Early life

Marano was born in Los Angeles, California. She is the daughter of college professor Damiano Marano and former actress Ellen Marano. Her father is of Italian descent. Her mother, Ellen, is the owner of Agoura Children's Theatre. Marano revealed that she doesn't go to school on the set of Austin & Ally. Instead, she attended a regular high school: "I go to an actual high school and my friends and everybody there have been so supportive It's nice when I'm not working to go to that school and be surrounded by really supportive friends." She is also the younger sister of Vanessa Marano, who stars on ABC Family's Switched at Birth.

Career

2003-13: Television breakthrough

Marano's first acting role was when she was five years old. Since then, she worked for multiple productions at the Stage Door Theater. She has appeared in numerous commercials and had small roles on Ghost Whisperer, Medical Investigation, Huff and Joan of Arcadia. Her bigger roles in television have been in Without a Trace and other shows. She played the child role of Keira Knightley's character in the film The Jacket and had a small flashback role in the film Superbad. She was a regular cast member on the FOX game show, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? and played the role of Gracie Carr on FOX's sitcom Back to You. Marano has since appeared in several episodes of The Sarah Silverman Program. Initially she was cast in the pilot episode, "Batteries", as the child version of Sarah Silverman, and the writers liked her so much they brought her back for a larger role as a girl Sarah coaches to win a beauty pageant ("Not Without My Daughter"). On the DVD commentary track, co-star Brian Posehn notes that Marano knew everyone else's lines better than they did. She also appeared in Dexter as the child version of Debra Morgan. She also played the child version of a character played by Diana Scarwid, Alice Shaw, sister of Angela Petrelli, on Heroes.

In 2011, Marano starring as Ally Dawson on the Disney Channel series Austin & Ally. In 2013, Marano recorded four solo songs and one duet with Ross Lynch for the soundtrack album Austin & Ally: Turn It Up. "Me and You" debuted within the U.S. Billboard Kid Digital Songs chart at number thirteen before rising to the sixth spot, spending eleven weeks on the chart. "Redial" debuted at number nineteen before peaking at number eighteen, spending four weeks on the chart. Also in 2013, Marano recorded a duet with her Austin & Ally co-star Ross Lynch entitled "I Love Christmas" for Disney Channel's third holiday compilation album, Holidays Unwrapped. On November 25, 2013, the song was released as a promotional single. On December 14, "I Love Christmas" debuted within the U.S. Billboard Holiday Digital Songs chart peaking at number fifty. Marano sings, dances, and writes songs. She hopes to perform in stage musicals in the future.

2014-present: Films and music

In 2014, Marano voiced as Rachel in four episodes of Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja. She also appeared as Hammu in Fish Hooks and as Fangs in Liv and Maddie. Also in 2014, she appeared in a music video produced for British pop-rock group The Vamps and Demi Lovato called "Somebody To You". In March 2015, Marano stated that she had signed a record deal with Universal's Big Machine Records. In the same year, Marano starred in Disney Channel's Original Movie, Bad Hair Day. The film was first released on February 6, 2015 on Disney Channel and had its premiere broadcast in the US on February 13. She also starring as the young version of Amy in A Sort of Homecoming, which tells the story of a girl who returns to her home town in Louisiana from her career in New York City upon request of her high school debate coach. In flashbacks, she recalls her senior year, the politics surrounding debate competitions. On January 10, 2016, Austin and Ally ended after four seasons.

On March 11, 2016, Marano released her debut single called "Boombox" from her upcoming debut studio album.

Philanthropy

In August 2013, Marano has been named the 2013 UNICEF's Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF Ambassador, which encouraged children to raise money on Halloween to help children around the world. About the campaign, Laura said "I'm so excited to celebrate Halloween this year by encouraging kids to support UNICEF's lifesaving work. The Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF campaign is a fun, easy way for kids to learn about world issues and to help other kids who are less fortunate." In August 2014, Marano was ambassador for the Disney and Birds Eye Vegetables campaign 'Step up to the plate'. The campaign's goal is to encourage children in the United States to explore healthy foods such as vegetables.

Filmography

Film roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	Finding Nemo	Additional voices
2005	The Jacket	Young Jackie
2006	Ice Age: The Meltdown	Additional voices
2007	Goldfish	Suzy	Short film
2007	Superbad	Young Becca
2015	A Sort of Homecoming	Young Amy
2015	Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip	Hotel Babysitter

Television roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003-06	Without a Trace	Kate Malone	Recurring role (Seasons 2-4)
2004	Joan of Arcadia	Emily	"Night without Stars" (Season 1, Episode 15)
2005	Medical Investigation	Brooke Beck	"Tribe" (Season 1, Episode 13)
2005-08	X's, TheThe X's	Scout Y	Main role; Voice
2006	Ghost Whisperer	Audrey	"Friendly Neighborhood Ghost" (Season 1, Episode 13)
2006	Huff	Amelia	"Black Shadows" (Season 2, Episode 12)
2006	Dexter	Young Debra	"Let's Give the Boy a Hand" (Season 1, Episode 4) "Father Knows Best" (Season 1, Episode 9)
2007	Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader	Herself / Judge / Mentor	Season 1
2007-08	Back to You	Gracie Carr	Main role
2007-10	The Sarah Silverman Program	Heather Silverman / Young Sarah Silverman	Recurring role
2008	Ni Hao, Kai-Lan	Mei Mei	"Kai-Lan's Trip to China - Part 1" (Season 1, Episode 119) "Kai-Lan's Trip to China - Part 2" (Season 1, Episode 120)
2008	Gary Unmarried	Louise Brooks	"Pilot" (Season 1, Episode 1) "Gary Gets Boundaries" (Season 1, Episode 2)
2009	Heroes	Young Alice Shaw	"1961" (Season 3, Episode 23)
2009	Little Monk	Cousin Lauren	"Little Monk and the Monk Cousin" (Season 1, Episode 5)
2010	True Jackson, VP	Molly	"Little Buddies" (Season 2, Episode 7)
2010	FlashForward	Young Tracy	"Blowback" (Season 1, Episode 13)
2010	Childrens Hospital	Haley	"Frankfurthers. Allman Brothers. Death, Frankfurters" (Season 2, Episode 7)
2011-16	Austin & Ally	Ally Dawson	Lead role
2012	Jessie	Ally Dawson	"Austin & Jessie & Ally All Star New Year" (Season 2, Episode 6)
2014	Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja	Rachel	Recurring role (Season 2); Voice
2014	Fish Hooks	Girl Hamster #2	Voice; "Algae Day" (Season 3, Episode 14)
2014	Liv and Maddie	Fangs	"Howl-A-Rooney" (Season 1, Episode 16)
2015	Bad Hair Day	Monica Reeves	Television film
2015	Girl Meets World	Ally Dawson	"Girl Meets World of Terror 2" (Season 2, Episode 18)

Discography

Soundtrack albums

List of albums, with selected chart positions

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		US	US OST
Austin & Ally: Turn It Up	Released: December 17, 2013 Formats: CD, digital download Label: Walt Disney	89	6
Austin & Ally: Take It from the Top	Released: March 31, 2015 Formats: CD, digital download Label: Walt Disney	—	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Singles

List of singles, with selected chart positions and certifications

Title	Year	Peak chart positions	Album
		US
"Boombox"	2016	—	TBA
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Promotional singles

List of singles, with selected chart positions

Title	Year	Album
"Words"	2010	N/A
"I Love Christmas" (with Ross Lynch)	2013	Holidays Unwrapped

Other appearances

Song	Year	Other artist(s)	Album
"Poop Song"	2010	Sarah Silverman	From Our Rears to Your Ears
"Shine"	2012	N/A	Disney Fairies: Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust
"The Me That You Don't See"	2014		Disney Channel: Play It Loud
"Austin & Ally Glee Club Mash Up"		Austin & Ally cast
"You Can Come to Me"		Ross Lynch

Music videos

List of music videos, showing year released and director

Title	Year	Director	Notes
"Words"	2010	Waldman Entertainment
"Heard It on the Radio"	2012	Matt Stawski	Guest appearance; Ross Lynch's music video
"The Me That You Don't See"	2013	N/A
"Somebody to You"	2014	Emil Nava	Guest appearance; The Vamps's music video
"For The Ride"	2015	N/A
"Boombox"	2016	Cole Walliser

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2014	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actress: Comedy	Austin & Ally	Nominated
2015	Kids' Choice Awards	Favourite TV Actress		Won
	Remi Awards	Rising Actress	A Sort of Homecoming
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Summer TV Star: Female	Austin & Ally	Nominated
		Choice TV: Chemistry
2016	Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite Female TV Star	Austin & Ally	Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]