Jaleel White, American actor and screenwriter
Jaleel Ahmad White (born November 27, 1976) is an American actor, writer and producer.
In 1989, he was cast in the role of Steve Urkel on the sitcom Family Matters. The character was originally intended to be a one-time guest appearance on the show; however, he was an instant hit with audiences and White became a regular cast member. The series aired for a total of nine seasons, from 1989 to 1997 on ABC, mostly on its Friday night TGIF line-up, and from 1997 to 1998 on CBS, again on Friday nights, via their short-lived CBS Block Party attempt. White then reprised his role as Urkel for the first time in 21 years in the 2019 series Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?.
White is also the first actor to voice the popular Sega video game character Sonic the Hedgehog in animated media, doing so in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog (also known as Sonic SatAM) and Sonic Underground, all of which were produced by the now-defunct DIC Entertainment studio. He then reprised his role as Sonic in the 2013 Sonic fan film.
After Family Matters ended, White went on to star in the short-lived UPN comedy series Grown Ups (1999-2000), later attending UCLA in Los Angeles, California where he graduated in 2001, earning a degree in film and television. He had since continued his acting career with supporting roles in Dreamgirls (2006), and cameo appearances on another ABC series, Boston Legal, Fox's House, ABC's Castle, and USA's Psych. In 2010, he portrayed Dr. McCormick in the sci-fi film Mega Shark Versus Crocosaurus. In March 2012, White was a contestant in season 14 of Dancing with the Stars before he was voted off in May of that year, leaving him with a 7th place finish overall. In April 2012, White hosted the Syfy game show Total Blackout. In January 2017, White appeared in Bones as Officer Adams. In 2020, White joined the cast of the Netflix series The Big Show Show in the recurring role of Terry.