raven symone

Biography

Early life and acting career

As a baby, 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 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 too young for the role, but was recommended for a part in The Cosby Show, eventually being cast as Olivia in February 1989. After the series ended, Symoné released her debut album in 1993 called Here's to New Dreams, which featured the single "That's What Little Girls Are Made Of." That year, she also joined the cast of ABC's sitcom Hangin' with Mr. Cooper as Nicole, the daughter of Mark Curry's cousin.

Raven had a role in 1998's Dr. Dolittle, and returned for the first sequel as well. In 1999 she starred in the Disney original film Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century as Nebula, the best friend of the title character played by Kirsten Storms. In between her starring roles, Raven attended the North Springs High School; an Atlanta area Arts and Science high school; though she left to go on to first sequel, she is an honorary graduate of North Springs High School.

Starting in 2003, Raven starred in the megahit Disney Channel Original Series That's So Raven as Raven Baxter, a teenager with psychic abilities; it became Disney's highest-rated and longest running series and spawned sucessful 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 in the Disney original film The Cheetah Girls and its popular and sucessful soundtrack. She also starred in The Cheetah Girls 2: When in Spain, the sequel to The Cheetah Girls. She has also appeared in the films Zenon: Z3, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, and Fat Albert. In 2006 she starred in the Lifetime film For One Night.

Raven also has her own production company, this company has finished co-producing the entire last season of That's So Raven in early 2006. [1]

Musical career

Here's to New Dreams (1993) was the debut album by Raven-Symoné. It spawned four singles: "That's What Little Girls Are Made Of", "First Day of School", "Raven Is the Flavor", and "Hip Hop Teddy Bear". "That's What Little Girls Are Made Of" was Raven's most successful single. It hit number sixty-eight on the Billboard Hot 100, thirty-nine on the Rhythmic Top 40, forty-seven on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks, and forty-three on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales. Sales were disappointing; 35,000 units to date in the U.S. and over 150,000 worldwide. Her record company shortened her contract as a result of poor sales.

In 1999, Raven released the album Undeniable. The albums had three official singles. They were "Bounce", "Lean on Me", and "With a Child's Heart". The album has sold 100,000 copies in the U.S. and over 350,000 worldwide. In 2000, MCA Records, her label, dropped her from their roster. In early 2003 she signed a deal with Hollywood Records the current label that features teen pop superstar Hilary Duff.

Several years later, Raven began recording a new album right after she landed a deal with Hollywood Records. In September 2004 she released her third album This Is My Time it features R&B flavors, pop-rock songs and one song from a movie soundtrack she was featured on, in all there are 12 songs on the album. The album spawned the more successful hits "Backflip", "Bump", "Grazing in the Grass", and the title "This Is My Time". The album debuted at number fifty-one on the Billboard 200 selling 20,000 copies in the first week. It has been her biggest and most successful album yet. However, it has marked a new musical level for Raven. This Is My Time has sold about 500,000 copies worldwide. Raven soon embarked on her first solo tour to promote the 2004 album "This Is My Time" and her many soundtrack songs from Disney films and shows, she is also currently recording a fourth studio album From Then Until due out in late 2006.

Selected filmography

Films

Television

Discography

Main article: Raven-Symoné discography

Awards

Main article: Raven-Symoné Awards

References

External links

• Ravenlive.com - Raven's official website
• That's So Raven official website
• Raven's Hollywood Records website
• Raven-Symoné at the Internet Movie Database