Miranda Taylor Cosgrove[1] (born May 14, 1993)[1] is an American teen actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as Megan Parker in Drake and Josh, Summer Hathaway in School of Rock and as Carly Shay in iCarly. Her career began in 2001 when she was spotted by an agent who was impressed by her singing and dancing in a restaurant called "Taste of LA" that he signed her up for a number of small roles in commercials.[2][3] Now she is doing iCarly, her second season since 2007.
Biography
Cosgrove was born in Los Angeles, California. When she was three years old, she was singing and dancing in a restaurant called "Taste of LA". A talent agent was impressed with her singing and dancing skills so he signed her up for his talent agency, leading to a career in advertising soon after, as well as other roles and shows.[2][3] She began homeschooling after she finished elementary school, at Maude Price Elementary School in Downey, California, and then enrolled in an online school program which she has been doing since 2006. She is an only child.
Career
Actress
In 2001 Cosgrove did her first acting role as a girl called Lana in the TV series Smallville, and after that had many other small roles in various television series, and appeared in a starring role as Summer Hathaway in the 2003 film School of Rock. But her claim to fame was when she was cast as Megan Parker in the 2004 Nickelodeon TV series Drake and Josh, which gained a massive following. In 2007 she was cast in another Nickelodeon TV series, iCarly as the main character Carly Shay, who makes her own webshow, acting alongside Jennette McCurdy, Jerry Trainor and Nathan Kress.
Singer
Cosgrove made her music debut in 2007, singing the theme song for iCarly called Leave It All to Me, which features her Drake and Josh co-star, Drake Bell. On 2008-06-10 the soundtrack to iCarly was released, including Leave It All to Me and three other songs by Cosgrove, including the next singles, the cover of Amy Diamond's song Stay My Baby, and About You Now, originally by the Sugababes, and another track called Headphones On. The sountrack debuted at #28 on the Billboard 200 and has sold over 200,000 copies. She released a new song, a cover of Christmas Wrapping, for the soundtrack to Merry Christmas, Drake and Josh.
It has also been revealed that Cosgrove is in the middle of recording her debut solo album, possibly with a collaboration with the band Boys Like Girls. Regarding her solo album, she said, "...with the iCarly soundtrack, I didn't get to write any of the songs. I just picked songs that meant a lot to me that I really liked. Now, for my own CD, I've been co-writing and getting really into it. It's still pop-rock fun music like the iCarly soundtrack, but I think it's a little more mature. They're love songs and just fun songs about hanging out with your girlfriends." The album probably going to be released in 2009 at some point
Filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 2003 | School of Rock | Summer Hathaway | |
| 2005 | Here Comes Peter Cottontail: The Movie | Munch | voice |
| Yours, Mine and Ours | Joni North | ||
| 2006 | Drake & Josh Go Hollywood | Megan Parker | main role; made-for-TV Movie |
| The Wild Stallion | Hanna Mills | ||
| Keeping Up with the Steins | Karen Sussman | ||
| 2007 | Drake & Josh: Really Big Shrimp | Megan Parker | TV Movie; main role |
| 2008 | The Naked Brothers Band: Mystery Girl | Herself | TV Movie; special guest |
| iCarly: iGo to Japan | Carly Shay | TV Movie; main role | |
| Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh | Megan Parker | TV Movie; main role | |
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2001 | Smallville | Lana | pilot |
| 2003, 2007-2008 | The Today Show | herself | guest star |
| 2004 | U-Pick Live | herself | Nickelodeon TV block; guest star |
| 2004 MTV Movie Awards | herself | award show | |
| Grounded for Life | Jessica | 1 episode; guest role | |
| 2004 – 2007, 2008 | Drake & Josh | Megan Parker | main role |
| 2005 | All That | herself | 10th Anniversary; guest appearance |
| 2006 | Blues Clues: Behind the Clues: 10 Years with Blue | herself | 10 year special; during Interview segments |
| 2007 – present | iCarly | Carly Shay | main role |
| 2007 | Zoey 101 | Paige Howard | 1 episode; guest role |
| Just Jordan | Lindsey Chandler | 1 episode; guest role | |
| Unfabulous | Cosmina | 1 episode; guest role | |
| 2008 | 2008 Kids' Choice Awards | herself | award show; guest appearance |
| Dance on Sunset | herself | 1 episode; guest appearance | |
| 2008 Teen Choice Awards | herself | award show; presenter | |
| Regis and Kelly | herself | guest star | |
| The Mike and Juliette Show | herself | guest star | |
| Rachael Ray | herself | guest star | |
| CW 11 Morning Show | herself | guest star | |
| Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade | herself;performer | performing "About You Now" | |
| 2009 | MTV Cribs | herself | guest star |
| The Ellen DeGeneres Show | herself | guest star | |
| 2009 Kid's Choice Awards | herself | award show; guest appearence | |
Discography
Album
- About You Now [EP] (2009)
Soundtracks
- iCarly: Music From and Inspired By the Hit TV Show(2008)
Singles
| Year | Songs | Chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S.Billboard Hot 100 | U.S.Pop 100 | Radio Disney | |||
| 2007 | "Leave It All to Me" (feat. Drake Bell) | 100 | 83 | - | iCarly soundtrack |
| 2008 | "Stay My Baby" | - | - | 6 | |
| "About You Now" | 47 | - | - | ||
| "Christmas Wrapping" | - | - | - | Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh soundtrack | |
External links
- Official website of Miranda Cosgrove
- Official imeem
- Miranda Cosgrove at Internet Movie Database
- Miranda Cosgrove at TV.com
- Miranda Cosgrove's Music site at MySpace
- Miranda Cosgrove at Facebook
- Miranda Cosgrove at Friendster