Lauren Keyana "Keke" Palmer (/ˈkiːki/ KEE-kee; born August 26, 1993) is an American actress, singer and television personality. Known for playing leading and character roles in comedy and drama productions, she has received several accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, five NAACP Image Awards, and nominations for a Daytime Emmy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Time magazine included her on their list of most influential people in the world in 2019.
Palmer made her acting debut in Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2004). She later appeared in the television film The Wool Cap (2004), and had her breakthrough starring in the drama film Akeelah and the Bee (2006). Her debut studio album, So Uncool, was released in 2007, and she progressed as a child actress with roles in Madea's Family Reunion (2006), Jump In! (2007), The Longshots (2008) and Shrink (2009).
Palmer played a number of roles on Nickelodeon, such as the title character in the sitcom True Jackson, VP (2008–2011), providing the voice of Aisha in the Nickelodeon revival of Winx Club (2011–2014), and headlining the television film Rags (2012). Palmer made her transition to mature roles with the VH1 biographical film CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story (2013). From 2014 to 2015 she starred as Ella in Rodgers Hammerstein's Cinderella on Broadway. She has since starred in television series such as the Fox satirical horror series Scream Queens (2015–2016), the Epix drama series Berlin Station (2017–2019), the slasher series Scream (2019), and the Facebook Watch series Turnt Up with the Taylors (2021) for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award. She also starred in films such as Animal (2014), Hustlers (2019) and Jordan Peele's Nope (2022).
Since So Uncool, Palmer has released three extended plays: Lauren (2016), Virgo Tendencies, Pt. 1 (2019) and Virgo Tendencies, Pt. 2 (2020). She hosted the talk show Just Keke (2014) and co-hosted the talk show Strahan, Sara and Keke (2019–2020), the latter earning her a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host.
Early life
Lauren Keyana Palmer was born on August 26, 1993, in Harvey, Illinois and 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 works for a polyurethane company, and her mother is a high school teacher who works with autistic children. Her father is a Catholic deacon. The nickname "Keke" is not a shortening of "Keyana": according to Palmer, her name came about because her older sister had an imaginary friend named Keke before she was born. Palmer first sang in a church and performed at a stage show at a Chicago tourist destination. In 2002, Palmer auditioned for a stage production of The Lion King at age nine.
