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

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

and former actress. She is 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 comedy television series that originally aired on Disney Channel for two seasons from June 18, 2004, to August 19, 2006. It was created by Douglas Tuber and Tim Maile and produced by 2121 Pr ...

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

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 The Walt Disney Company, Disney films ''Stuck in the Suburbs'' (2004), ''Sky High (2005 film), ...

Early life

Panabaker was born in Orange, Texas, 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 Theatre, theatrical performance made in relation to particular Community, communities—its usage includes theatre made by, with, and for a community. It may refer to a production that is made entirely by a communit ...

s in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. 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 a southwestern suburb of Chicago located west of the city on the DuPage River. As of the 2020 United State ...

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

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

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 class rank, highest-performing student of a graduation, graduating class of an academic institution in the United States. The valedictorian is generally determined by an academic institution's grade poin ...

when she was 13 years old. Kay received two academic

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

s from Glendale Community College, where she studied acting and was on the Dean's list. She graduated with an

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

with honors when she was 15. She was accepted by the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

(UCLA), History Program as a junior and completed her

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

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'', Carrie Bauer in '' The Brothers García'', Ellisha in '' Medium'', and Lindsey Willows in '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', to name a few. At 21, she played a 14-year-old runaway forced into prostitution on ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''. In film, she appeared in '' Dead Heat'' as Sam LaRoche; and did some voice work in the

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

Pixar Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney ...

film, '' Monsters, Inc.''. Panabaker's breakout role came when she starred in

The WB The WB Television Network (shortened to The WB, stylized as "THE WB", and nicknamed the "Frog Network" and/or "The Frog" for its former mascot Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network that ran from 1995 to 2006. It launched on ter ...

's '' Summerland'' as Nikki Westerly, in the 2004–05 season. She also appeared as George in '' Nancy Drew'' (2007) alongside

Emma Roberts Emma Rose Roberts (born February 10, 1991) Additional on October 9, 2016 is an American actress, singer and producer. Known for her performances spanning multiple genres of film and television, her work in the horror film, horror and thriller ...

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 ma ...

to Pim Diffy (played by Amy Bruckner). She starred in '' Life Is Ruff'' as Emily Watson alongside Kyle Massey and Mitchel Musso. In July 2006, she starred in the Disney Channel Original Movie '' Read It and Weep'' (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'', on the Red Team with Zac Efron, Anneliese van der Pol, Moises Arias, Dylan Sprouse, and Shin Koyamada as part of the

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

's ''So Hot Summer!''. Her films include '' Moondance Alexander'' and '' The Prince and the Pauper'' with Dylan and Cole Sprouse. 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 & Sisters''. Panabaker starred in the ABC

sci-fi Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

drama series '' No Ordinary Family'', which ran for a single season ending in 2011 after 20 episodes. In 2011, Panabaker played Samantha Caldone in the ABC Family film '' Cyberbully.'' 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, and as of 2016 works as a zookeeper at Disney's Animal Kingdom in

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort is an destination resort, entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Wa ...

Personal life

On February 6, 2022, Panabaker announced that she had married Yoni Yates.

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

* * {{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