OPINION: Steven Q. Urkel was one of the most iconic television characters of the ‘90s; I wonder how Jaleel White feels about Urkel’s celebrity.
Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
There are a few iconic television characters whose cultural imprint is so large that it must be difficult for the person playing that character to ever fully move on from it. Steven Q. Urkel, also known as Stefan Urquelle, is one such character. If you were alive in the 1990s, you may not have watched “Family Matters” but you absolutely knew who Urkel was. He was the annoyingly nerdy next-door neighbor of Carl and Harriet Winslow who also happened to be in love with their eldest daughter, Laura Winslow. And if you were a young Black boy in the ‘90s who happened to wear glasses and be even a little bit nerdy, folks called you Urkel.
Hi. I was Urkel.
Urkel was played by Jaleel White, a young man who grew into a young adult over the course of the show. I’ve often wondered what it must have been like to be so known for one particular role and how that role impacted the actor’s real life. For instance, I entered Morehouse College as a freshman in 1997. At this same time, the big news on campus was that Keshia Knight-Pulliam, who famously played Rudy Huxtable on “The Cosby Show” was also entering her freshman year at Spelman College, across the street.
In Black America, The Huxtables might as well have been royalty. While all of the actual actors who played the characters were human beings, to us regular people, they were all symbols of Black excellence who felt like members of our families for the entire run of the show. I still remember the first time I saw Keshia on campus; you could see people staring, almost in disbelief that she was truly there in the flesh. It was surreal, but I also wondered if she was annoyed. Nobody called her Keshia, just “Rudy” (at first). I can’t pretend to know her well enough to know if that ever ceased but we did have a class together my junior year and the professor wouldn’t stop calling her Rudy. It must be hard being so famous for such a good reason that it trails you in such a way that doesn’t allow you to be your own human.
Jaleel White has written a memoir titled “Growing Up Urkel.” I cannot wait to read this book. For one, I imagine he has to address both the positive and negative impacts of being associated with a singular character that was an actually significant part of American pop culture — Urkel was the ‘90s. Considering how famous he was and some of the dustups with his adult co-stars we’ve heard about in the news over the course of the past few years, it seems like his life story is probably truly fascinating. In interviews, he seems so well-adjusted that he must have had a really solid family foundation.
I watched a recent interview White did on “The Breakfast Club” and was almost surprised at how great he is on camera, but that surprise is because I, even in 2024, still think of him as Urkel. I’ve watched television shows and films where he starred. Shoot, Jaleel White is the star of what might be one of the Blackest films of all time, “Who Made The Potato Salad?” And yet, the whole time I just saw Urkel acting a fool, not Jaleel. He seems to have come to some peace around that, but man, it’s truly hard to imagine life in his shoes.
For that alone, I’m happy that he decided to share his story with the masses because I’m sure it’s both entertaining and informative. Plus, a lot of people have stories — I just don’t know how many people have a story that includes literally being one of the most central Black figures in Black Pop Cultural history. As a person who felt seen by Urkel for so many years, I can’t wait to read his story.
Plus any grown Black man giving Teddy Pendergrass on the book jacket cover clearly has something to get off his chest.
Panama Jackson is a columnist at theGrio and host of the award-winning podcast, “Dear Culture” on theGrio Black Podcast Network. He writes very Black things, drinks very brown liquors, and is pretty fly for a light guy. His biggest accomplishment to date coincides with his Blackest accomplishment to date in that he received a phone call from Oprah Winfrey after she read one of his pieces (biggest) but he didn’t answer the phone because the caller ID said “Unknown” (Blackest).
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