Best known for portraying teenaged songwriter Ally Dawson on the Disney Channel sitcom Austin & Ally, Laura Marano is an actress and singer who began performing publicly via local theater at the age of five. The Los Angeles native soon earned work in national commercials, followed by television spots on series such as Joan of Arcadia, Without a Trace, and Dexter. In the meantime, she made her feature film debut in 2005's The Jacket, in which she played a young version of Keira Knightley's character, and netted her first role as a TV series regular in 2007's Back to You starring Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton. Marano continued a busy schedule of film and especially television work up to her landing the lead on Austin & Ally in 2011, as well as during its run, which ended in early 2016. Her time with the series included appearances with her co-star Ross Lynch on the music releases Austin & Ally, Austin & Alley: Turn It Up, and Austin & Ally: Take It from the Top. She was also featured on collections such as Songs from the Sarah Silverman Program: From Our Rears to your Ears! and Disney Channel: Play It Loud.nn Having signed with Big Machine Records in 2015, Marano released her first single as a solo recording artist in March 2016. The dance-pop tune "Boombox" quickly hit the Billboard social networking charts. ~ Marcy Donelson