Miranda Cosgrove was born May 14, 1993 in Los Angeles, California and is an American child actress and singer. Cosgrove is best known for her roles as Megan Parker in the Nickelodeon smash hit "Drake and Josh" (2004-2007), Summer Hathaway in "School of Rock" (2003), and as Carly Shay in "iCarly" (2007-).

Miranda's acting career started in 1996 when she was seen by a talent agent who was so overwhelmed by her singing and dancing talents that he signed her up for various small roles in television commercials. Cosgrove now stars as Carly Shay in the new Nickelodeon series "iCarly", which is written and produced by Dan Schneider. "iCarly" is currently seen on Nickelodeon.

After succeeding in television commercials,  Cosgrove began auditioning for roles in  movies and television projects. After a guest appearance on the adventure thriller "Smallville" (2001-), Miranda Cosgrove audition for the role of Summer Hathaway in the film School of Rock starring Jack Black. Ultimately, Cosgrove was hired and filming began in 2002. "School of Rock" was a cute story where a down and out rock star Dewey Finn (Jack Black) gets fired from his band, and he faces a mountain of debts and depression. He takes a job as a 4th grade substitute teacher at an uptight private school where his attitude and hijinx have a powerful effect on his students. He also meets Zack, a 10-year-old guitar prodigy, who could help Dewey win a "battle of the bands" competition, which would solve his financial problems and put him back in the spotlight. "School Of Rock" went on to be a smash hit and gave Miranda Cosgrove the attention a new actress loves to get. 

With the attention from "School Of Rock", Cosgrove was cast in several more television guest appearances in such shows as "Grounded for Life", "What's New, Scooby-Doo?" and "Zoey 101" before auditioning for the family romantic comedy "Yours, Mine and Ours" (2005). Cosgrove was cast as Joni North, alongside Dennis Quaid, Rene Russo, Drake Bell, in this romantic story about a widowed Coast Guard Admiral and a widow handbag designer who fall in love and marry, much to the dismay of her 10 and his 8 children. Miranda Cosgrove was not getting the attention that would shot her into a Hollywood status that most young teen girls can only dream of.

Cosgrove was next hired and cast in the starring role in the dramatic family movie0 "The Wild Stallion" (2006), a story about two girls, CJ and Hanna (Cosgrove). CJ lives on a ranch and Hanna comes to visit and decides to photograph wild horses for a school project. The girls become great friends and learn of a plot that might jeopardize the mustangs. Also that year, Cosgrove was cast in a supporting role in the comedy "Keeping Up With The Steins" (2006) starring Daryl Hannah, about a 13-year old boy, Lucky, who uses his upcoming bar mitzvah to reconcile the strained relationship between his father and grandfather. Even with the success of these movie roles, Miranda Cosgrove was about to get a role that would make her a teen idol, and a Hollywood celebrity.

Cosgrove was cast as Megan Parker, the sister of Drake Parker, played by Drake Bell, in the Nickelodeon smash hit television series "Drake & Josh" (2004-). Miranda's 53 episode deal was almost unheard of for teen actors, but producers were so confident of her talents, and of the central casting of the role, they wanted to have her around for awhile. And it worked. As producers watched the young Cosgrove mature in the series they began working on a concept for a show of her own. The result was another smash hit for the network "iCarly" (2007-). 

"iCarly" and Miranda Cosgrove had an initial 21 episode deal for this story about a girl named Carly who hosts her own home-grown web show called "iCarly". She lives with her twenty-something brother and  guardian Spencer and produces her Web casts from a makeshift third-floor loft studio. Grappling with adolescence, she never aimed to gain fame as a rising star and underground celebrity to kids. As events unfold in the pilot, it all happens by accident when a teacher puts her in charge of the school talent show. Carly and her sassy best bud Sam turn the audition process into a show, which Carly's tech savvy smitten friend Freddy tapes -- including their hilarious banter and great chemistry -- and posts on the Web without telling the girls. The on-line audience clamors for more, and a pop phenomenon blooms, with Carly and sidekick Sam's regular Web casts ultimately featuring everything from comedy sketches and talent contests to interviews, recipes, and problem-solving. Thus, "iCarly" was born and Miranda Cosgrove had her very own hit television series.

Miranda Cosgrove returned to the big screen, and her role as brother to Drake Bell, in the dramatic teen comedy adaptation of the "Drake & Josh" television series in "Drake & Josh in New York!" 2008), about a wealthy and naive guy who gets a crash course in life from a slacker.

Miranda released a music album in 2008 called "iCarly," dropped June 10, 2008 and includes songs about and inspired by the show and performed by her and others, including Avril Lavigne, Natasha Bedington and others. Cosgrove's first foray into professional singing was in 2007 when she recorded the "iCarly" shows theme song, "Leave It All to Me."