Jaleel White has literally grown up right in front of our eyes. Being the actor behind one of TV’s most beloved characters, Steve Urkel, on the hit show Family Matters, we’ve seen White tackle a lot as a pre-teen, teenager and now as an adult.
While many of other childhood stars have ended up with unfortunate lives as adults (jail time, drug use, etc). White was not one of them.
He credits a lot of his success to falling into that life after early success to his mom and dad.
White was born in Culver City, California, the only child of Michael White, a dentist, and Gail White, a homemaker who later became his manager. White attended John Marshall Fundamental High School and South Pasadena High School before graduating from UCLA in 2001. On the advice of his preschool teacher, White began acting as a child. He got his start on TV commercials at age 3 and the rest is history.
While Jaleel says his mom helped instill in him the right values and morals, his dad is one of his heroes. And it’s his father that he almost lost this year.
In a heartfelt instagram post, White writes, “Stefan was cool. But behind the scenes, I was just a boy who wanted to be like my Pops. Almost lost him this year 😔 but God said it wasn’t his time 🙏🏽 #makingupforlosttime #grateful #Covid not done out here #maskup 😷 #reachout and #reconnect #protectyourparents”
While he doesn’t go into specifics about what symptoms his father had, he included COVID as if to say the ongoing coronavirus that has impacted the world, hit close to home.
“We become the best version of our parents,” he posted in another dedication to his father. “Or the worst version of our parents 👨👩👦 the choice is yours. Any way you slice it… we become our parents 🤷🏽♂️ #yallladiesgottachill #mymamasaidLikeherpicturestoo #Stefandontfallfarfromthattree #peepmyfirstcar #acuralegend #1997 #Crenshaw #Ucla #LABorn a whuppin from Dr. White 🦷 put a LOT on a young mind 🤣🤣🤣🤣 #Fatherhood #iguessitsgenetic”
Now, as a father himself, Jaleel is enjoying every minute of it. If you follow him on Instagram, you’ll see his daughter, Samaya, on there–a lot. It’s evident that “family matters” to him in real life.
The actor confessed that he bawled like a baby when his young queen came into the world, revealing that he made a couple of promises to here right there and then.
He promised that he would never feed his daughter the lies that society fed to children and that he would make sure she was better than him in every way possible. He concluded by thanking her spirit for choosing him to be her dad.
“To count how many of my coolest memories revolve around this young queen is the understatement of my existence. I cried uncontrollably when you entered this world 11 years ago, Samaya 😢 and I made a coupla promises to you then. One, I would not feed you the lies society begins teaching our children at a very young age. Your future is not your parents’ past. Two, I would make sure you were better than me in every way imaginable. Sharper , smarter and faster. I thank your spirit for choosing me to be your Dad #girldad A big sparkling cider cheers to your 11th Birthday, Samaya
Sharing their shared love for movies, Jaleel stepped things up a notch on another day by taking his daughter to a drive-in movie theater, an old-school option that has recently made a comeback now that social distancing is needed.
As for what keeps their relationship strong as father and daughter, Jaleel once revealed that it entails a whole lot of patience. After all, parenting is definitely not an easy feat.
“So here’s my secret recipe when it comes to this one: Love, listening, patience and daily disciplines. Make your shortcomings her long-going’s.”
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