Jaleel White Shares Heartfelt Response to Fans Who View Him as Their Childhood Hero: My Connection is Uniquely Different

• During a panel at 90s Con in Hartford, Conn., Jaleel White responded to fans often telling him, “you’re my entire childhood.”
• White famously portrayed the lovesick Steve Urkel in the sitcom Family Matters from 1989 to 1998.
• The actor shared with the panel audience how his formative years were influenced by his extensive time filming the show.

Jaleel White is reflecting on his role as a ’90s icon for many children who grew up during that decade.

During a panel discussion at 90s Con held at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, 48-year-old White reacted to fans who frequently tell him, “you’re my entire childhood.”

“The reality of it is, you’re my childhood too, but in a different way,” said White, who was joined by Rider Strong, Will Friedle, and Soleil Moon Frye on the panel.

A staple of ’90s television, White became famous for portraying the awkward and love-struck Steve Urkel in the beloved sitcom Family Matters, which aired from 1989 until 1998. Initially slated to make a one-time guest appearance, he ended up appearing in over 200 episodes of the series, also taking on various roles, including Urkel’s dapper alter ego, Stefan Urquelle, and other members of the Urkel family.

During the panel, White shared insights on how his childhood was shaped by his experiences on the long-running show and the challenge of balancing his academics with filming.

“I attended public school the entire time,” he recalled. “We’d shoot three episodes, and then I’d go back on hiatus. I was constantly coming back, and in the spring, I’d be present the whole time. I even played on the high school basketball team; they adjusted the shooting schedule to accommodate me.”

“I was learning valuable life lessons, albeit in reverse socially,” White continued. “However, I was interacting with adults on a remarkably high level.”

Regarding the powerful nostalgia many fans feel for the decade and its cultural highlights, White remarked, “I never imagined people would remain so emotionally connected to the ’90s.”

He also reflected on how, during that era, “a child becoming the star was often a happy accident.”

“They became iconic figures for many growing up,” he added, referring to the child actors who achieved significant success.

Recently, White shed light on how the awkward, accident-prone Urkel’s iconic catchphrase “Did I do that?” came to fruition.

“They experimented with a myriad of catchphrases,” he shared during an episode of the Boy Meets World re-watch podcast Pod Meets World this January. “Initially, Steve would just bump into inanimate objects — a side table or lamp, and then say, ‘Excuse me.’ That was our first attempt.”

He reminisced how producers then tried incorporating “I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up” into scripts for Urkel, but it never gained traction like “Did I do that?” did.

“We tried about three alternatives, and ‘Did I do that?’ simply resonated,” White explained, emphasizing that the live studio audience played a crucial role in the catchphrase’s emergence.

“It’s one of those things,” he continued. “You throw ideas out to the audience, and, back then, the immediate audience reaction was everything. With a live audience, you could gauge in real-time what resonated. There was no social media at that time.”