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Producer · Actor

1993-08-26 · Harvey, Illinois, USA · Female

57 series in the catalog

Lauren Keyana "Keke" Palmer ( KEE-kee; born August 26, 1993) is an American actress, singer, and television host. She has received numerous accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards and nominations for an Actor Award and three Daytime Emmy Awards. Time magazine included her on its list of most influential people in the world in 2019.

Palmer made her film debut as a child with roles in the films Barbershop 2: Back in Business and The Wool Cap (both 2004), before achieving her breakthrough role as Akeelah Anderson in the drama film Akeelah and the Bee (2006). Her career progressed with roles in films such as Madea's Family Reunion (2006), Jump In! (2007), The Longshots (2008), and Shrink (2009), and the release of her debut studio album So Uncool (2007). She rose to prominence on Nickelodeon, playing the title character in the sitcom True Jackson, VP (2008–2011), providing the voice of Aisha in the revival of Winx Club (2011–2014), and headlining the television film Rags (2012).

Palmer transitioned to mainstream roles with the VH1 biographical film CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story (2013), and afterwards made her Broadway debut as Ella in Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella (2014–2015). She has since starred in the Fox satirical horror series Scream Queens (2015–2016), the Epix drama series Berlin Station (2017–2019), and the slasher series Scream (2019). Her film roles include Animal (2014), Pimp (2018), Hustlers (2019), Nope (2022), and One of Them Days (2025), with the last two earning her critical attention. Also in the 2020s, she released two more studio albums.

Outside of acting, Palmer has hosted the talk shows Just Keke (2014) and Strahan, Sara and Keke (2019–2020), as well as the game show Password since 2022. She launched KeyTV Network, an online entertainment content platform, in 2021, and released her second book, Master of Me, a hybrid memoir and self-help manual, in 2024.

Early life

Lauren Keyana Palmer was born on August 26, 1993, in Harvey, Illinois, and was raised in nearby Robbins, Illinois. She grew up in a Catholic household. Her parents, Sharon and Lawrence "Larry" Palmer, who met in drama school, had both worked as professional actors before settling into full-time jobs. Her father, who is a Catholic deacon, works for a polyurethane company. Her mother is a high school teacher who works with autistic children.

The nickname "Keke" is not a shortening of "Keyana": according to Palmer, her name came about because her older sister, Loreal, had an imaginary friend named Keke before she was born. In an interview with Glamour in 2022, Palmer said she prefers to go by Lauren and said she would like to be called by her given name "more than anything". Palmer first sang in a church and performed at a stage show at a Chicago tourist destination. In 2002, she auditioned for a stage production of The Lion King at age nine.

Career

2000s

In 2004, Palmer gained her first film role in Barbershop 2: Back in Business. In 2005, she signed a record deal with Atlantic Records. That same year, she was featured in the television film Knights of the South Bronx, as well as starring in the television series Second Time Around and ER. That same year, producer Ralph Farquhar helped Palmer book the starring role in a Disney Channel pilot titled Keke and Jamal. The pilot was not picked up, and never aired.

In 2006, Palmer had her acting breakthrough starring in the film Akeelah and the Bee, playing the titular Akeelah, a bright 11-year-old who comes from a poor neighborhood and competes in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Moira Macdonald of The Seattle Times wrote that Palmer "makes an appealing heroine". For the role, she won a Black Reel Award and an NAACP Image Award. She also had a supporting role in the 2006 film Madea's Family Reunion. The following year, Palmer appeared in the thriller Cleaner. She portrayed a lead role in the television film Jump In!. Palmer also starred in two television programs Tyler Perry's House of Payne and Just Jordan. Palmer released her debut album So Uncool on September 18, 2007. The album charted at number 86 on the US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

In 2008, Palmer began her starring role as the title character in Nickelodeon sitcom True Jackson, VP. Palmer also wrote and performed the theme song for the series. Palmer earned $20,000 per episode of True Jackson, VP, which made her the fourth-highest-paid child star on television. In July 2009, designer Jane Siskin created a Walmart fashion line inspired by True Jackson, VP, with all the designs being approved by Palmer. She also played the lead role in the 2008 film The Longshots. True Jackson, VP ended in 2011.

2010s

Palmer debuted as the voice of Aisha in Nickelodeon's revival of Winx Club. She received an NAACP Image Award nomination for her voiceover work. In 2012, Palmer starred in the film Joyful Noise, released in January 2012. She produced and starred in Rags, a television musical film, as well as voiced Peaches in Ice Age: Continental Drift. In July 2012, Palmer released the single "You Got Me" featuring Kevin McCall. The video for the single was released on July 11, 2012. She released a self-titled mixtape Keke Palmer on October 1, 2012.

In 2013, Palmer portrayed Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas in the TLC biopic, CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story, which aired in October on VH1. In 2014, she starred in the horror film Animal, which was released on June 17. Palmer then recurred during the second season of Showtime's drama series Masters of Sex, portraying Coral, a nanny. That same year, Palmer hosted a daytime talk show on BET titled Just Keke. In doing so, she became one of the youngest talk show hosts in television history; the show itself has been regarded as "groundbreaking" and "refreshing". In September 2014, Palmer became the first African American to star as the title character in the musical Cinderella on Broadway. She performed her final show during the closing night of the show's run on January 4, 2015. Later that year, Palmer announced that she had signed with Island Records.

Between September 2015 and December 2016, she starred as Zayday Williams in the horror comedy series Scream Queens, created by Ryan Murphy. In January 2016, Palmer starred as Marty Maraschino in the television special Grease: Live. Rolling Stone's Brittany Spanos regarded Palmer's performance "a standout" and highlighted her "assertiveness, confidence and biting sense of humor". In June, Palmer released Waited to Exhale, an album she wrote during her time on True Jackson, VP that went unreleased due to label issues and her "anxiety-driven hesitance". On November 4, Palmer released her second extended play, titled Lauren, with a 17-minute short film of the same name being released exclusively on Billboard's website. In 2017, Palmer released her memoir, I Don't Belong to You: Quiet the Noise and Find Your Voice. That same year, she joined the drama series Berlin Station during its second season.

In April 2019, Palmer began guest co-hosting ABC's daytime talk show Strahan and Sara, sporadically filling in for co-host Michael Strahan and more regularly beginning in June during co-host Sara Haines's maternity leave. She joined the slasher television series Scream as a series regular in its third season, portraying a character named Kym Johnson, which premiered on July 8, 2019. On August 26, Palmer became a third permanent co-host of Strahan and Sara, which was then re-titled Strahan, Sara and Keke. In September, Palmer starred as a "lovestruck stripper" in the crime drama film Hustlers, directed by Lorene Scafaria. She sang the song "Giants" as part of a virtual group named True Damage, in which she voices a character named Senna, in the video game League of Legends for the 2019 World Championship. The song features singers Becky G and Soyeon as well as rappers Duckwrth and Thutmose as the other group members. In November, True Damage performed the song live during the…