RAVEN-SYMONé Biography - Actors and Actresses

 
 

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RAVEN-SYMONé

Name: Raven-Symone                                                                   
Birth name Raven-Symone Christina Pearman                                             
Also known as: Raven                                                                 
Born: 10 December 1985 Atlanta, Georgia, United States                               
                                                                                     
Raven-Symone 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 in The Cosby Show, Galleria     
Garibaldi in The Cheetah Girls and The Cheetah Girls 2 and as Raven Baxter in         
her own show, That's So Raven. She is professionally known by her stage name as       
Raven, though also known as Raven-Symone. Despite the spelling of the second         
part of her name, she pronounces "Symone" as though the acute accent were not         
there.                                                                               
                                                                                     
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,     
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. The character was the       
three-year-old stepdaughter of Denise Huxtable (Lisa Bonet), the main character's     
daughter. Raven played the part until the series ended in 1992. In 1993, Raven       
joined the cast of ABC's sitcom Hangin' with Mr. Cooper as Nicole, the cousin of     
Mark Curry's character Mark Cooper.                                                   
                                                                                     
Raven went on to have roles in 1998's Dr. Dolittle and 1999's Zenon: Girl of the     
21st Century. In 2003, Raven began her role as a teenager with psychic powers,       
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. The second film was titled "All American Girl", based on the book     
written by Meg Cabot. Both films have now been cancelled.                             
                                                                                     
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.                                         
                                                                                     
Recently, she has starred in The Cheetah Girls 2, which was a sequel to the           
original Cheetah Girls film and become Disney Channel's most-viewed and highest-rated 
film to date before Jump In!. 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 produced the fourth and final season of That's So Raven. She took on the       
role of Executive Producer for The Cheetah Girls 2. In the late 1990s, 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 with the title "The $400         
Million Dollar Woman" referring to the $400 million that the That's So Raven         
merchandise has made. She's purchased homes in Georgia, California, and most         
recently Arizona. The article also mentioned that Raven has wisely invested her       
substantial TV show earnings dating back to her time on "The Cosby Show".             
                                                                                     
On October 31, 2007, she made a guest appearance on the NBC hit show Phenomenon.     
Though she appeared on Phenomenon, her last Disney Channel appearance was in the     
episode "That's So In The House".                                                     
                                                                                     
On October 30, 1989 and February 12, 2008 Raven-Symone appeared on The Oprah         
Winfrey Show.                                                                         
                                                                                     
Raven-Symone'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.                           
                                                                                     
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 financial 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.                                                 
                                                                                     
On September 21, 2004, she released her third album This Is My Time. The album       
spawned three singles, "Backflip", which received heavy rotation on both Disney       
Channel and MTV, "Bump", and "Grazing in the Grass". The album debuted and           
peaked at number fifty-one on the Billboard 200 selling 19,000 copies in its         
first week of release and becoming her most successful album yet. This Is My         
Time has sold 235,000 copies in the U.S. and 512,000 copies worldwide.               
                                                                                     
In 2006, Raven embarked on her first solo tour to promote the album. She was         
also featured in Belinda's music video for "Ni Freud ni tú mamá". According to     
Billboard magazine, she has worked with R&B singer Mario's production team,           
Knightwritaz, although the magazine failed to mention whether or not their           
collaboration would be included on Raven-Symone's fourth studio album, whose         
title has not yet been announced.                                                     
                                                                                     
In 2008, Raven officially announced on her website that her fourth album will be     
released on April 29, 2008. She also stated that she was currently shooting           
a video for her new single "Double Dutch Bus" which is to be featured in her new     
movie College Road Trip.