reginald veljohnson

The internet can be a strange and cruel place. In 2017, for example, established actor Reginald VelJohnson was surprised to read that he had died of a heart attack. He had take to social media to confirm that, no, he was still very much alive — which is just as well because since then, he has had recurring roles in Turner & Hooch, Lazor Wulf, and 3Below: Tales of Arcadia among many other film and TV roles. These roles add to the reputation he earned by playing police officers such as Carl Brinslow in Family Matters, Sgt. Powell in the first two Die Hard movies, and Detective Dave Sutton in the original Turner & Hooch movie.

VelJohnson was born in Queens, New York, and studied at the city’s university, working with the Black/Hispanic Shakespeare Company and acting alongside fellow students such as Morgan Freeman. His film and TV career began in the mid-1980s with small appearances in the era-defining likes of Ghostbusters and Crocodile Dundee. These led to bigger roles in the likes of Turner & Hooch and Die Hard. The latter took so long to film that VelJohnson ended up moving south to California permanently. Shortly afterwards, in 1989, he landed the role of Carl Brinslow in Family Matters, a sitcom that outlived all other 1980s primetime shows except The Simpsons, becoming (and remaining) one of the longest-running African-American sitcoms ever broadcast.

In the 25 years since Family Matters ended, VelJohnson has largely focused on guest-starring roles and voice work, although he has returned to recurring roles in recent years.