene depicts Jenner returning to his apartment after seeing Cavallari's limousine off to Europe. Conrad is revealed to be sitting on his couch, and comforts him that "it's hard to say goodbye" to a "friend of [his]", before the camera focuses on a smiling Conrad. That month, she also expressed interest in participating in a potential reunion film.

2009"present: Fashion career and books

Conrad's first novel L.A. Candy was released in June 2009, and became a New York Times bestseller. It was inspired by her life, focusing on a woman named Jane Roberts who moves to Los Angeles. It was followed by sequels Sweet Little Lies and Sugar and Spice in 2010, also releasing the fashion guide Lauren Conrad Style. She later made appearances on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, playing for her charity "m.powerment by mark" and Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, and also served as a guest judge on the thirteenth cycle of America's Next Top Model.

In fall 2009, Conrad collaborated with Kohl's to launch her second fashion line "LC Lauren Conrad" in the United States, and was later expanded to include a bedding collection. In September 2010, Conrad was to star in an MTV series that would have focused on her career endeavors, though the network chose not to pick up the program after Conrad preferred not to film her private life. In April 2011, Conrad launched "The Beauty Department" with her hairstylist, Kristin Ess, and her makeup artist, Amy Nadine; she later announced plans to expand the brand to include a line of cosmetics. Looking to target a more upscale audience, Conrad released her third fashion line "Paper Crown" that August.

Conrad released her fourth novel The Fame Game as a spin-off to the L.A. Candy series in April 2012. In July, she collaborated with BlueAvocado to launch XO(eco), an environmentally-friendly collection of bags. In October 2012, Conrad released The Fame Game continuation novel Starstruck and the style guide Lauren Conrad Beauty. The final novel Infamous was released in June 2013.

In 2008, Conrad began dating actor Kyle Howard. Howard expressed concern that appearing on reality television would interfere with his acting career; consequentially, their relationship was not documented on The Hills. After three years together, Conrad and Howard ended their relationship in 2011. The following year, she began dating former Something Corporate guitarist William Tell. Since September 2013, they have shared a residence in Westwood, Los Angeles.

Public image

Since appearing on Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, Conrad has been recognized as being among the first individuals to benefit from the popularity of reality television in the early 2000s. In 2009, Thomas Rogers from Salon described her as "one of the dullest major characters in reality television history", but opined that her normalcy compared to her co-stars on The Hills made her "vaguely likable". In 2013, Misty White Sidell from The Daily Beast noted that Conrad established a following based on her respectability instead of "bitch-slaps and drunken sex-capades", further commenting that her more relatable image made her an "anomaly" among television personalities. Conrad herself commented that The Hills was intended to be an "aspirational" program despite being "laced with scandal and catfights", stating that the storyline differed from the "shock value" emphasized in recent programming.

Conrad has been featured on the covers of several magazine's best-selling issues, including those of People StyleWatch and Cosmopolitan. She appeared on the May 2012 issue of Glamour, which sold approximately 500,000 copies and became the magazine's strongest-selling issue of the year. Lauren Sherman from Fashionista credited Conrad's success to "her knack for entrepreneurship, her easy style, and her friendliness". Jim Higgins from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel complimented her pursuit of several different career endeavors, and compared her to a "young Martha Stewart". However, in August 2012, Conrad was criticized for destroying a collection of A Series of Unfortunate Events novels for a crafting tutorial posted to YouTube.

Conrad is a registered member of the Republican Party. She has stated that she has "done several things to [...] encourage people to vote", but respects the private ballot and "[doesn't] want to ever influence someone's vote or have [her] vote change someone's opinion of [her]". Conrad collaborated with Seventeen to film a public service announcement for Declare Yourself, a campaign which encouraged young adults to register themselves to vote during the 2008 presidential election.

During its production, Conrad was the highest-paid cast member on The Hills, earning an annual salary of $2.5 million. In 2008, her endeavors earned her an additional $1.5 million. In 2010, Conrad was named the second highest-paid reality television personality, ranking behind Kim Kardashian.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
Television
2004"05	Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County	Herself	Narrator (season 1), main cast member (seasons 1"2), and guest (season 3)
2006"09	The Hills	Narrator and main cast member (seasons 1"5), guest (season 6)
2008	Greek	"Hell Week" (season 2, episode 10)
	Privileged	"All About Friends and Family" (season 1, episode 5)
2009	Bromance	"Who's Got Game?" (season 1, episode 3)
	Who Wants to Be a Millionaire	10th Anniversary Celebration
	America's Next Top Model	"Fortress of Fierceness" (cycle 13, episode 3)
	Family Guy	"We Love You, Conrad" (season 7, episode 14)
2010	Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List	"Moving the Merch" (season 6, episode 4)
2012	Punk'd	"Dax Shepard" (season 9, episode 7)
Film
2007	Epic Movie	Herself	Cameo appearance
2012	L!fe Happens	Guest appearance

Published works

• L.A. Candy (2009)
• Sweet Little Lies (2010)
• Sugar and Spice (2010)
• Lauren Conrad Style (2010)
• The Fame Game (2012)
• Lauren Conrad Beauty (2012)
• Starstruck (2012)
• Infamous (2013)

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Series	Result
2006	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Female Reality TV	The Hills	rowspan="4"
2007
2008
2009
2010
2013	Young Hollywood Awards	SodaStream UnBottle the World Award