Former child star Jaleel White has spent the past 35 years trying to distance himself from his geeky yet beloved role as Steve Urkel on “Family Matters.” Despite the show’s impressive run of 215 episodes over nine seasons, White struggled to escape Urkel’s shadow both on- and off-screen.
The introduction of his character’s alter ego, Stefan Urquelle, provided some respite, allowing White to step out of the suspenders-clad youngster into a smoother persona. Viewers immediately fell in love with Stefan, but now, it seems that fans online are falling in love with the person who inspired White’s game-changing character … his dad.
Four years ago, the now 47-year-old introduced his father to his 916,000 social media followers, revealing that he modeled the coolness of Stefan Urquelle after his dad — a persona created to woo his love interest Laura Winslow.
The actor captioned on his Instagram on Nov. 13, 2020, “Stefan was cool. But behind the scenes I was just a boy who wanted to be like my Pops.”
At the time, White revealed that during the COVID pandemic, he “almost lost” his father “but God said it wasn’t his time.”
It took a while for people to catch up, but due to the recent re-emerging of the same photo of Mr. Michael White, a dentist from Culver City, the father-son duo have now gone viral.
The internet quickly fell for the elder White’s looks as he posed with his arm around his son’s shoulder. A young Jaleel can be seen wearing glasses, similar to his character Urkel, though it’s unclear what year the image was taken.
“Jaleel White daddy finer than frog hair, OMG,” one person wrote on X.
Another added, “Ohhhh where has he been hiding him at….”
A third comment said, “His dad looks like Stefan Urquelle.”
Ohhhh where has he been hiding him at…. pic.twitter.com/3JlQ5GXwyh
— Ms. Extra 🤭 (@koawhereyaat) June 5, 2024
This isn’t the first time White has made waves with a post about his dad.
Back in 2021, White shared a heartwarming three-slide post featuring two photos and a video for Father’s Day.
“He didn’t help me much with my style back then,” he wrote in the caption, “But he loaded me up with a whole lotta character and math tutoring.”
The first snap was an adorable throwback of a young Jaleel sitting on his father Michael White’s lap, both sporting matching afros. The second photo showed a more grown-up Jaleel standing beside his dad, both dressed to the nines in matching tuxedos.
The real gem, though, was the video of Papa White teaching math to his granddaughter, Samaya White, White’s daughter.
Fans were drooling then including one who wrote, “Damn u talk n look just like ya pops that’s crazy lol.”
Not only is White’s dad nice to look at but he seems to be a man cemented in his principles and willing to go to bat for his son.
When older “Family Matters” cast members Jo Marie Payton and Reginald VelJohnson were upset that the writers had scripted him to play another character, Urkel’s female cousin Myrtle Mae, Papa White was swift to step in.
“They let me know that I was not doing our race a service by putting on that yellow dress,” he said in a TV One Uncensored episode on the show.
According to White, he “cried like a baby at the end of that taping,” because of the comments from his colleagues.
He said his father, who he labeled “a great father,” “just rose up like a lion” to protect his talented child.
“[My dad] was like ‘I’ve watched my son deal with this sh-t all week to pull off this performance and he will never play this character again. You got it once, you’re done,” White recalled. “But he shouldn’t have to carry the burden of some adults making a child feel bad for playing a girl just in fun.”
Brains … looks … and guts. Seems like White pulled a lot from his dad to become Stefan.
