Stephanie Kay Panabaker (born May 2, 1990) is an American

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

and retired actress. She is best known for her roles as Jenny Garison in the 2009 reboot of '' Fame'', Debbie Berwick on ''

Phil of the Future ''Phil of the Future'' is an American science fiction sitcom that originally aired on Disney Channel from June 18, 2004, to August 19, 2006, for two seasons. The series was created by Douglas Tuber and Tim Maile and produced by 2121 Productions ...

'', and Nikki Westerly on '' Summerland''. She is the younger sister of

Danielle Panabaker Danielle Nicole Panabaker (born September 19, 1987) is an American actress. She began acting as a teenager and came to prominence for her roles in the Disney films '' Stuck in the Suburbs'' (2004), '' Sky High'' (2005) and ''Read It and Weep'' ( ...

Early years

Panabaker was born in

Orange, Texas Orange is a city and the county seat of Orange County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 19,324. It is the easternmost city in Texas, located on the Sabine River at the border with Louisiana, and is from Houst ...

, to Donna (née Mayock) and Harold Panabaker. Following in older sister Danielle's footsteps, she started acting at various

community theatre Community theatre refers to any theatrical performance made in relation to particular communities—its usage includes theatre made by, with, and for a community. It may refer to a production that is made entirely by a community with no outside he ...

s in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, and

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. In

Naperville, Illinois Naperville ( ) is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is in the Chicago metro area, west of the city. Naperville was founded in 1831 by Joseph Naper. The city was ...

she attended Crone Middle School for sixth grade, and moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

at the start of seventh grade. Between projects, Panabaker focused on academics. She graduated from high school as the

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...

when she was 13 years old. Kay received two academic

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

s from Glendale Community College, where she studied

acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad r ...

and was on the Dean's list. She graduated with an

associate degree An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The fi ...

with

honors Honour (or honor in American English) is the quality of being honorable. Honor or Honour may also refer to: People * Honor (given name), a unisex given name * Brian Honour (born 1964), English footballer and manager * Gareth Honor (born 1979 ...

when she was 15. She was accepted by the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

(UCLA), History Program as a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

and completed her

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in history before she turned 18.

Career

Panabaker has guest starred in several television dramas and soap operas. She portrayed Alice Brand in '' 7th Heaven'', Melissa Rue in '' ER'', Sara in ''

Port Charles ''Port Charles'' (commonly abbreviated as ''PC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from June 1, 1997, to October 3, 2003. It was a spin-off of the series ''General Hospital'', which has been running since 1963 and takes pl ...

'', Carrie Bauer in ''

The Brothers García ''The Brothers García'' is an American teen sitcom created by Jeff Valdez, Mike Cevallos, and Gibby Cevallos. It was among the first projects of Sí TV, an effort to produce programming featuring Latino characters that are aimed at a diverse a ...

'', Ellisha in ''

Medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation *Medium bomber, a class of war plane *Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium of ...

'', and

Lindsey Willows Catherine Willows is a fictional character, portrayed by Marg Helgenberger, from the CBS crime drama ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' and its sequel, '' CSI: Vegas''. Helgenberger made her franchise debut in the first-season episode "Pilot". H ...

in ''

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', also referred to as ''CSI'' and ''CSI: Las Vegas'', is an American procedural forensics crime drama television series that ran on CBS from October 6, 2000, to September 27, 2015, spanning 15 seasons. This wa ...

'', to name a few. In film, she appeared in ''

Dead Heat A dead heat is a rare situation in various racing sports in which the performances of competitors are judged to be so close that no difference between them can be resolved. The result is declared a tie and the competitors are awarded a joint ra ...

'' as Sam LaRoche; and did some voice work in the

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

Pixar Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californi ...

film, ''

Monsters, Inc. ''Monsters, Inc.'' (also known as ''Monsters, Incorporated'') is a 2001 American computer-animated Monster movie, monster comedy film produced by Pixar, Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. Featuring the voices of John Goodman, B ...

''. Panabaker's breakout role came when she starred in

The WB The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. ...

's '' Summerland'' as Nikki Westerly, in the 2004–05 season. She also appeared as George in ''

Nancy Drew Nancy Drew is a Fictional character, fictional character appearing in several Mystery fiction, mystery book series, movies, and a TV show as a teenage amateur sleuth. The books are ghostwriter, ghostwritten by a number of authors and published ...

'' (2007) alongside

Emma Roberts Emma Rose Roberts (born February 10, 1991 Additional on October 9, 2016) is an American actress. Known for her work in film and television projects of the horror film, horror and thriller (genre), thriller genres, she has received List of awar ...

and Amy Bruckner. Panabaker had a recurring role in ''

'' as strait-laced Debbie Berwick, a friend of and

foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ...

to Pim Diffy (played by Amy Bruckner). She starred in ''

Life Is Ruff Many television films have been produced for Disney Channel, an American family-oriented basic cable channel and former premium television channel since its launch on April 18, 1983. Until October 1997, films were released under the banner name ...

'' as Emily Watson alongside

Kyle Massey Kyle Orlando Massey (born August 28, 1991), also known mononymously as Massey, is an American actor. He starred in the Disney Channel sitcoms ''That's So Raven'' and its spin-off ''Cory in the House'', in which he played Cory Baxter. Massey st ...

and

Mitchel Musso Mitchel Tate Musso (born July 9, 1991) is an American actor and singer. He is best known for his three Disney Channel roles as Oliver Oken in ''Hannah Montana''; Jeremy Johnson in the animated series ''Phineas and Ferb''; and his Disney XD role ...

. In July 2006, she starred in the

Disney Channel Original Movie Many television films have been produced for Disney Channel, an American family-oriented basic cable channel and former premium television channel since its launch on April 18, 1983. Until October 1997, films were released under the banner nam ...

Read It and Weep ''Read It and Weep'' is a 2006 Disney Channel Original Movie which premiered on July 21, 2006. It is based on the novel ''How My Private, Personal Journal Became A Bestseller'' by Julia DeVillers. Sisters Kay and Danielle Panabaker star as Jamie B ...

'' (based on the book ''How My Private Personal Journal Became a Bestseller''), in which her sister Danielle also stars. In 2006, Panabaker was in the first ''

Disney Channel Games ''Disney Channel Games'' are a ''Battle of the Network Stars''-based annual television series that aired on the Disney Channel during the summer from 2006 to 2008. Phill Lewis was the co-host of the first two editions in 2006 and 2007, and Brian ...

'', on the Red Team with

Zac Efron Zachary David Alexander Efron (; born October 18, 1987) is an American actor. He began acting professionally in the early 2000s and rose to prominence in the late 2000s for his leading role as Troy Bolton in the ''High School Musical'' trilo ...

Anneliese van der Pol Anneliese Louise van der Pol (born September 23, 1984) is a Dutch-born American actress and singer. She is known for her theatre work, and for starring as Chelsea Daniels on the Disney Channel series ''That's So Raven'' (2003–2007) and its sp ...

Moises Arias Moises or Moisés is a male name common among people of Iberian origin. It is the Spanish, Portuguese and Tagalog equivalent of the name Moses. ;Places * Doctor Moisés Bertoni, a village in the Caazapá department of Paraguay * Moises Padilla ...

Dylan Sprouse Dylan Thomas Sprouse (born August 4, 1992) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Zack Martin on the Disney Channel series ''The Suite Life of Zack & Cody'' and its spin-off, ''The Suite Life on Deck'', where he starred along ...

, and

Shin Koyamada is a Japanese Americans, Japanese-American actor, producer, entrepreneur, martial artist, and philanthropist. He is best known for his starring roles in ''The Last Samurai'' and the Disney's movie ''Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior'' on Disney+. He ...

as part of the

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...

's ''So Hot Summer!''. Her movies include ''

Moondance Alexander ''Moondance Alexander'' is a 2007 American comedy-drama film directed by Michael Damian and written by Janeen Damian. The film was released in North America in October 2007. The story is shot on location in Okotoks, High River and Calgary, Alberta ...

'' and ''

The Prince and the Pauper ''The Prince and the Pauper'' is a novel by American author Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada, before its 1882 publication in the United States. The novel represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction. Set in 1547, ...

'' with

Dylan and Cole Sprouse Dylan Thomas Sprouse and Cole Mitchell Sprouse (born August 4, 1992) are American actors. They are twins and are sometimes referred to as the Sprouse brothers or Sprouse Bros. Their first major theatrical film role was in the 1999 comedy '' B ...

. Panabaker starred in the remake of '' Fame'' as Jenny, an actress; the film was released in theaters on September 25, 2009. She also played the teenaged Kitty Walker on '' Brothers and Sisters''. Panabaker starred in the ABC

sci-fi Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universe ...

drama series ''

No Ordinary Family ''No Ordinary Family'' is an American television series that aired on ABC in the United States and CTV in Canada. The one hour science fiction comedy drama was produced by ABC Studios for the 2010–2011 television season. The series ran from ...

'', which ran for a single season ending in 2011 after 20 episodes. In 2011, Panabaker played Samantha Caldone in the ABC Family movie ''

Cyberbully Cyberbullying or cyberharassment is a form of bullying or harassment using Electronic communication network, electronic means. Cyberbullying and cyberharassment are also known as online bullying. It has become increasingly common, especially ...

.'' After playing Rosa in ''Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3: Viva la Fiesta'' in 2012, Panabaker retired from acting. She went on to study zoology at UCLA. As of 2016 she works as a zookeeper at

Disney's Animal Kingdom Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park is a zoological theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. Owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division, it is the l ...

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, th ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Music video

Awards and honors

Panabaker previously held a Seat on the National Board of the Coalition for Quality Children's Media. As of 2020 this was no longer the case.

References

External links

* *
Kay Panabaker
on Instagram {{DEFAULTSORT:Panabaker, Kay 1990 births 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American zoologists Actresses from Texas American child actresses American film actresses American television actresses American voice actresses Glendale Community College (California) alumni Living people Animal trainers People from Orange, Texas University of California, Los Angeles alumni Walt Disney Parks and Resorts people