Jaleel White has literally grown up right in front of our eyes. Being the actor behind one of TV’s most beloved characters, Steve Urkel, on the hit show Family Matters, we’ve seen White tackle a lot as a pre-teen, teenager and now as an adult.
While many of other childhood stars have ended up with unfortunate lives as adults (jail time, drug use, etc). White was not one of them.
He credits a lot of his success to falling into that life after early success to his mom and dad.
White was born in Culver City, California, the only child of Michael White, a dentist, and Gail White, a homemaker who later became his manager. White attended John Marshall Fundamental High School and South Pasadena High School before graduating from UCLA in 2001. On the advice of his preschool teacher, White began acting as a child. He got his start on TV commercials at age 3 and the rest is history.
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While Jaleel says his mom helped instill in him the right values and morals, his dad is one of his heroes. And it’s his father that he almost lost this year.
In a heartfelt instagram post, White writes, “Stefan was cool. But behind the scenes, I was just a boy who wanted to be like my Pops. Almost lost him this year 😔 but God said it wasn’t his time 🙏🏽 #makingupforlosttime #grateful #Covid not done out here #maskup 😷 #reachout and #reconnect #protectyourparents”
While he doesn’t go into specifics about what symptoms his father had, he included COVID as if to say the ongoing coronavirus that has impacted the world, hit close to home.
“We become the best version of our parents,” he posted in another dedication to his father. “Or the worst version of our parents 👨👩👦 the choice is yours. Any way you slice it… we become our parents 🤷🏽♂️ #yallladiesgottachill #mymamasaidLikeherpicturestoo #Stefandontfallfarfromthattree #peepmyfirstcar #acuralegend #1997 #Crenshaw #Ucla #LABorn a whuppin from Dr. White 🦷 put a LOT on a young mind 🤣🤣🤣🤣 #Fatherhood #iguessitsgenetic”
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Now, as a father himself, Jaleel is enjoying every minute of it. If you follow him on Instagram, you’ll see his daughter, Samaya, on there–a lot. It’s evident that “family matters” to him in real life.
The actor confessed that he bawled like a baby when his
