Talented Generation Salutes. . .

Salute to Black Hollywood week continues with...
Raven Symoné

Fast facts:

Birth name: Raven-Symoné Christina Pearman

Date Of Birth: Dec 10, 1985

Place Of Birth: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Celebrity Status: American actress, singer-songwriter, dancer, model and television producer

Early Roles
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.

Check out her ad for Cool Whip. Its soo uber cute!

In 1989 Bill Cosby cast her on The Cosby Show, as his granddaughter Olivia a part she played 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. By 1993 she landed the role of Nicole Lee on the show Hangin' with Mr. Cooper. During her time on the show, she had her first big screen role in the movie The Little Rascals, playing Stymie's girlfriend. She was then cast in the Eddie Murphy comedy Dr. Dolittle (1998) and then Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001) as Charisse Dolittle, the oldest daughter of Murphy's character. Meanwhile, she also appeared in Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century (1999).

Building an empire:
On January 17, 2003, Thats so Raven premiered on the Disney Channel. The show went on to become the Disney Channel's highest-rated and longest-running series. It spawned a franchise including soundtracks, dolls, episode DVDs, and video games. By the 4th season, Raven was a producer of the show. That's So Raven was nominated for Outstanding Children's Program during the 2005 and 2007 Emmy Awards. The show also launched the channel's first spin-off series, Cory in the House.

While filiming for Thats so Raven, she provided the voice of Danielle in Fat Albert and made an appearance in The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. In 2003, she starred as lead singer Galleria Garibaldi in The Cheetah Girls, a Disney Channel Original Movie. Symoné reprised the role in The Cheetah Girls 2 in 2006 and also served as an executive producer.

Recent Work:
In 2008, Raven-Symoné starred in her first leading role in the comedy College Road Trip alongside Martin Lawrence. Raven also executive produced the flick. Raven has 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" youtube channel, Raven-Symoné Presents. Check it out here.   Raven-Symone received the prestigious Pinnacle Award at the 2009 Trumpet Awards. Click here to watch her acceptance speech. She also appeared in Chris Rock's film Good Hair. Check out the footage below of Raven on the Tyra show back in 2009 discussing hair among other things.

In addition to her acting gift and her business savvy, Raven is also a singer and has recorded 5 studio albums since her musical career began at the tender age of five. Raven is meticulous about her career choices and is on her way to establishing her own dynasty in Hollywood and beyond!

Talented Generation Salutes Raven Symoné!!