5 Ways Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen Have Celebrated Their Past Birthdays
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are about to make you feel old. The Olsen twins turned 32-years-old today. Mary-Kate and Ashley are best known to TV fans for their shared role as Michelle Tanner on the 1980s ABC sitcom, Full House, a role they debuted when they were still in diapers (but declined to reprise for the modern-day Fuller House reboot). While the Olsen twins went on to co-star in several more kid-themed comedies and straight-to-video features, they found their grown-up niche in the fashion world.
In honor of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s big birthday, here’s a look back at some of the ways they’ve celebrated their special day in the past.
A TV marathon
On June 13, 1999, Mary-Kate and Ashley shared a big birthday gift with fans. In honor of the famous twins’ 13th birthday, Fox Family Channel hosted a 13-hour marathon of Mary-Kate and Ashley’s videos. The two teens were on hand to host, and even blew out some birthday candles. Fox Family’s “Birthday Bash for Mary-Kate and Ashley” was one of the most successful events ever to air on the network, according to a press release by Time Warner. At the time, Mary-Kate and Ashley starred on the Fox Family sitcom, Two of a Kind.
A Birthday Business Venture
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s manager founded the girls’ company, Dualstar Entertainment, in 1993 when the twins were just 6-years-old. But for their 18th birthday in 2004, the Olsen twins got their biggest gift yet when they became co-presidents of the company. Dualstar was behind Mary-Kate and Ashley’s successful videos like Double Trouble and How the West Was Fun. According to USA Today, by the time the child stars took control of their company upon their 18th birthday, it was worth billions. In addition to that steady stream of videos, the brand peddled books, dolls, makeup, and clothes as well as bedroom furnishings and fragrances aimed at the tween market.
“The opportunities are endless,” 18-year-old Ashley Olsen told USA Today at the time.”We are involved from beginning to end with our fragrances, too. Mary-Kate and I have different tastes, so it is great we have the opportunity to create two fragrances.”
Musical Chairs
In 2008, the Olsen twins celebrated their 22nd birthday weekend in Manchester, Tennessee, with a whole lot of music. According to People, the famous twins first hit up Nashville’s Lower Broadway, where they stopped into a honky-tonk bar and danced to the Rob Skaggs Band as they sipped Diet Red Bull and Patron. Mary-Kate and Ashley later hosted a private dinner party in the State Room at the Hermitage Hotel with eleven pals, including singer Josh Groban, before heading to a My Morning Jacket concert. The girls closed out their birthday weekend at Pearl Jam’s show at Bonnaroo, where they danced in the VIP balcony for hours.
The Olsen twins had an Olympics themed birthday bash! Are you #TeamMaryKate or #TeamAshley? http://t.co/iTwx0LJSsL pic.twitter.com/bNWyO6PWzw
— E! UK & IRELAND (@EOnlineUK) June 14, 2015
Olsen Olympics
In 2015, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen twins threw an Olympic-themed bash in the Hamptons to celebrate their 29th birthday. The “Olsen Olympics” featured two teams—the blue Team Ashley and the red Team Mary-Kate—competing in a series of outdoor games which included obstacle courses, a dunk tank and a maze with tires and cones, according to People. Team Ashley beat out Team Mary-Kate in the competition, and they celebrated the win with fireworks.
Private Party
Thanks to their extended stint on Full House, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen had double the birthday celebrations. Throughout the series’ eight-season run, the twins’ character, Michelle Tanner, had several memorable birthday bashes—-like the ill-fated circus party when she turned 3, and that Flintstones-themed 5th birthday, when the birth of Uncle Jesse’s twins stole the spotlight on Michelle’s big day. Of course, the ultimate Michelle birthday moment came when she didn’t want her birthday to end. After her doting dad and uncles tucked her in, Michelle crawled out of bed, whipped out a huge hidden piece of cake, and sang an encore of “Happy birthday” to herself. It’s impossible to tell if this is Mary-Kate or Ashley in the clip below, but either way, it was another sweet birthday for the Olsen twins.
