From teen queen to party animal ! The story of Lindsay Lohan

Lindsay Lohan is currently hanging out in "4 East" and it's not some swanky new L.A. club. It's the nickname of the rehab program housed at the UCLA Medical Center. The star's spending the next 80ish days sans Internet and Twitter and texting (oh my!), and instead she's keeping busy with things like landscape puzzles.

LiLo checked her makeup and cell phone at the door of the facility earlier this week, coming straight from a 14-day stint in jail. (So, the rehab facility actually is much more like a nightclub than her jail cell, where she didn't even have a pillow, her mom claimed.) The troubled star has had quite the month (and career) to say the least, and we're all watching and waiting to see what happens next. Will she change her ways for good this time, or will she keep making the same mistakes?

Baby Steps
Lindsay started modeling not long after she was potty-trained. At 3, she signed to Ford Models, and appeared in over 100 commercials over the next couple years. She starred in everything from Abercrombie Kids ads to Pizza Hut and Jell-O commercials -- alongside Bill Cosby!


By the time Lindsay was 10, she landed her first role as Alli Fowler on the soap opera Another World. With 7 years of acting under her belt, a bigger role was the natural progression. She became a star before hitting middle school and left her post on daytime TV to become a Disney star.

Disney Days
Lindsay's big screen breakout was in the remake of the classic flick The Parent Trap. She played two characters (twins) and dazzled audiences and critics alike. The film brought in $92 million worldwide in 1998.

An LA Times critic said about her performance: She's "the soul of this film as much as Hayley Mills was of the original."

As her career took off, so did her social life. In 2002, at 16, Lindsay dated Aaron Carter(brother of Backstreet Boy Nick Carter) and that caused all sorts of drama. Rumor had itHilary Duff, who dated Aaron on-and-off before LiLo came into the picture, was not too happy about the new couple. Both gals denied any catfights, but the tabloids ate it up. Two cute girls "fighting" over the same blonde boy made for great headlines.

The drama in her personal life didn't get in the way of her work, however. Her Parent Trap role led to bigger and better things -- like a 3-year contract with Disney. She went on to star in the TV movies Life-Size andGet a Clue for the network, and hit it out of the park when her second flick opened on the big screen.

Freaky Friday, also starring Jamie Lee Curtis, brought in a whopping $160 million worldwide at the box office in 2003, and remains her highest grossing movie to-date. She won the Breakthrough Performance award at the 2004 MTV Movie Awards -- which she hosted at the age of 17! She's is still the youngest star to ever have hosting duties.

I'm Just Having Fun

Lindsay broke out of her Disney shell around the 2004 mark. Her contract was up, and she went a little more mainstream (PG-13, that is) with her next role, Mean Girls. She played an outcast named Cady who battled the popular, "mean girls" (dubbed "The Plastics") at a new high school. Tina Fey wrote the hilarious flick and Lindsay was a perfect fit for the part.

The film brought in $129 million worldwide, so it wasn't her most lucrative work, but people loved it. The part had a hand in "cementing her status as the new teen movie queen," according to BoxOfficeMojo.com founder Brandon Gray.

While riding her box office success, Lindsay tried her hand at music. Her debut album Speak hit shelves in December and made it to number 4 on the Billboard 200. It sold 261,762 copies in its first week, then was certified Platinum by early 2005. The reviews weren't so kind, however. "There's not one iota of originality or personality here, nothing to indicate that Lohan has any interest in music other than just adding another hyphen to her list of talents," read Slantmagazine's 2004 review.

Fame Game
All this career success dragged Lindsay into the spotlight, of course. Lindsay was no longer living with her parents (that's a whole different story) and she spent most of her time living in posh LA hotels, like the Chateau Marmont. No curfew, a big Hollywood name, and lots of money meant Lindsay could do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. So, she did.

The bubbly redhead (who was named one of People's 50 Most Beautiful People in 2004) quickly became a paparazzi magnet. Cameras followed her every step -- and managed to rather effectively document her budding social life, for better, for worse.

Lindsay wrote about the woes of constantly being followed by photogs in her hit single, "Rumors:" "I'm tired of rumors starting/I'm sick of being followed/I'm tired of people lying/Sayin' what they want about me," she sang.

The media especially had a field day when the 17-year-old broke the rules and dated much-older That '70s Show star Wilmer Valderrama. Lindsay initially denied their relationship, saying she was single because: "I like 24-year-olds – and that's illegal." But, soon enough, they were caught on camera locking lips. They called it quits in November 2004, however, just after Lindsay guest-starred on his show. Of course.

Soon, Lindsay's heavy partying started getting in the way. The freckled teen star had her first "disastrous photo shoot" (for Vanity Fair), and was de-emphasized in posters advertising her next movie Herbie: Fully Loaded. Execs reportedly didn't appreciate her "un-Disney-like" behavior.

The starlet maintained she was just following the "work hard, play hard" mentality. "I want to win an Oscar. I want to be known for more than, like, going out. For being 'the party girl,'" she said (via TheHollywoodGossip.com) "I hate that. I bust my ass when I'm filming and when I have time off, yeah, I like to go out and dance."

Luckily, the actress' social "dancing" didn't hurt the flick's box office success. Herbie came out in 2005 and the family flick raked in $144 million worldwide. Reviews were generally favorable. "Likable but never saccharine, confident but not snooty, and endowed with the natural freckled-faced beauty of an 18-year-old Everywoman, Ms. Lohan seems completely at home on the screen," read the New York Times review.

Father to Daughter
Lindsay's movie career seemed to be holding steady in 2005, despite her proclivity for club-hopping, a trip to the hospital for a kidney infection (apparently brought on by stress), and a so-so second album (A Little More Personal fell under the top 100 a week after its debut, though it registered Gold in 2006). Her family life was a different story.

Lindsay's dad Michael Lohan was sentenced to two years in prison in 2005 after he got a DUI and beat up his brother-in-law. After the trial, he and Lindsay's mom, Dina, separated. (They officially divorced in 2007.) Lindsay and her younger sister, Ali, took it hard.

LiLo released a music video, which also starred Ali, that addressed their relationship with Michael. The song is called "Confessions of a Broken Heart (Daughter to Father)." The dark, depressing video shows Lindsay with a makeup-stained face crying on the bathroom floor in a party dress as her "parents" fight in the family room. "And I carry the weight of the world on my shoulders/A family in crisis that only grows older," she sings.

Over the next few years, Lindsay opened up even more about her family life. She admitted in 2007 that she didn't speak much to her dad after he got out of prison in March, and she said a year later (via Harper's Bazaar): "He's not a bad guy. He's just making bad choices," which was about the nicest thing we've heard from her about him since -- her Twitter feed in recent months has been littered with hateful comments. ("let's not forget, that my father KIDNAPPED me from a COURT ROOM when i was 4 years old and is CRAZY." she tweeted in April of this year.)

I'm Only Having Fun
Things were rockier in 2006. The starlet's next movie, Just My Luck, tanked at the box office, bringing in a paltry $5.7 million its opening weekend. Instead of a MTV Movie Awards nod, she was up for a Worst Actress Razzie. Ratings onRotten Tomatoes were only 13% positive for the flick -- Mean Girls'ratings were 83% positive, by comparison.

"Looking tired and sallow and drained of her customary glow, Lindsay Lohan marches grimly through this mechanical tween comedy as if it were a particularly tedious homework assignment. Which it is," wrote an LA Weeklycritic.

An LA Times reviewer yearned for Lindsay's good old days: "No doubt this film will please the pre-teen set, but they'd be so much better off staying home and renting Mean Girls."

After getting such bad reviews for her latest mainstream work, Lindsay opted for more mature, independent movies next. She starred in A Prairie Home Companion alongside Meryl Streep, who was a big fan: “I think I’d seen Freaky Friday maybe seven times,” she said (via Wmagazine). “I have three daughters, and it’s the Lindsay Lohan fan club at my house. I thought—I think—she is a terrific actress. It’s something that you could see even when she was little-bitty.”

Lindsay took the opportunity to reflect on her image and future in the same interview. “I want people to know me for the work that I’m doing, not for this party girl image, which is just vile and disgusting and not fair, because I work so hard. Maybe someone will look at my life one day and say, ‘Why don’t I do a cover with Lindsay Lohan?’”

Helping Hands
Rumors about Lindsay's health (bulimia, excessive drinking, drugs, chain smoking, and asthma) caught up with her in 2006. She landed in the hospital for being "overheated and dehydrated,"according to her rep, but speculation was that she was battling the fallout from the aforementioned bad habits. When she got her appendix taken out months later, there were plenty of folks who believed her heavy drinking was to blame. In December 2006 she started going to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

In July 2006 she missed a few days on the Georgia Rule set, again claiming exhaustion. Previously sympathetic execs were tired of the excuses and a head honcho at the film studio wrote her a memo, which was published all over the web. The fiery letter blasted her for acting like a "spoiled child." “You and your representatives have told us that your various late arrivals and absences from the set have been the result of illness; today we were told it was ‘heat exhaustion.’ We are well aware that your ongoing all night heavy partying is the real reason for your so-called ‘exhaustion,”’ James G. Robinson wrote.

The actress' love life was also shaky. She was caught kissing a Greek shipping heir namedStavros Niarchos, who had previously dated heiress Paris Hilton. The two girls had been friends, but not anymore. Paris was caught on a TMZ video laughing and talking smack about her former friend shortly after.

Then, Lindsay moved on and started dating Harry Morton, an ultra-rich restaurant owner. They went clubbing and frequented the red carpet, though Harry reportedly got tired of the drama pretty quick. They took a "break" in the fall of 2006, after just 3 months of dating. Sources say Lindsay was pretty torn up over the split, which didn't help her health.

Rehabbing It
It wasn't long before Lindsay wound up in rehab -- twice. She checked herself into rehab after putting her movie I Know Who Killed Me on hold in January 2007 and spent 30 days trying to get back on track. "I have made a proactive decision to take care of my personal health," she said in a statement.

She emerged from the Wonderland Center and said (via People.com): "It's so weird that I went to rehab. I always said I would die before I went to rehab."

And claimed: "I don't know that I'm necessarily an addict."

Lindsay made it out of the facility in time to make it to the premiere of Georgia Rule in May 2007 with a new man on her arm! She cozied up with British TV star Calum Best, and they even vacationed in the Bahamas together (where they saw a Janet Jackson concert!).

Their relationship didn't last, though. Lindsay ended up back in rehab after crashing her Mercedes weeks later. She reportedly lost control of her car and wound up on a curb on May 26, 2007. When police arrived, they found a "usable amount of cocaine" at the scene. The incident was brushed under the rug for the most part -- she wound up with a misdemeanor DUI and spent another 45 days in rehab, then volunteered to wear an alcohol detection bracelet when she got out of the facility.

Lessons Unlearned
It only took two weeks for LiLo to rack up another DUI. On July 19, 2007 she was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and taken back to the Santa Monica, Calif. police station where her blood-alcohol level was shown to be above the legal limit. Plus, the 21-year-old had cocaine in her system, and was driving on a suspended license. This time, officials weren't willing to look the other way.

She pleaded guilty to the charges and got handed the following: 1 day in prison, 10 days of community service, a slew of fines, and orders to complete alcohol education classes. Oh, and 3 years of probation. Back to rehab she went, this time in Utah.

She left that facility in October 2007 and returned to work. She was filming Dare to Love Me, before spending her infamous 84 minutes in jail on November 15. (Her 1-day sentence was reduced thanks to overcrowding.)

Girls, Girls, Girls
Lindsay toned it down a bit following her brushes with the law and began hanging around with DJSamantha Ronson in April 2008. Then, romance rumors surfaced. It took a while, but the gals publicly confirmed their romantic relationship eventually. Lindsay said in a December 2008Harpers's Bazaar interview: "I think it's no shock to anyone that it's been going on for quite some time. ... She's a wonderful person and I love her very much."

The gals were photographed countless times over the course of their relationship and Lindsay seemed exceptionally happy.

At that juncture, TV seemed like a safer bet after I Know Who Killed Me won the star a record 8 Razzies in 2007. So, her next move was as a guest star on Ugly Betty. Plus, she did some modeling and even launched her own clothing line.

She got political and offered her services for the 2008 presidential campaign, but Barack Obama's camp politely turned her down.

The better times lasted until about March 2009, when Lindsay and Samantha broke up. No one really knows the story about what led to the split, but according to Lindsay's prolific Twitter account, Sam was to blame. "You broke my heart. Now go away. I loved you," she wrote.

If you ask Sam's camp, the story's totally different -- and the break up was a welcomed relief. "Sam's family has made her swear that it's really over," a source told People.com. "They are giving her all the support they can to keep her away from Lindsay."

Changing Scenery
In 2010 Lindsay was due back in court. Instead, she went to the Cannes Film Festival in France. Bad call. The judge did not look kindly on the star's flippant attitude about her hearing (a probation progress review) and the starlet claimed she lost her passport and begged for a free pass. Her lawyer, Shawn Campbell Holley, told the judge (via People.com): "She filed a police report. She intended to fly back at the earliest possible time. I don't know what else to tell you. She had reservations for a flight." Didn't matter.

The judge ordered an arrest warrant and said: "There is no valid excuse [for Lohan not being here]. If she wanted to be here, she could've been here. She could've come two days early from Cannes. She has a history of not keeping scheduled appointments. She has to take this seriously. I've warned her before."

Lindsay found her passport and got her butt back to LA on May 24. When she met with the judge, the actress was ordered to wear a SCRAM alcohol monitoring bracelet for the second time in 3 years, and was told to be back in court in July.

After the hearing, LiLo didn't let big, black anklet get her down! She hit up the nightclub scene
outfitted in high boots and stuck to some crazy (questionably non-alcoholic) drink called Kombucha.

She goofed around until July 6, and then things got real, really fast. The judge ordered her to 90 days in jail, coupled with 90 days in rehab. Lindsay sobbed in court while Judge Marsha Revel handed her the sentence, and swore she'd appeal -- she drew not-so-discreet parallels between her sentence and "cruel and unusual punishment" on Twitter.

The appeal plan fell through and Lindsay ended up surrendering herself at an LA county courthouse on July 20."the only "bookings" that i'm familiar with are Disney Films, never thought that i'd be "booking" into Jail... eeeks," she posted on Twitter the night before she checked into jail.

She spent 14 days at the Lynwood Correctional Facility (her sentence was reduced thanks to overcrowding) and her lawyer said she spent a lot of time writing and eating Twizzlers. Rumor has it she was writing a book and a new album while locked up, too.

She was released from jail in the wee hours of August 2, and was ushered directly to the UCLA Medical Center for her rehab stay -- her 4th in 3 years. She got to hug her mom first. Now, she's undergoing intense personal and group therapy and spending lots of time in 4 East.

What's Next?
Though Lindsay hasn't exactly been accessible over the last month, the troubled star still has plenty of projects in the works. She's in Robert Rodriguez's flick Machete (though she was cut out of the promo poster), and is set to play the porn star Linda Lovelace in the film Inferno. Before heading to jail she did super sexy photo shoots for Marc Ecko and Maxim -- so just imagine her potential if she did clean up her act.

After all, she's only 24! The starlet might have been working for two decades already, but, according to her age, she isn't even due for a quarter-life crisis. With a little maturity, a lot of restraint, and sobriety, the best years yet could be ahead. She'll get out of rehab with a fairly clean slate, so the decision is really in her hands.

At this point, things could go either way for the former teen queen. On one hand, she can clean up her act -- like rule-breakers Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie before her -- and continue to work and make movies and pose provocatively in photo shoots. Or, she can continue on her path of self-destructive behavior, and see where the downward spiral goes next.

The star's lawyer is optimistic about the Lindsay that will emerge from 4 East in a few weeks. “She looks gorgeous. She's writing a lot. She's creating art. She's a beautiful, talented, creative woman and she's going to come out and surprise you all!" Holley said.

Either way, we hear she could get up to $1 million for her first post-jail/rehab interview, so at least there's that to bank on.

Source: Zimbio