Lauren Keyana "Keke" Palmer is an American actress, singer, and television personality. She has received numerous accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards and nominations for a Daytime Emmy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

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, and 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 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.

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.