Shelby Ann Narito Rabara Shum (née Rabara; born October 5, 1983) is an American actress and dancer who has appeared in a number of films, television series and commercials as both an actress and a dancer. Rabara is known for providing the voice of

Peridot Peridot ( /ˈpɛr.ɪˌdɒt, -ˌdoʊ/ ''PERR-ih-dot, -⁠doh''), sometimes called chrysolite, is a deep yellowish-green transparent variety of olivine. Peridot is one of the few gemstones that only occurs in one color. Peridot can be found in ...

for the ''

Steven Universe ''Steven Universe'' is an American animated series, animated television series created by Rebecca Sugar for Cartoon Network. It tells the coming-of-age story of a young boy, Steven Universe (character), Steven Universe (Zach Callison), who li ...

'' franchise on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

Early life

Rabara was born in

Orange County, California Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...

. She was raised by her mother in a single-parent household, along with her two siblings. She graduated with a degree in world arts and cultures from 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 ...

in 2003.

Career

Rabara initially began her career as a dancer and was a member of the

Laker Girls The Laker Girls are a National Basketball Association Cheerleading squad that supports the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team in home matches. They also perform at many other events and venues. Jerry Buss commissioned the Laker Girls in 1979 afte ...

, the cheerleading squad of the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

basketball team. In 2005 she won a role at her very first audition, which was for the sitcom ''

Grounded for Life ''Grounded for Life'' is an American television sitcom that debuted on January 10, 2001, as a mid-season replacement on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox. Created by Mike Schiff and Bill Martin, it ran for two seasons on the network until being cance ...

''. She said, in response to

autistic The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

fans of Peridot, the character she voices in ''

'' and ''

Steven Universe Future ''Steven Universe Future'' is an American animated limited series created by Rebecca Sugar for Cartoon Network. It serves as an epilogue to the 2013–2019 original series ''Steven Universe'' and its follow-up 2019 animated film '' Steven Univers ...

'', that she was "happy that I can voice a character that gives people on the spectrum somebody to identify with."

Personal life

Rabara is of

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

descent. Rabara began a relationship with Costa Rican-born Chinese-American actor and dancer

Harry Shum Jr. Harry Shum Jr. (born April 28, 1982) is an American actor, dancer, choreographer, and singer. He is best known for his roles as Mike Chang on the Fox television series ''Glee'' (2009–15), Benson Kwan on the ABC television series ''Grey's Anato ...

in 2007. The two became engaged in October 2013 while on vacation in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

and were married on November 22, 2015, in Costa Rica. The birth of their daughter was announced on March 28, 2019.

Filmography

Live-action

Film

Television

Voice roles

Film

Television

References

External links

* * 1983 births Living people 21st-century American actresses American film actresses American voice actresses American female dancers 21st-century American dancers American actresses of Filipino descent American dancers of Asian descent UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture alumni {{US-film-actor-1980s-stub