Keke Palmer

Lauren Keyana "Keke" Palmer (born August 26, 1993) is an American actress, singer, and television host.

She is known for playing both leading and character roles in comedy and drama productions.

She has also created and hosts her own podcast.

She has received several accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards, five NAACP Image Awards; along with nominations for a Daytime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Lauren Keyana Palmer was born on August 26, 1993, in Harvey, Illinois and raised in nearby Robbins, Illinois.

She grew up in a Catholic household.

Her parents, Sharon and Lawrence "Larry" Palmer, who met in drama school, had both worked as professional actors before settling into full-time jobs.

Her father works for a polyurethane company, and her mother is a high school teacher who works with autistic children.

Her father is also a Catholic deacon.

The nickname "Keke" is not a shortening of "Keyana": according to Palmer, her name came about because her older sister had an imaginary friend named Keke before she was born.

Palmer first sang in a church and performed at a stage show at a Chicago tourist destination.

In 2002, Palmer auditioned for a stage production of The Lion King at age nine.

Palmer made her acting debut in Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2004).

She later appeared in the television film The Wool Cap (2004), and had her breakthrough starring in the drama film Akeelah and the Bee (2006).

In 2004, she gained her first film role in Barbershop 2: Back in Business.

In 2005, Palmer signed a record deal with Atlantic Records.

That same year, she was featured in the television film Knights of the South Bronx, as well as starring in the television series Second Time Around and ER.

That same year, producer Ralph Farquhar helped Palmer book the starring role in a Disney Channel pilot titled Keke and Jamal.

The pilot was not picked up, and never aired.

In 2006, Palmer had her acting breakthrough starring in the film Akeelah and the Bee, playing the titular Akeelah, a bright 11-year-old who comes from a poor neighborhood and competes in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Moira Macdonald of The Seattle Times wrote that Palmer "makes an appealing heroine".

For the role, she won a Black Reel Award and an NAACP Image Award.

She also had a supporting role in the 2006 film Madea's Family Reunion.

The following year, Palmer appeared in the thriller Cleaner.

She portrayed a lead role in the television film Jump In! Palmer also starred in two television programs Tyler Perry's House of Payne and Just Jordan.

Her debut studio album, So Uncool, was released in 2007, and she progressed as a child actress with roles in Madea's Family Reunion (2006), Jump In! (2007), The Longshots (2008) and Shrink (2009).

Palmer released her debut album So Uncool on September 18, 2007.

The album charted at number 86 on the US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

She played a number of roles on Nickelodeon, such as the title character in the sitcom True Jackson, VP (2008–2011), providing the voice of Aisha in the Nickelodeon revival of Winx Club (2011–2014), and headlining the television film Rags (2012).

In 2008, Palmer began her starring role as the title character in Nickelodeon sitcom True Jackson, VP.

Palmer also wrote and performed the theme song for the series.

Palmer earned $20,000 per episode of True Jackson, VP, which made her the fourth-highest-paid child star on television.

In July 2009, designer Jane Siskin created a Walmart fashion line inspired by True Jackson, VP, with all the designs being approved by Palmer.

Palmer made her transition to mature roles with the VH1 biographical film CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story (2013).

From 2014 to 2015 she starred as Ella in Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella on Broadway.

She also starred in films, including Animal (2014), Pimp (2018), Hustlers (2019), and Jordan Peele's Nope (2022).

She hosted the talk show Just Keke (2014) and co-hosted the talk show Strahan, Sara & Keke (2019–2020), the latter of which earned her a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host.

She has since starred in television series such as the Fox satirical horror series Scream Queens (2015–2016), the Epix drama series Berlin Station (2017–2019), the slasher series Scream (2019), and the Facebook Watch series Turnt Up with the Taylors (2021) for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award.

Since So Uncool, Palmer has released three extended plays: Lauren (2016), Virgo Tendencies, Pt. 1 (2019) and Virgo Tendencies, Pt. 2 (2020).

Time magazine included her on their list of most influential people in the world in 2019.