The sitcom is about a large, middle-class African-American family living in a suburb of Chicago. “Family Matters” graced US TV screens for nine seasons before coming to an end, but most members of the cast are still active. The Winslow couple first appeared in the third season of “Perfect Strangers,” and the two landed their own sitcom.
But, did you know there was a real Steve Urkel? The series co-creator Michael Warren named the characters after his friend, Steve Erkel. No word on whether or not Erkel was as big a nerd as Urkel. Unfortunately, for Erkel, as Urkel’s popularity grew, so did the number of prank calls he received. Whoops!
Urkel’s popularity extended well beyond the screen. The character’s merchandise included posters, books, clothing, lunch boxes, a talking doll, and even food! In 1991, Ralston introduced an Urkel-branded breakfast cereal called Urkel-Os. Urkel’s popularity led to crossover s, as well. He made appearances in “Full House” and “Step by Step.”
“Family Matters” was child actor Jaleel White’s breakthrough role, and he emerged a pop culture phenomenon when the series was wrapped in 1998, even if he later had a switch of priorities that influenced his later career. Jaleel White admitted to Vanity Fair that the sudden and unexpected popularity of his character caused tension among the actors.
“Things were definitely strained in the early going,” he said. “There’s no sense in hiding that. There was a division between myself and the rest of the cast, but over nine years and 215 episodes, obviously, relationships get better. I still talk to certain cast members to this day.”
After the ninth and final season, “Family Matters” was officially the third-longest-running, non-animated American sitcom featuring a predominantly African American cast. The only shows that ran longer? “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne” and “The Jeffersons,” with 11 seasons.
REGINALD VELJOHNSON
The 67-year-old actor played Chicago police officer Carl Otis Winslow, who had a stereotypical love for doughnuts. He is the patriarch of the family and will be forever annoyed by the nerdy, accident-prone boy next door, Steve Urkel. He starred on the show until it ended in 1998.
Since first appearing on our radar in “Die Hard” and “Die Hard 2,” VelJohnson has had a full career, with more than 110 acting credits to his name, including “Ghostbusters,” and no signs of slowing down. One of his most recent roles was as “God,” when he lent his voice to “Lazor Wulf” in 2019.
VelJohnson said “People now and then still remember me from that, they meet you, and every time I go to the store market, someone always says, ‘Hey, are you that guy from Family Matters?’” The series’ focus shifted from VelJohnson to Jaleel White; however, VelJohnson is the only cast member to appear in every one of the show’s 215 episodes.
After “Family Matters,” VelJohnson made multiple guest appearances, including “That’s So Raven,” “Will & Grace,” “Bones,” “Chuck,” “Mike & Molly,” and “CSI.” He also had a guest spot in “Girl Meets World.” He appeared in “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” in 2018 as himself, co-starred “Hart of Dixie” and can be seen on YouTube Red’s “Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television.”
JALEEL WHITE
Steve Urkel was only supposed to appear in one episode. But, when Jaleel White borrowed his father’s glasses and walked on stage, his fate was sealed. People loved that nerd! And White definitely earned the love. The producers wanted to cram as much Urkel as was humanly possible into every episode.
It led to White playing a variety of characters. There was Stefan Urquelle (Steve’s studly alter-ego), cousins Cornelius Eugene and Myrtle Urkel (a.k.a. White in drag), Albert Einstein, Bruce Lee, and Elvis Presley. Following his most famous role, he attended UCLA, where he earned a degree in film and television in 2001.
He worked as a Writers Guild of America writer for Imagine Entertainment and the Disney Channel Television after graduating, and then resumed his acting career. He starred on the short-lived sitcom “Grown-Ups,” had a pivotal role in “Dreamgirls” opposite Jamie Foxx and Beyonce, and more prominently in “Boston Legal” in 2007.
His presence in the latter cemented his reputation as an adult actor, leaving his “Family Matters” years behind. He’s also known for voicing the video game character “Sonic, the Hedgehog.” In 2018, he was cast in Clint Eastwood’s “The 15:17 to Paris.” He’s currently playing Chris Spring-Lake on “Raven’s Home” and starring in the sitcom, “Me, Myself, and I.”
