She is best known for her role of Judy Winslow, the youngest daughter of Carl and Harriette Winslow on the ABC sitcom Family Matters, during the show's first four seasons. Two years later, on November 25, 2016, Glass died of respiratory failure. Darius McCrary played Eddie Winslow, the handsome, eldest brother to Laura and Judy and cousin to Richie. Stars Who Think They Have a Psychic Ability. VelJohnson voiced the character Jerry in the TV show, 3Below: Tales of Arcadia from 2018 to 2019. ", While Reginald VelJohnson may have remained Carl Winslow in the minds of many fans over the years, star Jaleel White has done everything he can to shake the mantle of Steve Urkel. She also got a role in the sitcoms show Young And Restless as Callie Rogers and as Justine Phillips in The Cosby Show. cancer-related complications. Soon Brown found himself garnering role after role on TV shows like, "Maude," "Chico and the Man," and in 1975 was cast in Season 2 of "Good Times" in the role of Nathan Bookman, the super for the building in the projects that the Evans family lived in. A year after Family Matters ended, LeNoire guest-starred as a nurse on the TV series Cosby in 1998. In 2018, "Family Matters" star Reginald VelJohnson told Today that Miller helped him land the role of Carl. nerdy comedic neighbor of the Winslows who was always trying and failing to win Well, youre in luck. Mekka continued getting roles in TV and movies, including small ones in 1992's "A League of Their Own" and 2006's "Dreamgirls." His daughter, Hope Mulbarger, toldPeopleof her father, "He kept moving, working and making us happy until the very end. If a shirt isn't your thing, never fear: You can still catch Harrison on television as well. Al Powell - Die Hard. On July 8, 2020, Rivera died at the age of 33. Rachel Crawford 83 Episodes 1997. However, some of the show's most memorable denizens have sadly passed away since Family Matters came to an end. "Few singers have impacted music & the world like Donna Summer!" Rosetta LeNoire's turn as Mother Winslow in Family Matterswas critically acclaimed, and she was central to some of the sitcom's most memorable moments during its nine-season run. Watch a. LeNoire passed away in 2002, four years after the final season of Family Matters originally aired. teacher in Urkel's swim class. However, since the shows end, many of the cast members have largely disappeared from the spotlight. Copyright 2021 Obsev.com All Rights Reserved, Where Are They Now? More at IMDbPro Contact info Agent info Resume Born December 28, 1973 Add to list Awards 1 nomination Photos 12 Known for Family Matters 6.6 TV Series Watch the shocking reveal in the clip above! Actor Matt Landers was in dozens of television shows and 20 motion pictures over his thirty-year career in show business. Thomas L. Miller produced some of the most memorable television shows in TV history including hits like "Happy Days," "Laverne & Shirley," "Family Matters," and "Full House." She was only 33 years old. She is reportedly working on a short film called Absent in the Present. She also has a YouTube channel and she is available to send messages to fans on the app Cameo. Creators William Bickley Robert L. Boyett Thomas L. Miller Stars Reginald VelJohnson Jaleel White Kellie Shanygne Williams See production, box office & company info Watch on HBO Max It introduced us to the legendary Steve Urkel (Jaleel White) and it was an important part of ABC's Friday night TGIF lineup. It remains one of the second longest running series in the history of television after the Jeffersons and it revolved around African American characters. Tackling issues like racial profilingandfamily strife, among other relatable and not-so-relatableissues (seriously, how many of us went on "American Gladiators"?) From 1988 to 1990, Thomas portrayed Justine Phillips, the girlfriend of Theo Huxtable, on The Cosby Show. Singer and actor Johnny Brown had a megawatt smile that was perfect for stage and television. He had a recurring role in the popular sitcom, Girlfriends,and just this year he appeared in a commercial for Pizza Hut. (image viahttps://www.pinterest.com/dixon1368/). Rivera even successfully navigated her way from child actor to adult, most of those years spent on "The Bernie Mac Show" from 2002 to 2006. Adventure Comedy Drama The Winslow family deals with various misadventures, many of them caused by their pesky next-door neighbor, ultra-nerd Steve Urkel. His most notable on screen part was in the Bruce Willis blockbuster film "Die Hard," in which he played Captain Mitchell, an officer on scene who directs the SWAT team during the hostage situation. At the time, Elder was coming off of a sporadic role on "Martin" and get this she had even already appeared on "Family Matters" as Sister Bernadette in the episode "Nunsense" in 1994. Brown's last role came in 2013. Tom Poston popularly known as Mr Lonely by fans of the family sitcom show Family Matters, is another actor that has passed away in real life. [8] Thomas was crowned Miss Talented Teen New Jersey at the state's Hal Jackson's Talented Teen pageant, and then in July 1984, at the age of 15, she was crowned Miss Talented Teen International in Montego Bay, Jamaica from among 35 state and national representatives. Opera News does not consent to nor does it condone the posting of any content that violates the rights (including the copyrights) of any third party, nor content that may malign, inter alia, any religion, ethnic group, organization, gender, company, or individual. She was 90 years old at the time, and she left behind an impressive body of work in television, film, music, and theater. Worried, her father signed her up for a theater group; this turned out to be a smart move, since Kellie started expressing her . No one is out of the shows league,, Read More These Celebs May Star in True Detective Second SeasonContinue, Ever since it was announced that Boy Meets Worlds Cory and Topanga were coming back to televisions all over the world in a new series called Girl Meets World, in which the high school sweethearts, Read More Its a Boy Meets World Reunion on Girl Meets WorldContinue, R&B legend Patti Labelle has signed on to join the cast of American Horror Storys fourth season: Freak Show. The legendary diva will be playing the recurring role as the mother of Gabourey Sidibes character, Read More Patti Labelle Joins American Horror Story CastContinue, Recently, John Stamos made an announcement that left a lot of people smiling from ear to ear. Of her varied career and leaving "Family Matters," Payton further told Entertainment Weekly, "The way I explain it is that, when you're a baker, you don't always want to bake cakes or cookies; you want to bake pies, you want to bake bread. This is crazy. lineup. So, it was only too easy to see him play Carl Winslow, also a police officer, on the small screen. Cherie Johnson . Hemsley continued his reign on TV, garnering guest spots on shows like, "Designing Women," "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper," and 3 episodes of "Family Matters," in which he played the wise-cracking Captain Savage who has an instant connection to Urkel and cheats at golf, much to Mr. Winslow's dismay. She died on December 26, 1998, surrounded by her family as well as former boyfriend Malcom-Jamal Warner with whom she had remained close friends, according toPeople. Per theNew York Daily News, Hemsley succumbed to superior vena cava syndrome and passed away in 2012. His latest acting role was in the 2019 TV movie Fanatic where he played Officer Hardaway. In an interview with UPI, VelJohnson revealed that he was the one who pushed for the role. Shawn Harrison played Waldo Faldo, who was Eddie Winslows best friend. Costar Michael McKean tweeted, "A sad goodbye to Eddie Mekka this morning. I don't think there's any good explanation. Family Matters is easily one of the most iconic Black sitcoms of the 90s. This eventually turned into a Broadway career, and sheeven founded her own theater company in 1968 called Amas. She was a hilarious older female version of Urkel, and when the two started wreaking accidental havoc on the Winslows living room, spilling popcorn and breaking the coffee table, they both exclaimed, "Did we do that?" Each season, viewers fell more and more in love with the cast of Family Matters, and fans were sad to see it go when it aired its final episode. Hemsley made the sitcom show family memorable when he got a chance as a guest cast and Carl's obnoxious boss, Captain Marion Savage. Before she was on Family Matters, Johnson was on another sitcom called Punky Brewster where she played Punkys best friend, Cherie. Elsewhere and JAG. because of health issues. Though she spent plenty of time onscreen in her music videos and she starred in the 1978 musical comedy "Thank God it's Friday," Summer wasn't making any moves toward a career in films or television. Emmy-nominated actor Fred Willard was a prolific actor whose career spanned more than fifty years. His work ranged from Avengers to Sideways. Tragedy struck in 2020, however, when her body was found in a river after she disappeared during a boating trip with her son, Josey. (image viahttps://www.pinterest.com/gapeachez1/). Any/all written content and images displayed are provided by the blogger/author, appear herein as submitted by the blogger/author and are unedited by Opera News. He appeared in a few episodes of the show. Menteer holds credits for writing, directing, producing on many of the shows he worked on including "Happy Days," "Punky Brewster," and "Family Matters." In 1997, Michelle Thomas was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer that quickly took over her body. As a youngster, Rivera was known for her confident performances and upbeat charisma. "This is embarrassing, I don't even recognize you," Tyler tells him. [2], This article is about the actress. From 1986. In an interview with E! After the sitcom ended in 1998, Thomas portrayed Callie Rogers, an aspiring singer and love interest of Malcolm Winters, on the daytime soap The Young and the Restless. Family Matters was one of the most popular sitcoms during the 90s. After "Family Matters" ended, Hopkins made guest appearances on other shows, including "The Hughleys," before a longer stint on the series "Are We There Yet?" Perhaps his most well-known role after "Family Matters," though, was as Eddie Thomas on "That's So Raven," where he appeared in all 100 episodes alongside series star Raven-Symon. Townsend has remained active in Hollywood since moving on from Family Matters. She appeared as Candace in the TV series Stuck With You in 2020. During that time, McCrary also did a stint on "The Young and the Restless" for two years, starting in 2009, alongside his "Family Matters" co-star Bryton James (more on that soon). Tragedy struck in 2020 after her body was found in the river after disappearing during a boat trip. Michelle Thomas played Myra Monkhouse, who was introduced as a love interest for Urkel. Thomas died on December 23, 1998, surrounded by family and friends. He was survived by his wife and two children. The actress only appeared in three episodes of the sitcom, but her performances caught the eye of television executives and she subsequently landed parts in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Arsenio Hall Show, and The Young and the Restless. I wanted to bring it to the masses, not to just people who were familiar with the arts but to people who had never experienced any art. In 2009 she briefly hosted the Style Networks Clean Houseas a fill in for NieceyNash. The show, centered around a middle-class Black family living in Chicago, was a spin-off of the sitcom "Perfect Strangers," in which the Winslows were introduced Harriette as an elevator operator and husband Carl a police officer. So, keep reading as we pay tribute to those we lost from the show "Family Matters. Per his obituary inThe Hollywood Reporter, Miller's dreams of showbiz came true when he landed his first real gig as assistant to William Self at 20th Century Fox. Stars From Family Matters You Didn't Know Died, Rivera drowned while saving her son's life, He diedon March 2, 2022, at the age of 84. Though his character, often referred to as "Booger" by character Willona, was meant to be an antagonist, Bookman soon became a fan favorite and Brown would always be remembered for this role. Following a childhood rickets diagnosis that put her in leg braces for some time, LeNoire took up dance and musical theater. Richie 48 Episodes 1997. Bryton McClure. While the American. Peter Dennis is another cast member from Family Matters that has passed away in real life. For starters, it remains one of the longest-running series in the history of television to revolve around African American characters, only exceeded by Tyler Perry's House of Payne and The Jeffersons, respectively. Clip The sneak peek also features White, 44, reminiscing on his. Dennis died in April 2009 in Shadow Hills Los Angeles. The sitcom show was created by William Bickley and Michael Warren. According to Soap Opera Network, she and James shared screen time during her appearances on the show in June 2021 and were set to appear together again during her August 2021 appearances. LOAD COMMENTS Jaimee Foxworth played Judy Winslow, Carl and Harriettes youngest daughter. It happened after Lauras boyfriend, Ted, got tired of Urkel trying to put the moves on his girlfriend. As Today pointed out, some of the adults who worked with her back in the day claimed that she was wise beyond her years and had a natural gift for the craft. He began his career back in the 1950s. Ive youve been paying close attention to TV over the years, theres a pretty good chance youve seen VelJohnson in a few roles over the years. In just over a year, Thomas passed away surrounded by her friends and family. Talk about staying power! Her career however was short-lived as she passed away in 1998 at the young age of 30 years after battling with stomach cancer for a while. Though she did continue acting for a time, playing Alice Adams on "What About Joan" for all of its 21 episodes, her acting credits afterward became much more sporadic, with an appearance here or there every year or two, until she took a complete hiatus from acting in 2011. Payton got married to her third husband Leonard Downs in 2007 and she has a daughter named Chantale France from a previous relationship. We may receive a commission on purchases made from links. Then in 1995, Brown appeared in a season 6 episode of "Family Matters" as the character Pastor Fuller, who asks Mr. and Mrs. Winslow to counsel a couple about marriage. After spending nearly a decade playing Steve Urkel, it was clear that Jaleel White had been typecast. Unsurprisingly, Rivera's stardom continued into adulthood, especially with her role as Santana Lopez in the musical-comedy Glee. "She was our foundation," she said. Opera News furthermore does not condone the use of our platform for the purposes encouraging/endorsing hate speech, violation of human rights and/or utterances of a defamatory nature. Thomas had a role in Dream Date in 1989 and had a small role in Hangin' with the Homeboys in 1991. Naya Rivera was a child star when she appeared in Family Matters as Gwendolyn, a young child who asked Urkel, of all people, for love advice. Per The New York Times, this is when her illness, a rare form of stomach cancer, seemed to take a foothold, and Thomas had to take a medical leave from filming. ", Emmy-nominated actor Ron Glass was a staple of American television starting in 1973 with his first role on "All in the Family." 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