Raven Symone Biography

Raven-Symone Christina Pearman was born on December 10, 1985 to Christopher and Lydia Pearman. For the fist five years of her life, she lived it out like every other child... well kind of. "Raven did everything early," says her mother Lydia, a former systems analyst for the NCR Corporation. "In fact, she tried to sing before she could talk." Raven had something special. She was spunky, out there, and had a spark for the Hollywood business. So much, that their family practically packed up, and stopped their lives to fulfill their daughters dreams.

Raven started modeling at the age of two, and was immediately successful appearing in local print ads. Her agent in her Hometown of Atlanta, Georgia sent photos of her to the prestigious Ford Modeling Agency in New York City. The very next day, the agency called asking if she could come to New York. Taking a chance, the family moved to the Big Apple and Raven starred in a dozen commercials within the year--from Fisher Price and Jell-O to Cool Whip and Ritz Crackers. She therefore tried out for her first screen read in the feature film "Ghost Dad," starring Bill Cosby. Although she was too young for the role, her personality and ability for memorizing lines greatly impressed the casting directors, who brought her to Bill Cosby's attention. After meetings with the writers and producers of "The Cosby Show," as well as with Mr.Cosby, Raven's character premiered on the show during the sixth season until the end of the show in season eight in 1992. It was a sad goodbye for everyone on the show, but Raven was determined not to be just another "Child Star" fading away. She already had plans.

On September 22, 1992, Raven was given the part of Nicole on the top-rated series "Hangin' With Mr. Cooper." While wrapping up season one of the show Raven signed onto MCA Recods (The youngest artist ever to have signed with the label). During season two of Hangin' With Mr. Cooper, Raven was in the works on her first album, "Here's To New Dreams." a mix of R&B, pop and rap. Getting help with the album from the now famous Missy Elliot, she produced her first single, "That's What Little Girls Are Made Of." Unfortunately, her album didn't sell as much as her label had hoped for and she was dropped. Raven went back to work on the hit sitcom Hangin' With Mr. Cooper for Season three. While on hiatus from the show, Raven went on to perform on Broadway singing with the Boys Choir of Harlem as part of their 25th Anniversary celebration.

As if that wasn't enough, Raven still had a lot of time on her hands. She went back into the studio, and not just any studio this time, but her own record label titled "Rayblaize Records". Her second album neatly titled, "Undeniable," had none other than Stevie Wonder contribute a track and guest vocals. To help promote the project, she found herself opening for 'N Sync on tour and later headlining her own international tour. All this while shooting a mini series for ABC titled "Queen" and made her feature film debut in The Little Rascals.

With the results back from ABC, Hangin' With Mr. Cooper was coming back for a fourth season. No projects were currently on Raven's schedule, so she took on many tasks including the voice of Goldilocks in the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears for the HBO animated series "Happily Ever After." Raven was also a presenter at the People's Choice Awards, NAACP Image Awards, The International Emmys, Night of a Hundred Stars, Nickelodeon's Kids Choice Awards, and the Jim Thorpe Sports Awards. Sadly, her second album was not as sucsessful as she had hoped, and Rayblaize Records wrapped.
While Raven was hard at work for season five of Mr. Cooper, results came back that the show would not be returning for a sixth season.

Now 12 years old, Raven was at a road block. With two canceled sitcoms, two failed albums, and no work ahead, the star was stunned. What was she to do?

In 1998, FOX Network came knocking on Raven's door with a movie script that stared comedian Eddie Murphy. She would play the daughter of Mr. Murphy's daughter Charisse Dolittle. The movie was a success and just happened to be Raven's first big feature Film.

After the movie was made, Raven decided to take some time off for the first time in her career. She attended Atlanta's North Springs High School for her first year of high school and worked at being a normal kid.

While in school, she couldn’t resist the Hollywood spotlight, so she went back to work in 1999 playing Nebula Wade on the Disney Channel's hit movie Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century. Disney couldn’t resist Raven and signed her on for a pilot episode. In 2001, Raven went back to the set playing Eddie Murphy's daughter in the 2001 feature film Dr. Dolittle 2. The movie was a hit, Raven won many young talent awards that same year. What made Raven truly unique that year is her status as an ambassador to children. Her efforts on behalf of her peers have won her awards and praise. "I believe in kid power," says Raven. "I think kids should be the best that they can be. If they have special talent, they should work toward being the best at it. I want people to know me as a good person who respects others and is always polite."

While 2001 may have been huge, nothing would be as big as year 2002 with a pilot episode she was filming with the Disney Channel titled "Absolutely Psychic," Later titled "That's So Raven" due to Raven's ability to make people laugh. The show premiered on Disney Channel in the USA on January 17, 2003.

While filming her Disney sitcom, Raven went into the studio to record some tracks for Disney's soon to be movie "The Cheetah Girls." The movie became Disney's highest rated movie. They knew Raven had something, and with the ratings through the roof on her Disney show, it soon got higher ratings than "Lizzie McGuire," Disney’s highest rated TV show at the time.

In 2004, Raven appeared in Disney's third sequel, "Zenon: Z3." While shooting her cameo appearance, Raven went back into the studio to work on some tracks for her hit TV show "That's So Raven." The sales were off the chart. It became Gold soon after. Raven also made a cameo appearance in The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement playing Asana, a princess from overseas.

While working on her second season of That's So Raven, she went into the studio to work on her third solo album with Hollywood Records titled "This is My Time." Raven went on a promotional tour including several concerts with Radio Disney, magazine covers, and talk shows including Regis & Kelly and TRL. Sadly the promotional tour didn’t kick in until 3 months after the album dropped. The first week sales were disappointing because of the lack of promotion ahead of time. The album made it at the #56 spot on the Billboard 200 List. Without time to be upset, Raven went back on the set shooting a Lifetime Original Movie titled "For One Night." A moving drama inspired by a true story about a 12th grader who risks her social and academic standing to end her high school’s long tradition of racially segregated proms.

Shortly after filming, Raven went back to the set of the Disney show "That's So Raven," this time playing the role of producer. With now being in the fourth season, the show has been the only Disney TV series to surpass the 65 episode mark.

In December 2005, Raven co-hosted the New years Eve party on the Disney Channel. Raven's 2005 year has been the biggest by far, with her own clothing line, cosmetics line, and even her own doll. Raven is coming into her own. We can only wait to see what the next few years hold for her and as well as us, her fans.

Adapted from www.raven-symone.org