Anecdotes

Before auditioning for Steve Urkel on La vie de famille (1989), he was looking for the classic nerd glasses (black, thin, with tape around the center) but had no luck. His father, a dentist, tossed him the glasses that he used to keep particles out of his eyes. Jaleel just figured that he would find different glasses at another time. The crew loved the look, so he kept them.

Originally, his character on La vie de famille (1989) was supposed to be a guest-star, but proved to be so popular that he stayed on as a regular.

He has played the same character (Steven "Steve" Urkel) in four different television series: La fête à la maison (1987), La vie de famille (1989), Notre belle famille (1991) and Meego (1997).

After shooting his first scene as Steve Urkel on La vie de famille (1989), 50 frat boys in the audience started chanting, "Urkel! Urkel! Urkel!" It was then that the show's producers realized how gifted he was.

Regularly played basketball against George Clooney while each was on their respective TV series, La vie de famille (1989) and Urgences (1994), which were on nearby sets.

Originally was cast as Rudy on Cosby Show (1984) until Bill Cosby decided to make the character a girl.

His acting mentor was Reginald VelJohnson.

Was considered for a main-character role during the casting of Sauvés par le gong (1989).

Enjoys making homemade ice cream and even considered doing it professionally when he was a teenager.

Ranked #37 in VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Kid Stars.

Likes writing short stories and drawing cartoons.

Graduated from UCLA Film School in 2001.

Played the voice of Sonic the Hedgehog on three animated series, including Les Aventures de Sonic (1993), the ABC Saturday morning cartoon Sonic le Hérisson (1993) and Sonic le Rebelle (1999).

Attended South Pasadena High School in South Pasadena, California. Once video-taped an experiment for Mr. Kemp's Physics class when he was away working on the set of La vie de famille (1989).

Is against alcohol and drugs.

Father is Michael, a dentist. Mother is Gail, a housewife.

Father of a daughter, Samaya White, born 2009, with ex-girlfriend Bridget Hardy.

Ranked #1 in Q-Ratings (1991)

It was rumoured that he would voice Sonic the Hedgehog again in Sonic Generations (2011), as one of the staff at Sega of America wanted him to voice Classic Sonic, but Jaleel was never approached about doing the role and they eventually decided to make Classic Sonic mute.

Attended Henry E. Huntington Middle School in San Marino, California.