Biography for
Jaleel White More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

27 November 1976, Pasadena, California, USA

Birth Name

Jaleel Ahmad White

Height

5' 10½" (1.79 m)

Trivia

Regularly played basketball against George Clooney while each was on their respective TV series, "Family Matters" (1989) and "ER" (1994), which were on nearby sets.

Graduated from UCLA Film School in 2001.

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

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

Likes writing short stories and drawing cartoons.

Before auditioning for "Steve Urkel" on "Family Matters" (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 he used to keep particles out of his eyes. Jaleel just figured he would find different glasses, later. The crew loved the look, so he kept them.

Is anti-alcohol and drugs.

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 "Family Matters" (1989).

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

After shooting his first scene as "Steve Urkel" on "Family Matters" (1989), fifty frat boys in the audience started chanting, "Urkel! Urkel! Urkel!" It was, then, that the producers realized how gifted he was.

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

Was considered for a main character role during the casting of "Saved by the Bell" (1989).

Played the voice of Sonic the Hedgehog on three animated series, including "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" (1993), the ABC Saturday morning cartoon "Sonic the Hedgehog" (1993) and "Sonic Underground" (1999).

Ranked #1 in Q-Ratings (1991)

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

Father of a daughter with Bridget Hardy.

He has played the same character (Steven "Steve" Urkel) in four different television series: "Full House" (1987), "Family Matters" (1989), "Step by Step" (1991) and "Meego" (1997).

Salary

"Family Matters" (1989)

$180,000 per episode (last season)