KEKE PALMER
Date of Birth: August 26, 1993
Keke Palmer was born Lauren Keyana Palmer but was nicknamed "Keke" by her older sister at a young age. Palmer grew up with her family in Harvey, Illinois and began singing in her church's choir at age five. Although Palmer loved to sing, she landed an acting role on Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2004) as Queen Latifah's niece.
After her big screen debut, the Palmers uprooted themselves and moved to Los Angeles so Keke could continue her acting career. This proved to be a wise decision as within six weeks Palmer landed a guest role on the TV show Cold Case, a K-Mart commercial, and starred opposite William H. Macy in Wool Cap, a TNT original movie. Her role in Wool Cap earned Palmer a Screen Actors Guild nomination, and although she did not win, at ten years old she was the youngest actor to receive a nomination in the lead actress category. Acting parts for Palmer kept coming; she played Nikki in Madea's Family Reunion, Akeelah in Akeelah and the Bee, and Mary Thomas on Disney's TV movie Jump In!
Palmer stars as Ice Cube's niece in the film The Longshots. Based on a true story, an 11-year-old girl becomes the first female quarterback in a football tournament. She has also played starring roles in Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail (2009) and the hip-hop movie Vapors (2009). Her most recent projects include the comedy Joyful Noise (2012), alongside music icons Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton, and the voice of the young wooly mammoth peaches in Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012).
Although Palmer is a great young actress, music will always be her first love. She recorded "All My Girls" for the Akeelah and the Bee soundtrack and "My Turn Now" for the Jump In! soundtrack. Palmer released her debuted album "So Uncool" in 2007.