All About Miley Cyrus

Name:

Miley Cyrus

Birth Date:

November 23, 1992

Birth Place:

Nashville, Tenn.

1992

November 23

Destined to be Miley

Destiny Hope Cyrus is born to country singer Billy Ray Cyrus (left) and wife, Leticia (Tish), who call a 500-acre Nashville farm home. Her dad is a "recluse" at this point, pulling back from the aftereffects of his "Achy Breaky Heart" fame. Theirs is a full house, with Miley and five other kids. The smiling darling earns the nickname "Smiley," that with time gets shortened to "Miley."

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2003

Baby Steps

As Billy Ray's returns to showbiz with acting roles in the series Doc, Miley wants to follow suit, despite her father's efforts and painful rejections at auditions. "I'd see those little tears come down her face and I'd hold her and say, 'Enjoy being a kid. There is too much heartache to mess up your childhood,'" Billy Ray tells PEOPLE. But there's no keeping her down on the farm. "She kept stepping up to the plate, and danggone, the right opportunity came at the right time." Those steps include a guest spot on Doc, and a part in Tim Burton's Big Fish.

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2005

All in the Family

Miley, 13, wins the lead role in the new Disney series, Hannah Montana, after initially being rejected because she was "too small, too young". She plays an average teen with a double life as a famous pop singer, and Billy Ray is cast as her dad. "I feel like I can tell my dad anything," she tells PEOPLE. "When we come home, we forget that we even work together and just hang out."