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Raven-Symoné

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Raven-Symoné Christina Pearman (born December 10, 1985 in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American actress, R&B and pop singer, songwriter, dancer,and television producer, best known for her roles as Olivia Kendall on The Cosby Show and her own show That's So Raven as Raven Baxter. She is professionally known as Raven and Raven-Symoné. Despite the spelling of the second part of her given name, she pronounces "Symoné" as if the acute accent were not there. She currently owns Thats So Productions.

Early life

As an infant, Raven worked for Atlanta's Young Faces Inc. Modeling Agency and was featured in local print advertisements. At age two, she worked with Ford Models, Inc. in New York City and appeared in ads for Ritz crackers, Jell-O, Fisher-Price, and Cool Whip. At age three, she auditioned for the film Ghost Dad. She was considered too young for the role, but was recommended for a part in The Cosby Show and was eventually cast as Olivia in February 1989. In 1993, she joined the cast of ABC's sitcom Hangin' with Mr. Cooper as Nicole, the daughter of Mark Curry's character Mark Cooper's cousin.

Acting career

Raven went on to have roles in 1998 Dr. Dolittle and 1999 Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century. In between her acting roles, Raven attended the North Springs High School, an Arts and Science high school in Sandy Springs, Georgia, where she graduated in 2005.

In 2003, Raven began her role as Raven Baxter, a teenager with psychic abilities, in the Disney Channel Original Series That's So Raven; it became Disney Channel's highest-rated and longest-running series and spawned successful product spinoffs, including soundtracks (featuring songs by Raven), episode DVDs, and video games. In 2005, the show was nominated for an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Children's Program." In 2003, Raven was featured on The Cheetah Girls and its popular soundtrack.

In 2003, Raven was scheduled to star in two films. The first was Sparkle, which was a remake of the 1976 film. Raven got the part after R&B-Pop songstress Aaliyah was tragically killed in a plane crash in 2001. The film was scheduled to be produced by Whitney Houston and Debra Martin Chase who produced The Cheetah Girls. It is unknown if the film will still be filmed. The second film was titled "All American Girl", based on the book written by Meg Cabot. The rights to the film have since been sold back to Cabot. [1]

In 2004, Raven cut a six-figure deal with Disney for another series on ABC in Fall 2005. It was originally designed to be a college spinoff of That's So Raven called Raven Too!, following Raven and her friends in college. However, Raven eventually declined the role and the sitcom instead turned into another TSR spinoff for Disney, called Cory In The House [2]

Recently, she has starred in a sequel to the original Cheetah Girls film, The Cheetah Girls 2, which has become Disney Channel's second most-viewed and second highest-rated film to date after Jump In!. Coincidentally, Raven was originally set to star in Jump In! as well, which was created to be a motion picture named Double Dutch, but which was later revamped into the present version known as Jump In!, minus Raven's presence.

Raven currently has her own production company, Thats So Productions, which co-produced the entire fourth and final season of That's So Raven. In the late '90s, she co-owned RayBlaize Records with her father. However, they sold the company in the early 2000s.

Raven was featured on the March 2007 issue of Ebony Magazine with the title "The $400 Million Dollar Woman" referring to the $400 million that the That's So Raven merchandise has made.

Awards

Today, Raven stands as a six-time NAACP Image Award winning actress and a two-time Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards winning actress. Raven's wins do not include the many wins her show, That's So Raven, has won as well.

Other

Raven was also one of the many singers who auditioned for the sought-after role of Effie in Dreamgirls.

Raven is teaming with Martin Lawrence to star in the film College Road Trip for Walt Disney Pictures. Roger Kumble is directing the comedy, being produced by Andrew Gunn and his Gunn Films. The story centers on a young woman, Rachel, with ambitious public-defender dreams who goes on a road trip to visit potential universities with her father, an overprotective police officer. Cinco Paul and partner Ken Daurio wrote the most recent draft. The movie was born out of the Disney Writers Program by Carrie Evans and Emi Mochizuki. The filming was originally set out to start shooting late June or early July in the Northeastern United States.[3] It began shooting on July 8 in Connecticut. Raven will also be starring in the planned Adventures in Babysitting remake with fellow Disney teen idol Miley Cyrus. The movie's script will be written by Tiffany Paulsen and production will begin on notice.[4]

Music career

Raven-Symoné's debut album, Here's to New Dreams, was released on June 22, 1993. It spawned two commercially released singles: "That's What Little Girls Are Made Of" and "Raven Is the Flavor". "That's What Little Girls Are Made Of" was Raven's most successful single, reaching number sixty-eight on the Billboard Hot 100, forty-seven on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, forty-three on the Hot Dance Singles Sales, and thirty-nine on the Rhythmic Top 40. Her record company, MCA Records, however, shortened her contract as a result of poor sales.[citation needed]

On May 4, 1999, Raven released her second album, Undeniable. "With a Child's Heart" was the only commercially released single from the album. With no promotion at all, the album was a complete failure, selling just 10,000 copies in the U.S. to date. In 2000, MCA Records, her label, dropped her from their roster. The Undeniable album was bought up by TMG Records, who re-issued the album in November 14, 2006 under the title From Then Until. In early 2003, she signed a deal with Hollywood Records, which also features fellow Disney Channel stars Aly & AJ,Hilary Duff, and Miley Cyrus.

On September 21, 2004, she released her third album This Is My Time. The album spawned three Radio Disney hits: "Backflip", "Bump", and "Grazing in the Grass" (which was featured on the soundtrack to The Lion King 1½). The album debuted and peaked at number fifty-one on the Billboard 200 selling 19,000 copies in its first week of release, becoming her most successful album yet. This Is My Time has sold 235,000 copies in U.S., and 452,000 copies world-wide.

In 2006, Raven embarked on her first solo tour to promote the album. She was also featured in Belinda music video Ni Freud ni tú mamá. She is currently working on her fourth album, and according to Billboard magazine, she has worked with R&B singer Mario's production team, Nightriders.[5]

Filmography

Films

Year Title Role
1994 The Little Rascals Stymie's girlfriend
1998 Dr. Dolittle Charisse Dolittle
1999 Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century Nebula Wade
2001 Dr. Dolittle 2 Charisse Dolittle
2003 The Cheetah Girls Galleria Garibaldi
Kim Possible: A Sitch in Time Monique (present) (voice)
2004 Zenon: Z3 Nebula Wade
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement Asana
Fat Albert Danielle (voice)
2005 Kim Possible: So the Drama Monique (voice)
2006 For One Night Brianna McCallister
Everyone's Hero Marti
The Cheetah Girls 2 Galleria Garibaldi/co-executive producer
2008 College Road Trip (filming) Rachel Porter
Further Adventures In Babysitting (pre-production) Chris Parker
Bedtime Stories (pre-production) TBA

Television

Year Title Role Episode
1989–
1992		 The Cosby Show Olivia Kendall Seasons 6–8/64 episode
1989 A Different World Olivia Kendall "Forever Hold Your Peace" (episode 5, season 3)
1990 The Muppets at Walt Disney World Young girl Television special
1992 The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Claudia "Vying for Attention" (episode 21, season 2)
1993 Blindsided Singer
Queen: The Story of an American Family 5-year-old Queen
1993–
1997		 Hangin' with Mr. Cooper Nicole Lee Seasons 2–5/34 episode
1995 Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child Olivia/Zoe (voice) "The Princess and the Pauper"
1995 Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child Goldilocks (voice) "Goldilocks and the Three Bears"
2001 My Wife and Kids Charmaine
  • "Mom's Away (Part 1)" (episode 1, season 2)
  • "Mom's Away (Part 2)" (episode 2, season 2)
The Proud Family Stephanie (voice) "Seven Days of Kwanzaa" (episode 11, season 1)
2002–
2007		 Kim Possible Monique (voice) Recurring Role/30 episode
2003–
2007		 That's So Raven Raven Baxter Lead character (All Episodes)/Producer in 18 episode
2004 Fillmore! Maryanne Greene (voice)
Alexandria Quarry (voice)
  • "Code Name: Electric Haircut" (episode 9, season 2)
  • "Field Trip of the Just (2004)" (episode 12, season 2)
2004 The Cheetah Girls (TV Show) Galleria Garibaldi episode "Pilot"/Serie Canceled before going to the Air/executive producer
2005 Higglytown Heroes Playground Monitor Hero (voice) "Wayne's Ripping Adventure/Meet Eubie's Cousin" (episode 14, season 1)
2006 The Suite Life of Zack and Cody Raven Baxter "That's So Suite Life of Hannah Montana" (episode 20, season 2)
2007 Cory in the House Raven Baxter Guest star in "That's So in the House" episode

Discography

Main article: Raven-Symoné discography

Concert Tours

Awards and nominations

  • 1990

Nominations

Young Artist Awards: "Outstanding Performance by an Actress Under Nine Years of Age 9" (The Cosby Show)
  • 1991

Wins

Young Artist Awards: "Exceptional Performance by a Young Actress" (The Cosby Show)
  • 1993

Nominations

Young Artist Awards: "Outstanding Actress Under Ten in a Television Series" (The Cosby Show)
  • 1994

Nominations

Young Artist Awards: "Best Youth Comedienne" (Hangin' With Mr. Cooper)
  • 1996

Nominations

NAACP Image Awards: "Outstanding Youth Actor/Actress" (Hangin' With Mr. Cooper)
  • 1999

Nominations

Young Star Awards: "Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Mini-Series/Made for TV Film" (Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century)
  • 2004

Wins

Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards: "Favorite TV Actress" (That's So Raven)
NAACP Image Awards: "Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children's Series/Special (That's So Raven)
Black Reel:"Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series" (The Cheetah Girls)

Nominations

BET Comedy Awards: "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series" (That's So Raven)
Teen Choice Awards: "Choice TV Actress - Comedy" (That's So Raven)
  • 2005

Wins

Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards: "Favorite TV Actress" (That's So Raven)
NAACP Image Awards: "Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children's Series/Special" (That's So Raven)
Radio Disney Music Awards: "Best Actor/Actress-Turned-Singer"

Nominations

BET Comedy Awards: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - (That's So Raven)
Teen Choice Awards: Choice TV Actress - Comedy - (That's So Raven)
BET Comedy Award:"Best Performance in an Animated Theatrical Film" (Kim Possible: So the Drama)
  • 2006

Wins

NAACP Image Awards: "Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children's Series/Special" (That's So Raven)
NAACP Image Awards: "Junior Achievement Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children's Series/Special"(That's So Raven)
Teen Choice Awards: "Choice TV Actress - Comedy" (That's So Raven)

Nominations

Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards: "Favorite TV Actress" (That's So Raven)
  • 2007

Wins

NAACP Image Awards: "Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children's Series/Special" (That's So Raven)
NAMIC Awards: "2007 North Star Award" (Top Award)

Nominations

NAACP Image Awards: "Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series" (That's So Raven)
Radio Disney Music Awards: "Favorite TV Star Who Sings"
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards: "Favorite TV Actress (That's So Raven)



References

  1. ^ Raven Flocks To Pic
  2. ^ State of Disney Channel
  3. ^ http://www.movieweb.com/news/49/18449.php
  4. ^ http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117962325.html?categoryid=13&cs=1
  5. ^ Concepcion, Mariel. "Mario Teams With Akon, Timbaland On New Set". Billboard. April 19 2007.
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