Raven-Symoné Christina Pearman, born December 10, 1985, known simply as Raven-Symoné, is an American actress, comedian, model, singer, songwriter, dancer, TV producer, and talk show host. She first hit screens in 1989 as Olivia Kendall on The Cosby Show. Her music career kicked off with her debut album Here’s to New Dreams in 1993, with the single “That’s What Little Girls Are Made Of” hittin’ number 68 on the Billboard Hot 100. Her second album, Undeniable, dropped in 1999.
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She starred in shows like The Cosby Show and Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. From 2003 to 2007, she led the Disney Channel’s That’s So Raven as Raven Baxter, a psychic teen tryin’ to keep her powers under wraps. Durin’ that time, she released her third album, This is My Time (2004), her best-sellin’ solo record, peakin’ at number 51 on the Billboard 200. Her self-titled fourth album came out in 2008, hittin’ number 159. She also contributed to four Disney soundtracks: The Cheetah Girls (2003, double-platinum), That’s So Raven (2004, gold), That’s So Raven Too! (2006), and The Cheetah Girls 2 (2006, platinum), sellin’ a combined 4.1 million copies in the U.S. By April 2008, her solo albums sold 314,000 in the States.
Raven-Symoné moved into films, starrin’ in kid-friendly flicks like Dr. Dolittle (1998), Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001), College Road Trip (2008), and TV movies like Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century (1999), The Cheetah Girls (2003), Cheetah Girls 2 (2006), For One Night (2006), and Revenge of the Bridesmaids (2010). She voiced Monique in Kim Possible and roles in Disney’s Tinker Bell. In 2011, she played Georgia Chamberlain in the short-lived ABC Family comedy State of Georgia, about an aspiring actress with a big ego tryin’ to make it in NYC. In 2012, VH1 ranked her number nine on their “100 Greatest Kid Stars Of All Time” list.
She joined Empire as Olivia, the vengeful ex-wife of a main character, actin’ alongside Terrence Howard, Malik Yoba, and Taraji P. Henson. In June, she became a regular on ABC’s The View after guest-hosting.
