Keke Palmer

Keke Palmer

Carlina White

At the age of nineteen, Keke Palmer has already established herself as one of the fastest rising young stars of her generation. Her talents span film, television, and music alike.

Palmer starred as the title character in the hit Nickelodeon series “True Jackson, VP”, for 68 episodes where she played a high-school student who becomes the head of a major fashion label. In the fall of 2008, “True Jackson” bowed with over 4.8 million viewers, setting a record for Nickelodeon’s largest audience for a live-action premiere. She has received four NAACP Awards for Best Actress in Children’s Television for her role.

Palmer recently starred in the animated film, “Ice Age: Continental Drift,” as the character Peaches. Earlier this year, she starred in “Joyful Noise”, singing alongside legendary Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton, however, it was Palmer who the critics singled out for her “young and inspiring” rendition of the Michael Jackson song, “Man in the Mirror.”

In 2007 she appeared in “Shrink”, where she starred alongside Kevin Spacey and Robin Williams. The film premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival where Keke received rave reviews for her performance. In 2008 Palmer starred in “The Longshots.” The film was based on the true story of a young female quarterback played by Palmer that makes Pop Warner history; she starred opposite Ice Cube for first time director and Limp Bizkit front man, Fred Durst. She also starred opposite Sam Jackson and Eva Mendes in “The Cleaner” which premiered at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival.

Palmer received great acclaim when she starred as the title character in the sleeper hit “Akeelah and the Bee,” opposite actor Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett. Her breakthrough performance received praise from many film critics and organizations. Among the list of nominations received, “Akeelah and the Bee” was listed as one of NBR’s 2006 Top Independent Films of the Year as well as four nominations from the NAACP Image Awards. Palmer alone won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture as well as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture by the Black Movie Awards. She has also received nominations for Most Promising Newcomer by the Chicago Film Critics, Best Actress by the Black Reel Awards, and Best Young Actress by the Broadcast Film Critics Association.

On the small screen, Palmer starred in the Disney Channel Original Movie “Jump In!” in January 2007. The premiere broke the network records for an original television movie premiere with 8.2 million viewers and stood as basic cable’s most-watched program for the entire day. Palmer is also featured on the movie’s soundtrack and is the only artist with two songs on the album. The soundtrack landed at the top of the charts as the third best-selling album in its first week of release and remained in the top 10 for over a month.

Palmer began her career with a small role in the feature film “Barbershop 2 – Back in Business” at the age of nine, opposite Queen Latifah. That role led to a series of guest-starring roles on television shows like “Strong Medicine,” “Cold Case,” “ER,” and “Law & Order.” She later went on to star in the Emmy-nominated made for TV movie, “The Wool Cap,” opposite William H. Macy. Her performance in “The Wool Cap” earned her a NAACP Image Award Nominations as well as a coveted Screen Actors Guild Nomination in the Best Leading Actress category, alongside Charlize Theron, Hilary Swank, Glenn Close and Patricia Heaton. This nomination put Palmer in the record books as the youngest actor to ever be nominated by the Guild in a Lead Actor Category.

Her other film & TV credits include co-starring in the made for television movie, “Knights of the South Bronx” with Ted Danson, a pilot for her own show on Disney Channel, “Keke & Jamal;” and “Madea’s Family Reunion” starring Tyler Perry, Cicely Tyson, and Dr. Maya Angelou.

Palmer currently resides in Los Angeles, CA.