What happened to Jaleel White, the famous Steve Urkel from 'Family Matters'?

Remember the 90s? The show 'Family Matters' was a global hit and Steve Urkel was one of the most recognizable comedy characters in the entire world. But who was the actor behind the suspenders, the huge glasses, the old-school shoes, and the ridiculously high trousers?

Steve Urkel was Jaleel White. Many thought that he'd stopped working after the show, and others even believed he was dead, but they were all wrong. The actor continued his career after playing Urkel and is very much alive. Do you want to know what happened to Jaleel White? Let's discover more about his life!

Jaleel White was born in Culver City, California, in 1976. When he was just 3 years old, he started to work in TV commercials. His first job, a Kellogg's TV spot, he got when his preschool teacher convinced his parents to take Jaleel to the casting.

However, he moved quickly to more serious acting jobs. , From 1985 to 1986, he worked on the TV show 'Charlie & Company', created by Allan Katz. The sitcom, in which Jaleel played the son of Flip Wilson and Gladys Knight, was said to be CBS' answer to NBC's successful 'Cosby Show.'

When he was still a child, Jaleel White appeared in the CBS comedy 'The Jeffersons,' a pilot of 'Good Morning, Miss Bliss', and in the 1990 TV movie 'Camp Cucamonga' along with Jennifer Aniston and Josh Saviano.

But his breakthrough came in 1989 when Jaleel White was 12 and cast as Steve Urkel in the ABC show 'Family Matters.' For the first time, we were able to see him as the unforgettable, nerdy, and clumsy next-door neighbor who annoyed everyone with his phrase: "Did I do that?"

Steve Urkel was meant to be a secondary and sporadic character. He ended up becoming the main attraction of the show, outshining the rest of the cast.

Steve Urkel became the undeniable lead role of the successful sitcom that told the story of an African-American household and its insufferable neighbor. It run for 200 episodes and aired from 1989 to 1998.

In an interview with TVOne's 'Uncensored' in 2021, Jaleel White revealed some of the bad situations and problems he experienced during his time on the show. According to his recollections, he had to follow strict rules to keep Urkel's physique. He wasn't allowed to do weightlifting and had to shave every single day.

In the same interview, he also revealed that his relationship with some of the members of the cast wasn't great: "I didn't see how I was stepping on anybody's toes, I was taking anybody's shine. It's very important that I say this: I was not very well welcomed to the cast at all, okay?"

Jaleel White was specifically talking about the veterans of the cast: Reginald Vel Johnson (Carl - image), Jo Marie Payton (Harriett), and Telma Hopkins (Rachel). As he recalls, they didn't seem happy to let a child get all the attention: "They all entered this show with the idea, 'this is my vehicle to break out.'" And then Steve Urkel came along.

Jaleel described one of the most uncomfortable moments he had experienced during the show. When he had to play Myrtle Urkel, Steve's cousin, it really infuriated Payton and VelJohnson: "They were very sensitive to putting Black men in dresses. And they heaped that on me, and they let me know I was not doing our race a service."

In the interview, he recalled that moment and said: "Do you crumble? Do you wilt under pressure? Do you rise? Do you surprise yourself? My default tends to be to take it up a notch. That evening I felt like a girl... playing Myrtle Urkel. But I cried like a baby at the end of that take. I just broke."

After all, however, the actor stressed that the set of 'Family Matters' wasn't "a toxic space" and that, in fact, they all ended up becoming a big family. "It was what it was, they knew more than I did about the business... at that age. They understood how the dynamic was changing," he said in his 2021 TV interview. "They do deserve credit at times for having helped foster a more harmonious environment by season 3, by season 4, and by season 5. And we did become very much a family."

Besides being one of the protagonists of the series, Jaleel White also wrote some of the episodes in the show. In fact, one that he wrote at age 19 turned out to be the best-rated episode of 'Family Matters' that year.

In 1992, in the midst of the success of 'Family Matters', White premiered the TV movie 'The Jaleel White Special,' a romantic feature film with celebrity guests in which Steve Urkel's character had a cameo.

Being the star of 'Family Matters' put a lot of pressure on the young actor. When the show ended in 1998, Jaleel White felt that he was getting typecast in the role of Steve Urkel. He later said it was a burden he had to carry for the rest of his career.

Jaleel White has continued to be part of the film and TV industry. He has worked as a screenwriter, director, dubber, and even as an NBA commentator. However, acting hasn't brought him the same success as in the 90s.

Shortly after 'Family Matters,' he appeared in the series 'Grown Ups,' but it wasn't a hit and got canceled after just one season. After that, he played secondary or sporadic roles in shows like 'House', 'CSI', 'NCIS', 'Hawaii 5.0.' and 'Castle'.

One of his recent jobs on TV was in the 2017 CBS show 'Me, Myself & I', where he played the protagonist's best friend, Darryl. However, that show too got canceled after only one season.

White also joined the 2020 Netflix series 'The Big Show Show,' centering on the professional wrestler Big Show.  White played his friend Terence 'Terry' Malick III. The series lasted for one season.

In 2012, White participated in the acclaimed ABC show 'Dancing with the Stars'. Although dancing wasn't his thing and he didn't get very far on the talent show, we were able to see him along with other celebrities like Martina Navratilova.

Among the most important projects in Jaleel White's acting career was his role in Clint Eastwood's movie 'The 15:17 to Paris' (2018). The film was based on true events and White played the role of Garrett Walden.

In his filmography, we find 15 other projects, most of them relatively unknown. An example is the surprising and freaky movie 'Mega Shark Versus Crocosaurus' (2010) in which he played Dr. Terry McCormick, a character who survives the attacks of a violent shark.

The former Steve Urkel has also worked as a dub actor. Between 1993 and 2000, White had an important role voicing the famous videogame character 'Sonic the Hedgehog'.

Although White is still looking for another opportunity as an actor, he has ventured into other businesses. In 2021, as announced by Forbes magazine, Jaleel White partnered up with 710 Labs and created the brand 'ItsPurpl'.

'ItsPurpl' is a company that provides a specific type of cannabis called Purple Urkle. Of course, Jaleel White couldn't miss the business opportunity and the logo of the brand is a purple design of  Steve Urkel's face.

Picture: @purpleurkle / Instagram

And it seems that the business is working because the brand's Instagram account (@purpleurkle) has nearly 100.000 followers. In the profile, we can see Jaleel alongside celebrities who support him in his project. Could this be White's most successful professional path?

As for his personal life, he had a relationship with Bridget Hardy, the mother of his only child: Samaya. His daughter is the real protagonist of White's personal Instagram account.

Picture: @jaleelwhite / Instagram

We don't know exactly what Jaleel White's next step is, but we are sure that we will see more of him. Perhaps even as a grown-up Steve Urkel?