Being Steve Urkel skyrocketed Jaleel White to fame at a young age. But like many child stars before him, he couldn’t shake the specter of his famous character. Turns out, the pitfalls of being typecast weren’t the only unexpected consequences the actor had to deal with in his post-Urkel life.
According to Complex, during an appearance at ‘90s Con in Daytona Beach, Fla., the “Family Matters” star revealed that constantly speaking in Steve’s signature high-pitched voice at such a young age “damaged” his real voice.
“I spoke to a doctor,” he said. “What happened is during puberty I spoke at the same pitch for extended periods of time. If the pitch had been going all over the place I wouldn’t have damaged it quite as much. It’s been in remission and I’m fine now.”
White’s “scary” situation wasn’t helped by ridiculous network notes that he says stated, “We can’t hear him. Please be more clear.” He also didn’t have a vocal coach on hand to teach him how to properly use and protect his voice. Now that he’s older and wiser, he has both a vocal coach and doctor to make sure his voice is “under control.”
Despite his vocal problems, following the bombshell documentary “Quiet on Set,” White discussed how he “always felt safe and protected” on the “Family Matters” set. He also acknowledged that his mother was the one who made sure he stayed on track.
“She wasn’t perfect but she did enough to protect me from some of the obvious trappings in the business,” he told “TODAY” in a separate interview. “For one thing, she was a helicopter mom. She was all over my ass because the kids that are left alone are the ones that the predators tend to seek out.”
Though Jaleel’s issues are unique to him, there have been similar cases of young athletes and artists damaging their bodies with repetitive physicality before puberty. For example, gymnasts, figure skaters and dancers who need hip surgery in their 20s, or baseballs players who have multiple surgeries on their shoulders. Someone on that set should have made sure their young star had the expert advisers he needed to give the best, and safest, performance possible.