ENDED TV SERIES

Photo Courtesy of ABC

The series follows the fortunes of the Winslows, a middle-class, African-American family living in Chicago, Illinois and their nerdy next-door neighbour Steve Urkel (Jaleel White).

Carl Winslow (Reginald VelJohnson) – Carl is the head of the Winslow family, or “Big Kahuna” as he prefers to be called. Maybe he should have thought of a better name: when it comes to arguments with his wife, Harriette, (Jo Marie Payton) Carl usually ends up on the losing side. He is a dedicated and capable officer in the Chicago Police Department, and has three biological children: Eddie (Darius McCrary), Laura (Kellie Shanygne Williams) and Judy (Jaimee Foxworth). Later, the household grows when he and his wife adopt a son named 3J (Orlando Brown). 3J’s mother, Estelle, (Rosetta LeNoire) also lives with the Winslows, as does Carl’s sister-in-law Rachel, (Telma Hopkins) and her son, Richie (Bryton McClure). Carl’s love of junk food means he’s carrying some extra weight. He’s constantly annoyed by his next-door neighbor, Steve Urkel, but annoyed or not he’s there for Steve when he needs him. He’s a decent, hard-working man and loves his family deeply.

Photo Courtesy of ABC

Harriette Winslow (Jo Marie Payton) – Harriette is Carl’s wife, a strong-willed woman and a conservative. She’s proud to be a working woman and mother, and puts everything into both her roles. The kind of woman who tells it like it is, Harriette also tries her best to give constructive advice. Her favorite catchphrase is “Carl!”

Eddie Winslow (Darius McCrary) – Eddie is the only biological son of Carl and Harriette, as well as the oldest of their offspring. A rebel without a cause, he gets into trouble at high school and often balks at his father’s strict rules. He romances a string girlfriends through the series, though as time goes by he begins to show more interest in finding a serious relationship. He is a fan of the NFL and the NBA, and has at times had a serious problem with gambling.

Laura Winslow (Kellie Shanygne Williams) – Laura is Carl and Harriette’s eldest daughter and the unfortunate focus of Steve Urkel’s unwavering affection. Unlike her older brother, Laura is well-behaved and gets great grades. Popular and hardworking, her only problems are caused by her determination to do everything by herself and the fact that she’s not always a great judge of character, especially when it comes to her boyfriends.

Judy Winslow (Jaimee Foxworth) – Judy is the youngest child of Harriette and Carl, though during the fifth season she disappears without explanation. She is Miss Average – perhaps why she disappeared! – and seems to be close to her older sister, Laura.

Photo Courtesy of ABC

Steve Urkel (Jaleel White) – Steve is the nerdy, annoying, next-door neighbor of the Winslow family. As overbearing as he is intelligent, Steve doesn’t seem to care if he irritates people. Nevertheless he’s kind and helpful and cares for all the Winslows, fondly referring to Carl as “Big Guy”. Besotted with Laura, Steve is constantly trying to win her love. He might seem unlikely to succeed but inventor Steve has lots of plans – like the machine that will turn him into his cool, handsome alter ego, Stefan Urquelle!

Estelle Winslow (Rosetta LeNoire) – Estelle is mother to Carl and his four brothers. Wise Estelle is fiercely protective of all her grandchildren – and that includes Steve Urkel, whom she looks on as a grandson. Urkel calls her “Estelle, my Belle” and she loves his company, trying to get him to stay even while everyone else is trying to persuade him to go! Her catchphrase when Carl does something she doesn’t like is, “Way to go, Carl”. Despite her age, Estelle is the queen of pop culture with a finger on the button of all the latest trends.

Rachel Baines-Crawford (Telma Hopkins) – Rachel is the widowed younger sister of Harriette. She and her young son, Richie, move in with her sister’s family shortly after her the death of her husband, Robert. Creative Rachel loves singing and writing and is something of an entrepreneur, opening a hangout for teenagers called, “Rachel’s Place”. Her trademark is her array of unusual hats.

Richie Crawford (Bryton McClure) – Richie is the son of Rachel and her deceased husband. He died before ever getting to see his son, so after Richie and his mother move into the Winslow home, Carl fills the role of “father”. As Richie gets older, he comes to idolize his “Uncle Steve”. Later in the series he befriends an orphan named 3J, who is then adopted by Harriette and Carl.

Photo Courtesy of ABC

3J (Jerry Jamal) Jameson – 3J is Richie’s friend, an orphan with a smart-mouth and a chip on his shoulder that hides the fact that all he wants is a family who’ll love him. His mother gave him up for adoption when he was born, and he lived with his aunt until she could no longer afford to keep him and he was placed in a children’s shelter. Carl and Harriette adopt him, realizing that he just needs love and security.

Myra Monkhouse (Michelle Thomas) – Pretty Myra is into polka music and nerdy boys. She can be quite persistent when she wants something – and Steve is one of those things! He agrees to date her on the condition that he can stay friends with Laura, and though Myra sometimes feels she’s competing with Laura, she agrees. When she and Steve start going steady, Myra begins to mellow as she becomes more secure.

Waldo Faldo (Steve Harrison) – Waldo was once a friend of Willie Fuffner, a notorious bully, but is now friends with Eddiie Winslow and Steve Urkel. Waldo isn’t the sharpest tool in the box, but he has sound morals. He has a sister with the unfortunate name of Quesadilla, and dates Laura’s best friend Maxine.

Photo Courtesy of ABC

Main Cast

Photo Courtesy of ABC

Additional Cast

Photo Courtesy of ABC

Trivia

Family Matters is a spin-off of the series Perfect Strangers.

Reginald VelJohnson (Carl Winslow) is a keen marathon runner.

Jaleel White often played basketball with George Clooney while they were acting on their respective series, Family Matters and ER.

Rosetta LeNoire (Estelle Winslow) took care of legendary actor James Earl Jones when he was a baby. She was then a member of an acting troupe led by Jones’s father.

Jo Marie Payton (Harriette Winslow) decided to leave the show when it moved from ABC to CBS, in part because she did not like how the series had expanded the Steve Urkel character and storylines. She agreed to stay for the first half of the final season, after which she was replaced by Judyann Elder.

Darius McCrary (Eddie Winslow) is the brother of actor Donovan McCrary and the son of musician Howard McCrary.

Photo Courtesy of ABC

Telma Hopkins (Rachel Crawford) was a member of the popular 1970’s musical group Tony Orlando and Dawn.

Though the character of Steve Urkel was originally intended to make a single appearance on the show, by the end of the series he had become the main character. He was so popular that an entire range of merchandise was spawned including trading cards, books, a talking doll, posters, lunch boxes, T-shirts and even a limited edition cereal.

Kellie Shanygne Williams (Laura Winslow) did not talk when she was a toddler, so her father decided to put her into a theater program. Luckily, this seemed to work and she started to speak.

Sadly, Rosetta LeNoire died in 2002. She was 90 years old.

Jaleel White enjoys writing short stories, drawing cartoons and making ice cream.

In 2002, Jaimee Foxworth (Judy Winslow) made headlines when it came out that she had been making porn films under the name of “Crave”.

At nine seasons, Family Matters is the second longest-running series with a mostly African-American cast. The first was the very popular series The Jeffersons, which ran for a total of eleven seasons.

Photo Courtesy of ABC

Reginald VelJohnson was a high school classmate of both former CIA Director George Tenet and porn star Ron Jeremy.

Bryton McClure (a.k.a. Bryton James) (Richie Crawford) received the Michael Landon Award for charitable work through youth in entertainment.

Telma Hopkins volunteers a lot of time to various charitable causes.

The last season of the series was broadcast on CBS instead of ABC, as CBS picked up not only Family Matters, but Step by Step in a $40 million dollar deal. After only one season, CBS cancelled both shows.

The house that was shown in the credits as the Winslow home is actually located at 1516 West Wrightwood Avenue in Chicago, Illinois.

Orlando Brown (3J Jameson) was arrested for possession of marijuana in 2007 in Houston, Texas. He was arrested for a DUI in 2011, and he was also arrested twice more for situations stemming from that incident.

Photo Courtesy of ABC

Before his audition for Steve Urkel, Jaleel White was trying to find a pair of classic nerdy-looking glasses – in other words, black with tape in the middle – but couldn’t find any. His father, Dr. Michael White, a dentist, gave him the pair of glasses that he used while at work to keep particles out of his eyes. White figured that if he got the role, he would find another pair later. However, everyone loved the look so much he ended up keeping his father’s glasses permanently.

Jo Marie Payton graduated from Albany State University.

Rosetta LeNoire had rickets as a child and had to wear leg braces for thirteen years. Her godfather, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson helped her to overcome the disease by teaching her to dance.

Kellie Shanygne Williams ate lunch with co-star and good friend Jaleel White every day. They also shared the same tutor on set.

Jaleel White (Steve Urkel) played a total of eight different characters on the show.

Reginald VelJohnson received a Bachelor of Arts degree from New York University.

Family Matters had crossovers with several other TGIF shows including Perfect Strangers, Full House, Boy Meets World, Step by Step and Meego. Most had something to do with the character of Steve Urkel.

Photo Courtesy of ABC

As well as being an actor, Darius McCrary is a music producer and songwriter.

Kellie Shanygne Williams has two children, one son and one daughter.

Rosetta LeNoire’s mother died at the age of 27 after giving birth to LeNoire’s brother in a hospital corridor in Harlem. The horrific tragedy occurred as a result of segregationist police keeping her from using a room.

After Jaleel White shot his very first scene as Steve Urkel, he received an unusual reaction. In the audience were fifty frat boys who immediately started chanting, “Urkel! Urkel! Urkel!” It was at that moment that the show’s producers realized just what a talent he was.

As the series continued on, Jaleel White was growing into an adult, making it difficult to retain his character’s younger appearance. Because of this, he had to avoid lifting weights and shave daily.

Michelle Thomas (Myra Monkhouse) became ill with stomach cancer and left the series shortly before it was cancelled. Tragically, she died that same year. She was only thirty years old.

Jaimee Foxworth dealt with substance abuse problems in the years after Family Matters.

Photo Courtesy of ABC

Jo Marie Payton has been married and divorced a total of three times. She has one child, a daughter.

Malcolm-Jamal Warner, a friend and former boyfriend of Michelle Thomas, was at her bedside when she died.

Jaleel White was originally cast as Rudy Huxtable on the popular series The Cosby Show until Bill Cosby had a change of heart and decided to make Rudy a girl, mirroring his real family. It would not have been the first time that Jaleel had worked with Cosby, as he did a Jell-O pudding pop commercial with him when he was just a small child.

Each season includes an episode where a set is totally and completely destroyed.

Shawn Harrison (Waldo Faldo) is a producer as well as an actor.

The only actor to appear in every single episode of the series was Reginald VelJohnson.

In the 1930’s, Rosetta LeNoire was directed by the legendary Orson Welles in an African-American version of MacBeth.

People often wonder what happened to the character of Judy Winslow; the answer is simply that she was written off. The reasons were twofold: she was contributing little to the show and the actress playing her, Jaimee Foxworth, had asked for a pay rise. Later, the show’s history was revised so that the character had never existed.

Kellie Shanygne Williams has moved back to her hometown of Washington D.C.

Photo Courtesy of ABC

Michelle Thomas played the girlfriend of Theo Huxtable (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) on The Cosby Show.

Bryton McClure enjoys snowboarding, playing video games and racing go-karts.

Jaleel White has one child, a daughter.

Darius McCrary’s first marriage was to a Las Vegas showgirl named Juliette. They had known each other for only four months before deciding to marry and separated only three months later.

Jo Marie Payton released a jazz album called ‘Southern Shadows’ in 1999.