The CW Source: Happy Birthday, Hilarie Burton!

Happy Birthday, Hilarie! Hilarie Burton celebrates her 26th birthday today! With her big day so close to the Independence Day holiday, it’s no wonder that the 4th is her all-around favorite day. She's said: “My birthday is July 1st and my best friend's birthday is July 5th, so it's always been a favorite holiday. It's all about having a cooler full of sodas, hot dogs, and just hanging out and shooting off firecrackers, being low-key, watching the fireworks. There's something about a holiday that isn't all about how much money you spend." We hope Hilarie turns the first week of July into a week full of celebrations!

Hilarie was born in Sterling Park, Virginia. She has three younger brothers, Billy, Johnny and Conrad (she nicknamed them “Billy Awesome,” “Johnny Kickass” and “C-Rock”). She decided early that she wanted to be an actress, so she packed her bags and headed to NYC where she quickly landed an unbelievable gig as an MTV VJ. Interestingly, Hil’s folks wouldn’t allow her to watch the racy channel when she was growing up. Talk about the ultimate rebellion!

It wasn’t long before the folks at Dawson’s Creek spotted her for a guest-starring role on the popular TV show and that role parlayed into her Peyton Sawyer role in One Tree Hill. Let's take a trip down memory lane to remember some of our favorite Peyton moments...

Can you believe that when we first met Peyton in season one, she was a cheerleader with a dark side… and she was dating Nathan!? Can we even imagine that now?

In season two, Peyton found out that she was adopted. But just a short time after getting to know her birth mother, Ellie, she lost her to breast cancer. That was a tough one to get over. It’s hard enough to lose one mother -- but losing two seems impossible. Peyton did end up meeting her half-brother Derek a couple of seasons later after she took care of business with Stalker Derek who terrorized her for awhile (can't this girl get a break?).

Peyton’s also been a little unlucky when it comes to matters of the heart. In season three, she proposed to Jake but he ended that quickly after he heard her mumbling Lucas’s name in her sleep. Oops! So at the end of season three, Peyton had to tell her BFF, Brooke, that she was in love with Lucas -- unfortunately for Peyton, Brooke was dating him at the time.

Years later, the timing has still never really been right for Peyton and Lucas. They broke up after he proposed to her, and she thought she wasn’t ready. Now that she is ready, he’s in love with someone else. Luckily, Peyton has her start-up record label, Red Bedroom Records, to distract her… kind of.

Peyton's love life is tumultuous these days, but in real life, Hilarie's happily married. In 2004, she married Ian Prange, son of Gregory Prange, who's the executive producer/director of One Tree Hill. And though Peyton focuses on music, Hilarie's dabbling in movies as well as TV. She's appeared in flicks such as Normal Adolescent Behavior, and we’ll see her next in The Secret Life of Bees with co-stars Queen Latifah, Dakota Fanning and Jennifer Hudson. It’s set for an October 17th, 2008 release date (mark your calendars!).

Sounds like Hilarie's got a lot going on that's worth celebrating. We hope she has a fantastic birthday. Post your birthday wishes for Hilarie here!

Comments

Happy Belated B'Day Hilarie

Posted by: Victoria Gichohi | August 7, 2008 3:53 PM

I BELIEVE THAT PEYTON AND LUCAS BELONG 2GETHER, I THINK THERE GREAT 4 EACHOTHER. I THINK THAT SHE SHOULD KEEP TRYIN 2 WIN LUCAS BACK IF EVERYBODY ELSE CAN C DAT DEY BELONG 2GETHER DEN SHE SHOULD FIGHT 4 EM...

Posted by: ashley simons | July 31, 2008 2:57 PM

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HILARIE!!!!!

By The Way : GOOO LEYTON!!!!!!

Posted by: sydney | July 22, 2008 6:37 PM

happy happy birthday!!!

Posted by: kay | July 8, 2008 1:09 PM

Happy Birthday Hilarie. I hope that your birthday turned out to be what you wanted. I love you very much especially in One Tree Hill. Keep it up.

Posted by: Lucus | July 8, 2008 12:04 PM

Happy belated birthday!!!

Love fan from Brunei.

Posted by: diana ( Brunei ) | July 6, 2008 10:03 AM

HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY HILARIE!!! YOU ARE AN INCREDIBLE ACTRESS AND I HOPE YOUR BIRTHDAY WAS EVERYTHING YOU HOPED IT WOULD BE! <3