Summerland

Background:

After a string of guest roles, American film and television actress Kay Panabaker, younger sister of actress Danielle Panabaker, rose to fame with her first regular role, as Nikki Westerly, on The WB's drama series, “Summerland”(2004-2005), from which she won a 2005 Young Artist Award. Taling about her show, she said, “The cast and crew are such a tight knit family. A lot of series will say, 'oh yea, our family is a tight family,' but we really are a family like that. I really just get a long with everybody and it’s so good how well everybody gets along.”

The active girl is also popular as Debbie Berwick on several episodes of the Disney Channel TV series “Phil of the Future” (2004-2005), a role that brought the hazel-eyed beauty a Young Artist nomination. Since then, Panabaker has starred in several TV films and films, including “Life Is Ruff” (2005), Disney Channel Original Movie's “Read It and Weep” (2006), “Moondance Alexander” (2007), “Nancy Drew” (2007), “Custody” (2007) and “Modern Twain Story: The Prince and the Pauper” (2007).

The dark blonde actress will star as Dylan in the upcoming TV film “Happy Campers” (2008).

As for her personal life, Panabaker is now a resident of Los Angeles, California. She enjoys traveling, bowling, swimming, arts and crafts and dance. Her favorite singers are Lindsay Lohan and Kelly Clarkson, to name a few. She has two dogs named Butter and Peanut.

Honored Scholar

Childhood and Family:

Daughter of Donna and Harold Panabaker, Stephanie Kay Panabaker was born in Orange, Texas, on May 2, 1990. Raised in such places as Philadelphia, Chicago and Atlanta, she attended Crone Middle School in Chicago when she was in 6th grade before moving out to Los Angeles. A superior student, Kay graduated high school as a scholar when she was only 13 years old and earned her Associate's Degree at age 15. She gained two academic scholarship from the community college she enrolled in and was on the Dean's list there. At age 16, in May 2006, Kay was admitted to UCLA as a Junior with a History major. Currently, she is in her senior year at the noted university and is on her way to graduate in June 2008.

Kay has an older sister named Danielle Panabaker. She is also an actress and also graduated high school at only 14 years old.

Moondance Alexander

Career:

Texas-born Kay Panabaker started acting at various community theatres in Atlanta, Georgia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Chicago, Illinois. She starred in such productions as “The Herbal Bed,” “Once Upon A Time” and “Winnie-the-Pooh.” Following the suggestion of her agent, she then headed to Los Angeles to further pursue her acting career.

Panabaker's first major part arrived in 2001 when she was recruited to do some voice work for the Disney/Pixar hit “Monsters, Inc.,” in which she had the opportunity to work with big names like John Goodman, Billy Crystal, Steve Buscemi and Jennifer Tilly. A series of guest spots on TV series followed, including “ER,” “7th Heaven,” “Angel,” “The Division,” “The Brothers Garcia” and “Medium,” and she made her feature acting debut as Sam LaRoche in “Dead Heat” (2002), an action/comedy starring Kiefer Sutherland, Anthony LaPaglia and Radha Mitchell and directed and written by Mark Malone.

The young actress, however, did not experience a big breakthrough until she won the regular role of Nikki Westerly on the drama series, “Summerland,” which ran for two seasons on The WB from 2004 to 2005. The show was a favorite among young viewers and she was singled out for her performance in the show with a 2005 Young Artist for Best Performance by Leading Young Actress in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama). Panabaker doubled her fame with her recurring performance on the Disney Channel adventure/comedy series “Phil of the Future,” where she portrayed straight laced Debbie Berwick, a friend of Pim Diffy (played by Amy Bruckner), during the 2004-2005 season, and was nominated for a Young Artist in the category of Best Performance by Recurring Young Actress in a Television Series.

In 2005, the talented player starred as Emily Watson on the skateboarding TV-movie “Life Is Ruff,” along side Kyle Massey and Mitchel Musso. After voicing Cheerleader Lacey in an episode of “American Dragon: Jake Long” (2006), she again took on a leading role in a TV film called “Read It and Weep” (2006), adapted from the book “How My Private Personal Journal Became a Bestseller” by Julia DeVillers. In the Disney Channel Original Movie, she was cast as Jamie Bartlett, opposite her older sister, Danielle, who portrayed Is. It was also in 2006 that Panabaker started her three episodic part as Lindsey Willows on the series “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.”

Panabaker continued to make guest appearances in such series as “The Winner,” “Two and a Half Men,” “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody,” “Boston Legal” and “Ghost Whisperer” (all 2007). Recently, in October, she revisited the big screen as the star of the family film “Moondance Alexander” (2007), about a young lady with the obsession of turning an ordinary horse into a champion racer. Among her costars in the festival darling are Don Johnson, Sasha Cohen and her former “Summerland” costar, Lori Loughlin. She also supported Emma Roberts in the highly anticipated big film version of “Nancy Drew” (2007), based on the books by Carolyn Keene, portrayed Amanda in the Lifetime Television movie “Custody” (2007) and teamed up with the twin actors Cole and Dylan Sprouse in “Modern Twain Story: The Prince and the Pauper” (2007), a modern day telling of the Mark Twain classic.

The 17-years-old performer is currently in the set of her new TV film, “Happy Campers,” which is scheduled for 2008 release. Starring as Dylan, she will act along side French Stewart, Rebecca McFarland, Ryan Malgarini, Alessandra Toreson and many others.

Awards:

• Young Artist: Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama) - Leading Young Actress, “Summerland,” 2005