There are some iconic TV characters which have such a cultural imprint that it have to be difficult for the person playing that character to completely break away from them. One such figure is Steven Q. Urkel, also often called Stefan Urquelle. If you lived within the ’90s, you might not have watched Family Matters, but you knew exactly who Urkel was. He was the annoyingly nerdy neighbor of Carl and Harriet Winslow, who was also in love with their oldest daughter, Laura Winslow. And when you were a young black boy within the ’90s who wore glasses and was even slightly nerdy, people called you Urkel.

Hi. I was Urkel.

Urkel was played by Jaleel White, a young man who grew right into a young adult over the course of the series. I have often wondered what it was like to be so famous for one particular role and how that role influenced the actor’s real life. For example, I entered Morehouse College as a freshman in 1997. At the identical time, the massive news on campus was that Keshia Knight-Pulliamwho famously played Rudy Huxtable on “The Cosby Show,” was also starting her freshman 12 months at Spelman College across the road.

In Black America, Huxtables might as well be royalty. Even though all of the actors playing these characters were human, to us, the common folk, they were all symbols of black excellence and felt like members of our families throughout the series. I still remember the primary time I saw Keshia on campus; you might see people looking at her, almost in disbelief that she was actually there, physically. It was surreal, but I also wondered if she was annoyed. No one called her Keshia, just “Rudy” (at first). I can’t pretend I know her well enough to know if it’s going to ever end, but we had a category together freshman 12 months and the professor would not stop calling her Rudy. It have to be hard to be so famous for such reason that it drags you down in a way that does not allow you to be your personal person.

Jaleel White wrote a memoir titled “Growing Up Urkel.” I can’t wait to read this book. First, I imagine he has to cope with each the positive and negative effects of being related to a novel character who was actually a major a part of American popular culture – ’90s Urkel. Given his fame and a number of the squabbles with his adult companions, o that we have been hearing on the news over the previous couple of years, it looks as if his life story is probably really fascinating. In interviews, he seems so well-adjusted that he should have had a extremely solid family foundation.

I watched it recently interview White gave on “The Breakfast Club” and I was almost surprised by how great he is in front of the camera, but that surprise is because even in 2024 I still consider him as Urkel. I watched TV shows and movies wherein he acted. Well, Jaleel White is the star of probably one in every of the darkest movies of all time. “Who made the potato salad?” Yet all along I saw Urkel acting like a idiot, not Jaleel. He seems to have come to terms with it, but man, it’s really hard to imagine life in his place.

For that reason alone, I’m glad he decided to share his story with the masses, as I’m sure it’s each entertaining and informative. Also, lots of people have stories – I just don’t know the way many individuals have a story that features literally being one of the essential black figures in Black Pop Cultural history. As someone Urkel has seen for thus a few years, I can’t wait to read his story.

Plus every adult black male giving Teddy Pendergrass on the duvet of the book clearly has something to get off his chest.

In his upcoming memoir, “Master of Me: The Secret to Controlling the Narrative” Keke Palmer reflects on his journey to understanding his price in each his personal and skilled life. During an interview with Los Angeles TimesPalmer talked about how the book covers a wide range of topics, including her experiences on the set of Fox’s “Scream Queens.”

Palmer played Zayday Williams on the horror comedy series for 2 seasons. During her time on the show, the actress recalls a racist encounter on set with an anonymous white star, whom she calls “Brenda” within the book. In an try to calm down Brenda after the clash along with her colleague, Palmer reportedly suggested everyone “have fun and respect each other,” to which Brenda allegedly replied, “Keke, literally, just don’t do it. Who do you’re thinking that you might be? Martin F. Luther King?”

“It was a very important thing that she said, but I didn’t let that burden be put on me because I know who I am,” Palmer told the newspaper, reflecting on the event. “I’m no victim. That’s not my story, honey. I do not care what her ass said. If I let what she said cripple me, it should.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the one negative encounter Palmer encountered while working on “Scream Queens.” In her memoir, she also describes an instance where she needed to miss filming because of a scheduling error, which led to a really indignant phone call with the series’ co-creator and director, Ryan Murphy.

“I felt like I was in the dean’s office,” she said, adding that Murphy allegedly “pissed” her off by asking for her absence. “He said, ‘I’ve never seen you act like that.’ I can not imagine you, of all people, would do something like that.

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The longtime star then remembers receiving a shooting schedule and scheduling one other business meeting on her time off. But when the day got here, the production notified her that she was indeed needed on set, and the star decided to honor her earlier commitment. After apologizing for her absence, Palmer thought she and Murphy had gone their separate ways until she spoke to a different unnamed star.

“I said, ‘Ryan talked to me and I think he’s fine, everything’s fine,’ and she said, ‘It’s bad,’ trying to scare me or something, which was kind of irritating,” she explained.

While the star hoped to form a long-term relationship with Murphy that may lead to future roles like other industry stars, Palmer felt it was more necessary to arise for herself.

“I’m still not sure Ryan cared or understood it, but that’s okay because he just focused on his business, which is not a problem for me,” she wrote within the book. “But I know that even if he didn’t care, and even if I never work with him again, he knows that I see myself as a company, too.”

The Critics Choice Association (CCA) has announced the full list of winners for the seventh annual Celebration of Black Cinema & Television awards. The ceremony, which will happen on December 9, will be hosted by “Saturday Night Live” actor and comedian Jay Pharoah. Celebrating exceptional performances and work in Black Entertainment, this 12 months’s honorees are a mixture of heritage and emerging talent.

“We are proud to recognize this year’s group of outstanding honorees,” Shawn Edwards, executive producer and author of Celebration of Black Cinema & Television, said in a press release. “2024 was a special year. There have been so many great stories about the Black experience, and this event is a celebration of the power of these stories to shape and move the entertainment industry. “It is a true acknowledgment of the profound influence of black cinema and television on culture and society today.”

CCA’s seventh annual celebration of Black Cinema and Television, recognizing work done on and off screen, will honor producer-director Tyler Perry with an Icon Award for his profession achievements up to now – which incorporates his 24 movies, 20 plays and 17 television shows and founding Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta.

Similarly, Malcolm D. Lee, who directed “The Best Man” movies, will receive a profession achievement award for his “exemplary work as a writer and director.” Other directors will also be honored at this 12 months’s gala, including: Steve McQueen, Angela Patton and Natalie Rae. Actress and producer Natasha Rothwell will be honored with not one, but two awards for her work on Hulu’s “How to Die Alone.”

From established actors like Wendell Pierce and John David Washington to rising stars like Michael Rainey Jr. and Ryan Destiny, the annual awards ceremony goals to present black stars with flowers. This 12 months’s Celebration of Black Cinema & Television will also honor actress Regina King with a Trailblazer Award for her profession and role on Netflix’s “Shirley.” Cynthia Erivo will also be honored for her role as Elphaba in the highly anticipated 2024 film adaptation of “Wicked.”

CSW will also honor the work of black actors beyond the big screen with a Social Impact Award. This 12 months’s award goes to Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor for her social justice work. In addition to starring in social justice projects comparable to “When They See Us” and “Nickle Boys,” Ellis-Taylor is the founding father of Miss Myrtis Films and co-founder of Take It Down America, an initiative to take down the Confederate flag in Mississippi.

The Critics Choice Association’s Celebration of Black Cinema and Television will be available on Starz in January and will air nationwide in February in honor of Black History Month.

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