Terrance K'iontay Nance (born April 1994) Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman (born September 1, 1996),[4] known mononymously as Zendaya (/zɛnˈdeɪ.ə/), is an American actress and singer. She began her career appearing as a child model and backup dancer before featuring in the Disney Channel Original Movie Frenemies (2012). She gained prominence for her role as Rocky Blue on the Disney Channel sitcom Shake It Up (2010–2013). In 2013, Zendaya was a contestant on the sixteenth season of the competition series Dancing with the Stars. She currently produces and stars as K.C. Cooper in the Disney Channel sitcom K.C. Undercover (2015–present). She made her film breakthrough in 2017, starring as Michelle "MJ" Jones in the Marvel superhero film Spider-Man: Homecoming and as Anne Wheeler in the musical drama film The Greatest Showman.
Zendaya began her career in music by recording songs independently and releasing the singles "Swag It Out" and "Watch Me" in 2011, the latter a collaboration with Bella Thorne. She signed with Hollywood Records in 2012 and later released her debut single, "Replay", which reached number 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States. Zendaya's self-titled debut studio album (2013) debuted at number 51 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman was born on September 1, 1996, in Oakland, California and is the only child of Claire Marie (Stoermer) and Kazembe Ajamu (born Samuel David Coleman), but has five older siblings on her father's side.[5] Her father is African-American, with Arkansan roots; her mother is white, with German and Scottish ancestry.[1][5] Zendaya has stated that her name means "to give thanks" in Shona, a Bantu language native to the Shona people of Zimbabwe.[6] Zendaya grew as a performer in part at the nearby California Shakespeare Theater in Orinda where her mother works as the house manager in addition to training at the theater's student conservatory program.[7] She appeared in numerous stage productions while she was attending Oakland School for the Arts, starring as Little Ti Moune in Once on This Island at the Berkeley Playhouse and the breakout role of the male character Joe in Caroline, or Change at Palo Alto's TheaterWorks. [8]
Zendaya spent three years of dancing in a dance group called Future Shock Oakland. The group did hip hop and hula dances when she was eight.[9][10][11]
She studied at the CalShakes Conservatory Program and at the American Conservatory Theater.[12] Her other stage credits include William Shakespeare's Richard III, Twelfth Night, and As You Like It.[13] Her interests include singing, dancing, and designing clothes.[14] Zendaya's childhood pet, was a dog name Midnight. Midnight passed in late 2015.[64] Later that year Zendaya got a new dog named Moonlight as a gift from her ex-boyfriend.[65] She is also a vegetarian.[66] Zendaya currently lives in Los Angeles, California and owns a house there that is worth $1.4 million[67] She is a self-proclaimed feminist.[68]