Danielle Nicole Panabaker (born September 19, 1987) is an American actress. She was a cast member in the
CBS drama
Shark, and appeared in the films
Mr. Brooks,
Sky High, and
Friday the 13th, among other projects. She is best known to younger audiences for her roles in the
Disney Channel films Stuck in the Suburbs and
Read It and Weep along with her younger sister
Kay.
Early life
Panabaker was born in
Augusta, Georgia,
[Danielle Panabaker @ Filmbug] to Donna and Harold Panabaker. Her younger sister
Kay Panabaker is also an actress. Panabaker took a theater class at a summer camp and discovered her enjoyment in acting, so she started acting in community theaters at the age of 12, later auditioning for commercials. After moving to
Naperville,
Illinois, Panabaker went to
Crone Middle School and later
Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville and participated in the
speech team. She graduated from high school as
valedictorian when she was only 14 years old.
Later, feeling it was the only way to land acting roles regularly, Panabaker relocated to
Los Angeles, California in order to pursue an acting career. In 2005, she earned her
associate's degree and appeared on the National
Dean's List. In the fall of 2006 she began her senior year at the
University of California, Los Angeles, from which she graduated with a
Bachelor of Arts in June 2007.
Career
Panabaker followed her initial appearances in commercials with roles in television, including a part in the series,
The Guardian (for which she won a
Young Artist Award), as well as other
television series including
Malcolm in the Middle,
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,
Medium,
Summerland, and the
Disney Channel Original Movie Stuck in the Suburbs. She has also appeared in the
Lifetime Television productions
Sex and the Single Mom and
Mom at Sixteen, as well as the well-reviewed
miniseries Empire Falls. In addition, Panabaker also appeared in stage productions with roles in
musical theater, including
West Side Story,
Pippin,
Once Upon A Time, and
Beauty Lou and the Country Beast. In 2005, Panabaker co-starred in two widely released theatrical films,
Sky High and
Yours, Mine and Ours. Her next role will be in the film
Home of the Giants, opposite
Ryan Merriman and
Haley Joel Osment. She also had a supporting role in the film
Mr. Brooks opposite
Kevin Costner. In the
Disney Channel original movie
Read It and Weep, she plays "Is", an alternate version of Jamie, who is played by her sister Kay. Panabaker was added to the cast of the
CBS television drama
pilot Shark, as "Julie Stark", the main character's daughter. She had a regular role in the series, which ran for two years. Although she sometimes only appeared in a scene or two an episode, and was absent from three episodes in the series run, she was second billed only to
James Woods.
