Aunt Rachel on Family Matters is likely Telma Hopkins’ most well-known character, but she was working in the entertainment industry long before she ever became part of the TGIF lineup on ABC. The actor actually got her start as a singer in Detroit, Michigan, where she was chosen by Tony Orlando to form his singing group Dawn, along with Joyce Vincent Wilson. The act had their own CBS variety show for a few years in the mid-1970s, and then Hopkins began acting, appearing in a handful of shows, including Bosom Buddies, A New Kind of Family, Gimme a Break!, and The Loveboat, before landing her Family Matters gig. Read on to learn what here’s what she’s been up to since.
During the time that Family Matters was still on the air, starred with Cindy Williams in the short-lived sitcom Getting By, about a Black woman and white woman raising their families together. Since Family Matters ended in 1997, Hopkins guested or took recurring roles on shows including ER, Suddenly Susan, Psych, Getting On, 2 Broke Girls, and Dead to Me. She starred in the shows Half & Half, Are We There Yet? (based on the movie), and Partners, and appeared in films including The Love Guru and the Trancers series. Her most recent credits include The Matrix Resurrections, five episodes of The Young and the Restless, and voicing a character in an episode of Rugrats.
She reunited with her Family Matters son on a soap opera.
In 2021, Hopkins reunited with Bryton James, who played Rachel’s son Richie on Family Matters, when she did her arc on The Young and the Restless. James has been on the soap opera since 2004, playing Devon Hamilton and winning two Daytime Emmy Awards for the role.
Hopkins told CBS that she’s a longtime fan of the soap opera and that joining the cast as a private investigator named Denise Tolliver was a big task to take on. “When I first read the script, I was scared but I was also excited for the opportunity to develop a character that I haven’t played before,” the actor said. Her former TV son, who she’s still close to, was instrumental in getting Hopkins the part, knowing what a huge fan she is. “I’ve been telling the writers and producers, ‘You guys have to figure out a way to get her on the show. You have to make it happen,'” James told TV Insider.
She’s reunited with her music group several times over the years.
Hopkins may work primarily as an actor now, but she still dabbles in music and has reunited with Orlando and Wilson as Tony Orlando and Dawn a few times. In 2005, they released a holiday album called Christmas Reunion. And they’ve performed together live again, too, including two recent tours: “Tony Orlando and Dawn: To Be with You Again” in 2015, and a Christmas-themed tour in 2018.
