Raven Symoné

Raven-Symoné Christina Pearman-Maday, born December 10, 1985, in Atlanta, Georgia, is an American actress, singer, and director. Her parents are Lydia and Christopher Pearman; she had a younger brother, Blaize, who died in November 2023, and her father Christopher died in October 2024. As an infant she modeled for Atlanta's Young Faces Inc., and by age two she had signed with Ford Models in New York City, appearing in print advertisements for brands including Ritz crackers, Jell-O, Fisher-Price, and Cool Whip. Her family relocated to Ossining, New York, when she was three.

Her professional acting career began in 1989 after she auditioned for Bill Cosby's film Ghost Dad. Though considered too young for that role, Cosby cast her on The Cosby Show as his step-granddaughter Olivia Kendall, a part she held from the show's sixth season through its finale in 1992. She subsequently appeared as the younger version of Halle Berry's character in the television film Alex Haley's Queen. In 1993, she joined the sitcom Hangin' with Mr. Cooper as Nicole Lee, Mark's preteen cousin, debuting in the show's second season and remaining through its 1997 finale. Her first theatrical film role came in 1994 with The Little Rascals, in which she played Stymie's girlfriend.

Symoné launched her music career at age seven, signing with MCA Records in 1992 and spending that year and the next taking vocal lessons from Missy Elliott. Her debut album, Here's to New Dreams, was released on June 22, 1993, producing the singles "That's What Little Girls Are Made Of," which reached number 68 on the Billboard Hot 100, and "Raven Is the Flavor." The album sold over 73,000 copies in the United States before low sales led to her being dropped from MCA Records in 1995. In 1996, she and her father founded RayBlaze Records, through which she released her second album, Undeniable, in May 1999 via a distribution deal with Crash Records. That album included a cover of Stevie Wonder's "With a Child's Heart" and sold over 2,000 units in the United States. To support the release, she toured as the opening act for 'N Sync's "The 'N Sync Tour" in 1998 and 1999.

Her film work during this period included the 1998 Eddie Murphy comedy Dr. Dolittle, in which she played Charisse Dolittle, the oldest daughter of Murphy's character, a role she reprised in Dr. Dolittle 2 in 2001. In 1999, she made her first appearance in a Disney production, playing Nebula in the television film Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century, a role she returned to in Zenon: Z3 in 2004.

In 2001, Symoné auditioned for a recurring role on an upcoming Disney Channel series called Absolutely Psychic. The role was reworked into the lead character, Raven Baxter, and the series was retitled That's So Raven. It debuted on January 17, 2003, ran for 100 episodes, and concluded on November 10, 2007, becoming the channel's highest-rated and longest-running series at the time, until surpassed by Wizards of Waverly Place in October 2011. Merchandise tied to the show earned over 400 million dollars, and the series received Emmy nominations for Outstanding Children's Program in 2005 and 2007. Beginning in 2002, she also voiced Monique on the animated series Kim Possible, a role she held through 2007, and she reprised the character in the films Kim Possible: A Sitch in Time and Kim Possible: So the Drama. She additionally voiced Iridessa in the Tinker Bell film franchise.

In 2003, she starred as Galleria Garibaldi in The Cheetah Girls, a Disney Channel Original Movie directed by Oz Scott and produced by Whitney Houston, which drew more than 6.5 million viewers on its opening night. The accompanying soundtrack debuted at number 33 on the Billboard Top 200 and was certified Double Platinum by the RIAA. She contributed vocals to several additional Disney soundtracks, including That's So Raven in 2004, That's So Raven Too! in 2006, and The Cheetah Girls 2 in 2006, several of which were certified platinum or gold. Her third studio album, This Is My Time, was released in 2004 on Hollywood Records, and a self-titled fourth album followed in 2008. In 2004, she appeared in The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement as Princess Asana, performing a duet with Julie Andrews, and she provided the voice of Danielle in Fat Albert. Additional film credits include College Road Trip in 2008 and Mighty Oak in 2020.

Symoné made her Broadway debut in the musical Sister Act in 2011, performing in the production during its run. She later reprised her role as Raven Baxter in the spin-off series Raven's Home, which aired from 2017 to 2023 and which she also executive produced. She has directed episodes of multiple television series, including Raven's Home, Bunk'd, Sydney to the Max, Pretty Freekin Scary, and The Ms. Pat Show. From 2015 to 2016, she served as a co-host of the ABC daytime talk show The View, earning two Emmy nominations for that work. In 2021, she hosted and executive produced the pilot of the reality program What Not to Design, and in 2024 she hosted a revival of the game show Scrabble on The CW until being replaced by Craig Ferguson in January 2026.

Over the course of her career, Symoné has received five NAACP Image Awards, two Kids' Choice Awards, three Young Artist Awards, and five Emmy Award nominations in total. In 2012, VH1 included her on its list of 100 Greatest Child Stars of All Time.