Thursday, July 28, 2011

Raven Symone

Raven-Symone birth name Raven-Symone Christina Pearman born December 10, 1985, in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. She known professionally as Raven-Symoné, or simply Raven, is an American actress, singer, songwriter, comedian, dancer, television producer and model. Symone launched her successful career in 1989 after appearing in The Cosby Show as Olivia. She released her debut album, Here's to New Dreams in 1993; the single, "That's What Little Girls Are Made Of" charted number sixty-eight on the US Billboard Hot 100.

Symone appeared in several successful television series, such as The Cosby Show and Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 2003, Symone went on to star in the highly successful Disney Channel series, That's So Raven in which Symone starred as Raven Baxter, a psychic teenager who tried her best to keep her psychic powers a secret. Symone starred in the series from 2003 until 2007. Symone's co-stars of That's So Raven went onto appear in the follow up, Cory In the House; however, Symone did not feature permanently, as she only appeared as a guest in one episode. During her time on That's So Raven, Symone released her third studio album, This is My Time (2004) which was Symone's best selling solo album to date, charting at number fifty-one on the Billboard 200. In 2008, she followed up This Is My Time with the release of her fourth album, Raven-Symoné (2008), charting at number #159 on the Billboard 200.

She transitioned to a film career, starring in several films aimed at teenage audiences, including Dr. Dolittle (1998), Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001), College Road Trip (2008), and successful television movies, including The Cheetah Girls (2003), Cheetah Girls 2 (2006), Revenge of the Bridesmaids (2010). Raven has also lent her voice to the animated series Kim Possible, for the character Monique and films such as Disney‘s Tinker Bell. Raven-Symoné also owns a "how-to" video website, Raven-Symone Presents.

Raven-Symoné was born in Atlanta, Georgia to Lydia (née Gaulden) and Christopher B. Pearman. At age three, her family moved to Ossining, New York where she attended Park School. As an infant, she worked for Atlanta's Young Faces Inc. Modeling Agency and was featured in local print advertisements. At age two, she worked with Ford Models in New York City and appeared in ads for Ritz crackers, Jell-O, Fisher-Price, and Cool Whip. In 1989, Raven-Symoné auditioned for a part in the Bill Cosby movie, Ghost Dad. At three years old she was considered too young for the role, but Bill Cosby liked her so much that he found a part for her on his show, The Cosby Show, as his step-granddaughter Olivia. Raven-Symoné played the part of Olivia until 1992. She then appeared as the younger version of Halle Berry's starring character, a headstrong biracial slave, in the TV movie Queen: The Story of an American Family, based on the book by Alex Haley.

In 2010, Raven-Symoné starred in an ABC Family, made-for-tv film, Revenge of the Bridesmaids. Revenge of the Bridesmaids surrounds two childhood friends who attempt to thwart the wedding of a no-good, money hungry ex-friend by going undercover as bridesmaids so that true love can prevail. The film garnered 2.5 million viewers on its premiere, making it the number 1 movie on basic cable in women 18-34, and ranked among the Top 5 programs in its time period in Total Viewers that week.Raven-Symoné also made a guest appearance on the Disney Channel Original Series Sonny with a Chance. She portrayed the character Amber Algoode, the president of Chad Dylan Cooper's fan club.

She was a guest performer, along with pianist Chau-Giang Thi-Nguyen, and jazz trumpeter and pianist Arturo Sandoval, at the December 9 performance of Debbie Allen's new dance-theater piece, The Hot Chocolate Nutcracker, at UCLA's Royce Hall. Proceeds from the performance, as well as from its run from December 10–11, benefited the children of the Debbie Allen Dance Academy. In an interview in January 2011, she told to OnTheRedCarpet.com that she has filmed a pilot for ABC Family and was working on her fifth album. The TriGz may be working on the project, with Manny Streetz (from The Trigz) as executive producer. Raven revealed to Billboard that she would like to work with Sean Garrett again and that it will be R&B with an "alternitve base for lyrics".

Raven-Symoné is returning to television as the star of ABC Family's multi-camera comedy pilot State of Georgia. The project, from ABC Studios, centers on Georgia (Symone), an exuberant and curvy performer from the south who is trying to make it big as an actress in New York City. Also cast in the pilot is Brock Cuchna (Melrose Place) as Georgia's Southern ex-boyfriend who, still madly in love with her, comes to New York to bring her back home. The pilot was written by author Jennifer Weiner (In Her Shoes) and Jeff Greenstein (Desperate Housewives). The series premiere has been announced to air in June 2011.

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