Keke Palmer (born Lauren Keyana Palmer on August 26, 1993) is an American SAG Award-nominated NAACP Image Award-winning actress and singer. She is perhaps best known for playing the title role in the 2006 film Akeelah and the Bee and Mary in Jump In!.
Keke Palmer was born Lauren Keyana Palmer in Sauk Village, Illinois, her father works for a polyurethane company and her mother, Sharon, is a high school teacher who works with autistic children. Palmer has three siblings, including an older sister, Loreal, who gave her the nickname "Keke" during her early years. She began singing in her church's choir at the age of five, and she auditioned for a stage production of The Lion King at the age of nine. Her family moved to Los Angeles in 2004 so Palmer could pursue a screen career.
Keke Palmer made her acting debut in the 2004 film Barbershop 2: Back in Business, playing the part of the niece of Queen Latifah's character. Between 2004 and 2006, she appeared in episodes of several television series, including Cold Case, Strong Medicine, ER, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and was subsequently cast in two films released in 2006: playing a supporting part in Madea's Family Reunion, and starring as the lead character, Akeelah Anderson, a young girl from South Los Angeles who attempts to win a spelling bee, in Akeelah and the Bee. Akeelah and the Bee was released on April 28, 2006, and Palmer's performance has received several positive notices, including praise from film critic Roger Ebert.
Palmer is also pursuing a career in singing. She participated in the 2003 American Juniors, an American Idol spin-off, although she was not particularly successful. Palmer has signed a record deal with Atlantic Records, and is currently working on her debut music album. Her debut single, "All My Girlz," is featured on the Akeelah and the Bee soundtrack. On November 18, 2006, she performed at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California for VH1's "Save the Music" Battle of the High School Marching Bands, marking her first ever stadium performance in front of thousands of people. In addition, as part of her contract with Disney, Palmer sang the songs "It's My Turn Now", and "Jumpin'" featured in the DCOM "Jump In!" which she also stars in as Mary.
She recently starred in the video for Ludacris' and Mary J. Blige's' "Runaway Love" as Erica. In 2007, she was nominated for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a movie (for Akeelah and the Bee), and is one of the youngest actresses to be nominated. Keke attended the 2007 Stellar Awards which were shown on BET. In 2006, Palmer recorded a song called 'Tonight' for the 2006/2007 Production, Night at the Museum. Palmer's song is featured as the opening song on the end credits.
She also starred as the bully in the premiere of House Of Payne.
