List of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air characters
Encyclopedia
The following is a list of characters from the NBC
sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
.
The Honorable Philip Banks (played by James Avery) was born on January 30, 1945 in South Carolina
. Philip was raised on a farm in Yamacraw
, North Carolina, where he was referred to by his parents, Hattie and Joe Banks, as "Zeke". At age 16 he moved to Baltimore
.
In the 1960s, he became an activist for the civil rights
movement. He was present at the riots in Selma
in 1965 and Watts Riots
, and, in the pilot episode, he also mentions he heard Malcolm X
speak, and that he had read every word that he wrote. In 1963, he was awarded a scholarship to study at Princeton University
, after which he went to Harvard Law School
. In 1975, Philip was put on the board of the NAACP and was later awarded the Urban Spirit Award for his work in promoting civil rights. He is a conservative and a member of the Republican Party. At first glance, Will had come to Bel Air with an attitude that because he came from West Philadelphia
that he was hardened against anything and was dismissive of Phil and his family as too soft, until he is sternly rebuked by Phil, who reveals his past in seeing the turmoil that happened before Will was born and that it has been his hard work that has earned him a manor in Bel-Air. Philip was also shown to have admired Ronald Reagan
, namely because during the series run Reagan had retired from the presidency and moved into the same neighborhood as Philip's. Reagan was said to have declined party invitations until he appears at a traditional Christmas party of the Banks; ironically shown to be a friend of Hilary's.
At the beginning of the series, Philip is a senior partner with the firm of Firth, Wynn and Meyer (which Will humorously compares to Earth, Wind & Fire
in the pilot episode). In the third season, he is appointed to the judiciary
; he becomes a judge after his ex-mentor, Judge Carl Robertson, who beat Philip by a landslide in the elections, dies suddenly, and the mayor appoints Philip to the position. Philip later considers making a deeper foray into politics, but decides against it when his wife disapproves. In the episode "To Thine Own Self Be Blue...And Gold," it is revealed that Phil is a member of the fictional fraternity Pi Nu. After meeting and dating his future wife Vivian, he proposed to her while on live television during an episode of Soul Train
. He claims to have been a lifelong fan of classical music in the episode "Bang the Drum, Ashley", though Vivian rebuffs that "When we met, you were into James Brown
!", which Philip rebuts by stating it is possible to like both classical music and the music of James Brown.
Philip is somewhat of a strict and gruff man, but he does have a softer side, and is an upstanding citizen. Nonetheless, his anger can get him into trouble at times, especially when he feels his image is being besmirched. Additionally, Philip can be financially greedy; he pays his butler Geoffrey a salary so low that Geoffrey quits after Philip gives him a mediocre additional annual raise, and only returns when Philip apologizes for taking him for granted and agrees to increase his salary, benefits and to hire more help during formal functions. In the series finale, when Geoffrey retires, Phil rewards him with both a large cash bonus and an expensive first class
plane ticket to London, England. Similarly, while he always spoils Hilary, Philip refuses to increase the allowances of his children, although in later seasons he begins to tire of spending his hard-earned money on spoiling Hilary and becomes more gruff with Hilary to pay her own way in the world. A recurring gag is about Philip's children being afraid of his punishments because, while his anger is understandable, he can be incredibly sadistic and sociopathic in his punishments. For example, in season three's "The Best Laid Plans", in which Will tries to trick a girl he is dating (who does not believe in premarital sex) into marrying him in order to go all the way with her, Philip became severely disappointed and upset, and promises to impose the cruelest punishment that he could find (which he manages to do three years after the incident, while he read about medieval tortures and with a malicious smile in his face).
However, despite being a miser
, Philip is a very caring and loving husband and father. He makes sure that he does what is best for all his children, including Will. Despite being related to Will only by marriage (and whom he sometimes grumbles about Will being a goof-off), he very much cares for him as his own son. Throughout the series, Philip has been there for his children in their time of need, which rubs off on his nephew as Will comes to see Philip as a genuine father-figure (as opposed to his true father, who left him and his mother as a young child). When Will is eager to bond with his biological father Lou after he suddenly re-enters Will's life, Philip warns Will to be wary of Lou and comforts him when Lou turns out to be uninterested in rekindling their relationship.
Philip goes out of his way to make sure all of his children, including Will, make something of themselves. He also fights fiercely to protect his family: When Will and Carlton are arrested for "stealing a car" as they are driving it for his law firm partner, Philip threatens to tie the police station up in "so much litigation that [their] grandchildren are going to need lawyers". He is overprotective of Ashley and has trouble with her growing up into a young woman. A common occasion for humor on the show is Philip's portly shape and big appetite. Will commonly makes cracks about his girth, as does Geoffrey at times. Unfortunately, Philip's appetite has given him trouble and even caused him to suffer a heart attack in season four's "Home is Where the Heart Attack Is". Philip also reveals himself to be an amazingly adept pool
player in the episode "Banks Shot", showing his skill by out-hustling the pool shark who hustled Will at the pool hall. He has a personal cue stick
, that he has named "Lucille".
Prof. Vivian Banks (née Smith), PhD, born on October 21, 1951, was portrayed by Janet Hubert-Whitten
during the first three seasons and by Daphne Maxwell Reid for the last three. She has been a retired Doctor then earned her PhD at UCLA since 1971, and in one early episode takes a temporary job as a teacher for a unit in Black History at Bel-Air Academy, the upscale preparatory high school attended by Will and Carlton. She has one older sister, Vy (Will's mother), and two younger sisters, Helen and Janice.
Vivian's personality and role in the show changes over the run of the series. During the Janet Hubert-Whitten years, she is a no-nonsense, vocally-talented, forthright, and career-minded woman who plays a part in the show equal to her husband Philip. It is revealed in the season one episode "Love at First Fight", that Vivian dropped out of high school as a teenager and worked menial jobs, before attending night school in order to get her high school diploma and enter college to work toward her PhD
After Reid took the part in 1993 and baby Nicky was added to the cast, she was reimagined as a homemaker who showed reluctance toward ambitious career moves, such as Philip's political aspirations. The Reid-played Vivian appeared in fewer episodes than Whitten (despite them both being on the show for an equal number of seasons) and with a less fiery demeanor than how Whitten portrayed the role. She also supported her children in whatever they wanted, even if it was wrong. An example of this permissive behavior including Philip that Hilary should make the decision for herself to pose naked in a Playboy
pictorial in the season four episode "Fresh Prince After Dark", letting Hilary to get abruptly married to her news anchor boyfriend Trevor in "Where There's a Will, There's a Way" and have a seance for Trevor in the episode "Hex and the Single Guy", while it seems that Janet Hubert-Whitten's Vivian would have disapproved such attitudes; however, in the episode It's a Wonderful Lie, she's at Philip's side when he severely reprimands Ashley for having gone to a house party without permission.
In an occasional running gag within the series, whenever a member of the family goes through old family photos, Will would occasionally comment who the mannish-looking person is in the photo, to which it is then revealed that the person in question is Vivian. The change between the two is the object of two humorous quotes from Jazz. One of them is in the fourth season premiere, when he remarks: "You know, Mrs. Banks, ever since you had that baby, there's something different about you"; after this, Will stares uneasily into the camera. The other is in an episode when he sees the suddenly grown Nicky and asks: "So, who's playing the mother this year?".
Carlton Banks (played by Alfonso Ribeiro
), born September 21, 1974, is Vivian and Philip's eldest son and Will's pedantic maternal cousin.
Carlton is a quintessential preppy
. While highly intelligent, he is commonly annoying and arrogant. Like many of his social class, Carlton aspires to attend an Ivy League
university; in earlier seasons, he states he aims to get into Yale University
, but later fixes a determined focus on Princeton University
, his father Philip's alma mater. Carlton is the heir presumptive
to the Banks assets, and probably the mansion grounds itself.
Like his father Phillip, Carlton is a firmly conservative Republican
and this often puts him at odds with Will. Although Carlton and Will often exchange insults, and Will normally refers to Carlton as a disgrace, Carlton obviously cares about Will, referring to him in season two episode "Vying for Attention" as "the brother I've always wanted". At first it appears there is an antagonistic relationship between Will and Carlton, but in later seasons Will significantly warms to Carlton, ultimately accepting Carlton and the other cousins as the siblings he never had. On one occasion in the season three episode "Just Say Yo", Carlton is considerate enough to cover for Will when he is admitted to the hospital after having taken speed tablets from inside Will's locker, but allows his parents to think that Will saved him. He attributes this to "still being high at the time" when asked by Will why he covered for him. This spurs Will to admit responsibility to Uncle Phil; although Carlton did ingest speed, Will bore responsibility as he had accepted the pills from a schoolfriend, storing them in his locker, then absentmindedly said to Carlton he had a bottle of Vitamin E
in his locker.
Carlton drives a silver Mercedes-Benz E-Class
from the early 1990s, which is seen in a few episodes. Carlton also was a bit of a servant to sister Ashley when she hit it big on the singing charts. He held doors open for her and fanned Ashley while she tanned. His role model is talk show host Bryant Gumbel
and his favorite singer is Tom Jones
. His favorite actor is William Shatner
, whom he annoys by making lame Star Trek
references. Carlton also idolizes Macaulay Culkin
, whom he once dressed up as for Halloween. He is also a big fan of The Jeffersons
and Beverly Hills, 90210
, the latter of which he is confident enough to admit to others; this is unlike Will, who scoffs at the show in front of friends but confesses to Carlton that he is a secret 90210 fan as well.
Carlton is similar to Family Ties
character Alex P. Keaton
in many respects: he dresses in a preppy style, has conservative political leanings, is obsessed with college and his future career, is fairly short, and does not enjoy the popular music of most people his age. Carlton is often called upon to do a comic, usually improvised dance routine to Tom Jones' "It's Not Unusual
" (which was inspired by a dance performed by Courteney Cox
in the music video for Bruce Springsteen
's "Dancing in the Dark
"). In earlier seasons, he makes frequent references to his virginity (twice referencing that he plans on losing it at some point), and also plans to attend Princeton University. In later seasons, these arcs are both resolved: Carlton does indeed lose his virginity to a woman who is married to a ULA professor, but is not initially admitted to Princeton; instead he first attends the University of Los Angeles, where he briefly manages ULA's student store, the Peacock Stop.
As seen in the episodes "You Bet Your Life" and "Viva Lost Wages", Carlton also seems to have a gambling problem and loses all of his money in any situation where gambling is involved and constantly imagines the gambling tables and slot machines talking to him, but seems fully aware that he is subject to compulsive gambling
, and this limits his exposure to gaming. He usually declares that gambling is "evil" right before he goes all in and loses his and others' money. One exception to this was where he participated in a casino night in the season two episode "Something for Nothing", but that was done for charitable reasons and not for real money. In season five's "Bullets Over Bel-Air", Will tries to protect Carlton when they get robbed after using an automated teller machine
, Will gets shot, taking a bullet for Carlton and is sent to the hospital (eventually recovering from his injuries); Carlton acquires a firearm later in the episode, as the event heightens his awareness of the need for self-defense, but later disposes of the handgun upon Will's insistence.
One running gag in the show involves Carlton repeatedly being slapped in the back of the head by various characters, usually in response to comments that are ridiculously self-centered (in later seasons, for example, he would often make humorous comments about gaining his father's inheritance) or due to portraying ignorance of lives other than his own. Often Will would ask to hold what Carlton is holding and once receiving it he would slap Carlton across the head with the object (e.g. a folder containing Will's testament written by Carlton, in "Ill Will"). Carlton's height is frequently made fun of, especially by Will, who, in the episode "Grumpy Young Men", jokes that Carlton is the average height for a woman.
He is sometimes portrayed as being extremely naive. An example is when, in the episode Mistaken Identity, he and Will are arrested after police officers falsely believe that they stole a Mercedes-Benz
belonging to Philip's law firm partner, who requested Will and Carlton drive the vehicle to Palm Springs
as a favor. At the end, Carlton insists that the policemen were only doing their job, not really accepting the fact that he and Will were victims of racial profiling
. However, he seems to wonder if they were wrong, as when he asks his father if he (Phil) were a policeman if he would pull over someone who was driving too slow, for which Phil answers: "I asked myself the same thing the first time I was stopped"; after that, Carlton seems in deep thought over the situation. Although he was portrayed early on as a snobby rich kid, Carlton evolved after having his view challenged when arrested for "stealing a car" and when Will is shot, Carlton is angered that the shooter will probably not face justice for harming Will.
In the sixth and final season, Carlton finally gains transfer admission to Princeton University
(an unlikely situation in reality, since Princeton generally does not accept transfer students) and leaves for the east coast in the series finale.
Carlton Banks age is consistent in the series: in season two, she is said to be 21 in the episodes "Ill Will" and "Striptease For Two". In season three, she is said to be 21 in the episodes "Will Gets Committed", "A Night At The Oprah", "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum" and "The Cold War" and 22 in the episode "The Best Laid Plans". In season four, she is said to be 22 in the episode "Father Of The Year" and 23 in the episode "Mother's Day".
Hilary Violet Banks (played by Karyn Parsons
), born August 18, 1969, is Will's attractive, but dull-witted, eldest cousin, known for her notable lack of intelligence, her pretentious attitude, for being spoiled, and her dependence on Geoffrey.
In earlier seasons, Hilary's snobbishness is emphasized, as well as her shallow trendy environmental activism. During this time, she often claimed to hobnob with celebrities and loved being mistaken by people for Whitney Houston
. Later on, Hilary is written as a self-centered airhead; she looks down on Will's upbringing and is obsessed with shopping and money (this is shown early in the series; her first line of the show is "Dad, I need $300!," which she intended to spend on a hat). However, despite her apparent shallow personality, she has a strong sense of integrity and shows obvious affection to her family members; Will gets along with her better than with Carlton does, though Will is at times bewildered by Hilary's lapses of intelligence. Hilary is portrayed as a stereotypical valley girl
and speaks with some strong valspeak
habits, in spite of her disdain for the San Fernando Valley
(as evidenced in two season three episodes: in "Asses to Ashes", when talking about what heaven and hell might be like, she describes hell to be "like, the Valley"; in "Robbing the Banks", when Will lets it slip to Hilary, Carlton and Ashley that Luther, whom Philip was coaxed into hiring to help around the house while Vivian and Geoffrey were each on vacation, spent time "in the pen
", Hilary responds "The pen, please tell me that's slang for the Valley").
During the series, Hilary attends and drops out of UCLA, after which she begins a long streak of varying luck that eventually lands her a nationally-syndicated daytime talk show titled Hilary. It starts when she becomes a weather reporter at a local television station, where she meets and falls in love with the station's lead news anchor Trevor Collins (Brian Stokes Mitchell
). However, Trevor dies in a bungee jumping
accident while proposing marriage in the episode "Where There's a Will, There's a Way", part of an ill-conceived live televised event that Hilary and the rest of the Banks family watch at home on the living room television. At the conclusion of the series, Hilary's talk show moves to New York City, as does most of the rest of the Banks family.
Hilary's hair styles have changed as the series progressed; early in the series it was brown and bushy, it then became longer and curly with blonde highlights, but later it was black, straight, and shoulder-length.
Ashley Banks (played by Tatyana Ali
) is Will's younger cousin, born April 29, 1979. Ashley was Vivian's baby girl, and always loved being with her mom. Phillip was always trying to control Ashley's life so she did not become anything like regular teenage girls. Will's devil-may-care approach to life proved to be an exciting alternative, which makes her generally more sympathetic and understanding towards him than other members of the Banks family; with that being, Ashley looked up to Will as a big brother and spent much time following him in her younger days.
Possibly because of Will's influence towards Ashley, she often acts rebelliously as she gets older, for which her father becomes very angry at Will. One of these moments is in the episode Father Knows Best, which reveals that she dropped out of her private school and enrolled in secret at a public high school and was planning to hide this from her parents as long as possible; though after a failed plot in which Will posed as Ashley's father when she is asked to attend a parent-teacher conference
, Will eventually convinces Ashley to come clean. She also spends less time with Will and sometimes gets upset with him when he becomes overprotective like Philip to the point of showing a great deal of annoyance and contempt. She believed that she was old enough to make her own decisions when it comes to boys which neither Will nor Uncle Phil enjoyed hearing or believed. Phillip never enjoyed having Ashley grow up.
Ashley's age is inconsisent throughout the series: in season one, she is said to be 9 in the episode "Bang the Drum, Ashley" and is 10 in the episode "Deck the Halls", but turns 12 in the episode "Just Infatuation"; a few episodes of seasons two and three, starting with the season two premiere "Did the Earth Move for You", reference Ashley as being 13, while she is 15 in the season five episode "It's a Wonderful Lie" and 17 in the season six episode "Eye, Tooth".
Ashley matures very much in the series; she becomes a one-hit wonder
with a hit song called "Make Up Your Mind" in the season five premiere "What's Will Got to Do With It?"/"The Client", however her career quickly fizzles out when her album doesn't sell because as the agent Philip hired to replace Will mentioned "kids got sick of her [song]", when it gets too much exposure. Beginning in the episode "Breaking Up is Hard to Do", she also strives to become a fashion model after being discovered by the president of a modeling agency at her job at a mall food court
hot dog stand.
In the series finale, Ashley decides to attend a performing arts school in New York City. As Hilary is also moving to New York when it is announced that her talk show is relocating there, the two sisters decide to live together; they become extremely excited about the whole idea, much to the annoyance of Phillip, who does not want to lose his daughters. In the episode "The Baby Comes Out", where her brother Nicky is born, Ashley mentions she knew how to drive since she was 12 years old.
Nicholas Andrew Michael Shawn Nathan Wanyá Banks (played by Ross Bagley
for the final two seasons) is born to Philip and Vivian on February 22, 1993, toward the end of the third season. Except by one episode, when Carlton professionally calls him "Nicholas", every member of the family calls him by his nickname, Nicky.
The character was primarily used as a plot device
, often adding motivation for other characters, comic relief, or an emotional punch to the show's storyline. In the fifth season, Nicky grows from a newborn infant to a preschooler, which is common in television series and soap operas
. In the fifth season premiere "What's Will Got to Do With It", the first episode to feature this change, Jazz expresses amazement while Will just stares uneasily into the camera.
Four of his middle names are taken from the names of the members of the R&B group Boyz II Men
; he was middle-named this way after they performed at his christening in the season four episode ""; however in the season three episode "The Baby Comes Out", Philip addresses Nicky's full name, with a middle name already given, as "Nicholas Andrew Banks".
Geoffrey Barbara Butler (played by Joseph Marcell
), born in Saint Lucia
in August 1947, serves as the Banks family's cynical
butler
. Geoffrey is the first character that appears on screen in the pilot episode The Fresh Prince Project. He is seen going to answer the door to Will, who mistakes him for Philip.
In addition to four years at the University of Oxford and a long career working for British aristocrats, Geoffrey was an Olympic runner several years before being hired by the Banks family (as revealed in the episode "It's Better to Have Loved and Lost It..." from the fourth season, when Geoffrey shows the Banks family a videotape of a documentary called Shame of a Nation), but fled his home country in shame after being exposed for cheating while participating in the men's marathon at the 1976 Summer Olympics
in Montreal, winning a Gold Medal at the marathon only because he had taken a cab ride to the stadium parking lot; Shortly after receiving his medal, Queen Elizabeth II
, who apparently presented the medals, got word of Geoffrey's cheating, pushing aside the bronze medalist to hit Geoffrey with her purse and rip the medal off his neck; Geoffrey then ran from the stadium in shame. In the 1970s, he was a butler for the band Led Zeppelin
. In the early 1980s, Geoffrey was sparring butler for Chuck Norris
. In the episode Nice Lady, he reveals having practiced Greco-Roman wrestling
in his youth.
Geoffrey's character changes over the series: in early episodes, he is very dutiful and gentlemanly, whereas he becomes very cynical in later episodes. Joseph Marcell explains that he began by playing Geoffrey as stereotypically English but then felt that the American audience was not accustomed to seeing Black Englishmen
. Geoffrey's favorite television program (as revealed in the pilot episode) is Masterpiece Theater, which he routinely watches when he goes off duty at 9 pm
Geoffrey always refers to Will as "Master William" (except once in part two of the series finale "I, Done", at Will's request) and the other Banks children as "Master Carlton", "Miss Hilary", "Miss Ashley", and "Master Nicky". Known for his sarcasm
, he is the voice of caustic humor on the show, often commenting on Philip's weight, his own low pay, his lack of a social or romantic life, the overall laziness
of the family, or Will's goofiness. However, Geoffrey did seem to impress women by having the confidence to be himself, such as when he was set up on a blind date with a Black English woman (played by Naomi Campbell
).
In early episodes, he has an interest in classical music and is often hinted at as leading a vibrant private life. Ironically, although a stickler for tradition, he incorrectly tells Will it is proper to refer to a butler by his first name, although this is possibly because his surname and job title are the same. He considers himself to be part of the English working-class, despite speaking the Queen's English and, in one episode, being wary of a relationship with a rich woman.
He becomes the godfather of Nicky Banks in the fourth season episode "Twas the Night Before Christening", after Vivian tires of the bickering amongst her sisters Vy and Helen and noted that no one has been more devoted to her youngest son than Geoffrey has. Midway into the sixth season, Geoffrey discovers he has a son he never knew about, named Frederick, born to a former lover. During the same episode, it is also revealed that his middle name is "Barbara", which he explains is a "family name". In the series finale "I, Done", Geoffrey leaves to be with his son in London; however, in the fourth season episode "'Twas the Night Before Christening", a sequence
set in 1998 (two years after the ending of the series) portrays him as still being the Banks family's butler.
There are two running gags centered around Geoffrey. One is that he is often compared to or confused with Benson, from the series with the same name
. The other, which is more common is that whenever the doorbell rings, everyone continues with what they were previously doing, or look to Geoffrey, prompting Geoffrey to say "oh, please, will you let me get it this time?" or some variation, in a sarcastic tone. He is very similar to Niles, from The Nanny, as they are both British butlers, both went to Oxford, and both have the same sarcastic personality.
Jazz was portrayed by Will Smith
's musical partner Jeffrey A. Townes, popularly known as D.J. Jazzy Jeff
. Jazz was born on May 20, 1971 and is Will's ill-mannered and dim-witted best friend who lives in the inner-city community of Compton, California
. He has had a long-standing crush on Hilary Banks, and almost every time his advances are rejected. Jazz eventually marries a prison inmate named Jewel who had appeared on an episode of COPS
, in which she bites the arm of a police officer (this is not shown although the officer is heard calling for police backup because of this). In the season four episode "Mother's Day", Jewel reveals that she and Jazz are expecting a baby, though no other mention of their child is ever made after that point. He divorces her shortly afterward, realizing he knows nothing about her, finding out that she cheated on Jazz with several men and that her real name is not even Jewel (it is Hortense). Jazz is almost completely tactless, and succeeds in insulting or irritating Philip almost every time they are together. He knows how to play the drums very well, and once gave Ashley a lesson in the episode his character is introduced "Bang the Drum, Ashley". Jazz wears sunglasses in nearly every episode he is seen. In an early episode of season one, Jazz wears regular glasses
for the entire episode instead of his trademark sunglasses. In the episode "Cased Up" the following season, Hilary asks her boyfriend (Malcolm-Jamal Warner
) to take off his glasses; thinking she was speaking to him, Jazz charmingly removes his glasses, revealing his eyes.
In a recurring gag throughout the series, Philip usually ends up literally throwing or, as it was referred to the first time, dropkick
ing Jazz out of the house, though sometimes Hilary, Geoffrey, Vivian, and even Will (the only character other than Philip to do it more than once) throw him out. Whenever Jazz is thrown out of the house, he is usually wearing the same clothes; it was decided to use the same clip of Jazz being thrown out the front door as often as possible rather than returning to the exterior location each time (the reuse of the clip is evidenced by the sudden noise of a sprinkler
whenever Jazz is thrown out). Will was once on the receiving end of this punishment after making egregious changes to Philip's political campaign
tape in "A Night at the Oprah", and in a similar joke was thrown out of a nightclub while trying to dance with Geoffrey's blind date in "Kiss My Butler". During the 1993 Halloween
episode "Hex and the Single Guy", Jazz got revenge by throwing Philip out instead, as the main plot to the story was that misfortune
plagued the Banks family following a so-called "hex
" from a con
psychic
communicator. This was later shown to be in a dream
Will was having, though when he woke up, the dream appeared to be a premonition, and it was implied that the whole ordeal may truly happen indeed. There was also an instance where Jazz was standing outside of the house, taunting Philip because he was already standing outside; as a result, Philip throws him inside the house. In another episode, Jazz was thrown out in the backyard along with a cardboard cutout of Bill Cosby
that he was lugging around. There was also a scene at Jazz's apartment in episode "How I Spent My Summer Vacation," where Jazz throws Will out of his apartment. In this same episode, it is briefly mentioned by Geoffrey that Philip did also throw Will out of the house onto the front lawn when he was leaving the house, but was never shown. There was a time when Vivian threw Jazz out through the back door for saying that he would bring a stripper
to Will's birthday party. At the beginning of the episode "Cased Up," a nighttime version of the shot is used, with crickets as a sound effect (though the actual video of Jazz getting thrown out is simply darkened for effect).
Jazz's last appearance was in the first part of the series finale
"I, Done", in which he gave Philip his grandmother's teeth as a gift for Philip's 50th birthday, because Jazz thought Philip was getting old. Thus, Philip was once again angry and threw Jazz out of the house (it is actually mentioned that Philip broke his previous record in tossing him). After the house had been sold in the second part of the episode and Will had found an apartment, Philip was the only person to mention Jazz when asking when he was coming by to help Will pack, to which Will responded, "As soon as you leave." Philip was not surprised, but he did want to wish Jazz luck in the future.
, is Vivian's oldest sister and Will's loving mother. However, she is quite rude and violent to many around her. It was her idea that Will should go to Bel Air to get a good education and avoid a life of violence in their West Philadelphia
neighborhood. Vy works as a supervisor at the post office. It was due to this she opposed the decision when Janice decides to marry Frank, a white man. Though by their next encounter she is more acceptable. Vy eventually marries Lisa Wilkes' father after Will and Lisa call off their second wedding attempt. However, it is unknown whether or not the marriage lasts, since in Vy's next appearance, Mr. Wilkes is not seen or mentioned. Her maiden name and married name were previously the same, as Will's father was named Lou Smith.
Hattie Banks, played by Virginia Capers
, is Philip's mother, having appeared in six episodes over the series' run. She forms a close affinity with Will (to the point where he sees her as his grandmother) and even falls for some of his pranks, much to Philip's irritation. She embarrasses Philip by telling stories of his humble origins and refers to him by his childhood name "Zeke."
Joe Banks, played by Gilbert Lewis
, was Philip's father, having appeared in only one episode, "Not With My Pig, You Don't". His death sometime later (offscreen) left Phillip and Hattie feeling lost.
Kellogg Lieberbaum (played by Michael Weiner
) was a classmate and friend of Will and Carlton at Bel-Air Academy. Most of his appearances were in the first season, but he makes two appearances in the second season as well. As a pun on Kellogg's Corn Flakes
, he is nicknamed "Cornflake" by Will. Much of the humor of his character comes from the dissonance of an unassuming Jewish preppie using such phrases as "She is one fly sister" and "Power to the people – say it loud: I'm black and I'm proud!"
Tyriq Johnson, portrayed by Perry Moore, is one of Will's close friends in Bel-Air, who appears frequently in season 2. He is described in the episode "Eyes on the Prize" (wherein he and Jazz compete against Will and Carlton on a televised game show) as "Bel-Air's oldest tenth grader," a lover of frozen pizza, and a fan of Laverne and Shirley reruns. His father's name is also revealed as "Winky" in this episode.
) was Hilary's news anchor fiancé back in 1992 and co-worker at the television station at which they both worked. Trevor often gave himself compliments. Also, he always left the air and the Banks' mansion by saying, "Goodnight and Godspeed." He was originally referred to as "Trevor Collins", but later episodes established his surname as "Newsworthy." He eventually proposes to Hilary, but she insists that he officially proposes on live television later that day. Trevor then proposes to her on television while bungee jumping
, and dies during the stunt when something goes wrong with the jump and he hits the ground. Hilary mourns his death by bringing back what she presumes to be Trevor's ashes in an urn
, but later learns that Trevor was not cremated, and that she grabbed a stranger's urn. His death continues to haunt Hilary for the next few episodes and his memory, unlike almost everything else (including Trevor's very name), never leaves her mind.
, is Vivian's loud-mouthed younger sister. She has frequent marriage difficulties with her husband Lester, whom she finally divorces, leaving him with custody over their son Bobby.
Janice Smith, played by Charlayne Woodard
, is the youngest of the Smith sisters, flighty according to Vivian, and married to a white man named Frank (portrayed by Diedrich Bader
in Season 2, Robert Torti
in one episode in Season 3), a marriage older sister Vy initially objects to. She also appears in the series with a baby son.
. This man was a cunning lawyer and a one-time mentor to Phil. Judge Robertson visits a few times during the show, and is known for being eccentric and mischievous. He also appears to have become greatly absent-minded, but makes up for this with his boundless charisma.
Philip begins to question the competence of his mentor and runs against him in the race for Superior Court judge and loses, largely due to Robertson's outrageous smear campaign against Phil. However, at the victory party where he is confronted by Will, Judge Robertson suffers a fatal heart attack, although it appeared that he suddenly died at the "voice" of Will who inadvertently told him to drop dead. The incident leaves Will guilt-ridden, but at the funeral it is shown that quite a few people who knew the judge are quite happy to see him gone. They revealed that he was quite promiscuous and wrongly convicted those he prosecuted, and most of them attended just to make sure he was dead, actually applauding Will for his act. The state then appoints Phillip to take Judge Robertson's seat.
Though Robertson dies in the third season, Hemsley played his other character George Jefferson
from The Jeffersons
in the series later. Hemsley as Jefferson appeared in the Season 5 episode "Will is from Mars...", where he is with his wife (Isabel Sanford
as Louise Jefferson
) at counseling with Will and Lisa. George Jefferson also appears in the very last episode of Season 6.
) was a one-time character, appearing only in the episode "Papa's Got a Brand New Excuse." He is Will's biological father, and a trucker. Lou abandoned his family (Will and Viola "Vy" Smith ) when Will was 5-years-old, and explains his motives for leaving by saying he "felt trapped."
Lou drops in unannounced at the Peacock café where Will and Carlton work. Will invites Lou to the Banks' residence, but when he arrives, he is unwelcomed; Vivian and Phillip want nothing to do with him, especially Phillip, who roars at Lou "how dare you show your face in my house". Will and his father go to a carnival where Lou explains to him he was not ready to be a father. When they return to the house, Lou announces that Will is joining him for the summer on a nationwide trip in Lou's truck. Philip objects to this because he believes Lou will let Will down again. After Lou leaves the mansion to go to the pool house, Will and Philip get into a heated argument that ended with Will berating Phil as he is not his biological father. Philip is hurt and begins wondering if he is a good father to his own kids. He apologizes to Will the next day and wishes him good luck.
After a while, the family is still waiting for Lou to return. Lou eventually shows up, telling them he has found a "big" new job that will not afford enough space for Will. Provoked, Philip challenges Lou, first by offering to buy Will a plane ticket to Augusta, Maine
so Will can meet up with Lou, then by bluntly reminding him of his responsibility to Will, and explains that being there for his family is what a man does. However, Lou refuses to listen. Will then walks in before Lou can duck out, again. Lou tells Will that he cannot take him along because of his job, and promises to call him "next week". Lou leaves and Will, feeling hurt and betrayed, rants angrily against his father before breaking down in tears. Having seen his father abandoning him a second time, Will accepts the fact that Uncle Phil is the closest to a father he's ever had.
During the beginning of the episode, Will had trouble referring to Lou as his father. However, in the amusement park, he finally felt close enough to his dad so that he could call him dad. When he comes to leave with his dad, he calls out, "Daddy-o!". However, when Lou tells Will he has to leave, He tells Will he will see him around and Will replies with, "You too, Lou". In that one moment, all affection Will had regained towards his father was gone. Will was now reserved and formal once again, and had silently made the decision to never speak to Lou anymore.
The episode fades out with Will hugging Uncle Phil tightly and sobbing as the only sounds being heard. The camera fades in on a statuette of an apparent father figure embracing his son in his lap, displaying the symbolism of a father always being there for his son. This gift had been purchased by Will, intending it for his father.
Although Lou never reappeared after this, Will was so hurt by the incident that he developed a deep resentment towards his father whenever he was mentioned. In a later episode, during a heated argument with Carlton, Carlton insulted Will by comparing him to his father. Shaking with anger, he calmly but clearly stated, "I am nothing like my father!" In an earlier episode before Lou's appearance, when Phil suffers a heart attack and Carlton is in denial, Will confronts Carlton to go visit Phil in the hospital. Will wins the argument using reverse psychology
by reminding Carlton he has a father who is always there for his children when Will asks Carlton "Do you know where my father is"? When Carlton answers in the negative, Will rebuts "Well, neither do I!"
It is unknown if Lou ever called Will again.
, was introduced in the fifth season episode, "Will's Misery," as the girlfriend who tames Will into forsaking his womanizing ways.
The two fall deeply in love and are engaged to be married, going so far as the ceremonies twice, but never actually tie the knot. The first time, they elope to Las Vegas
and try a Shaft
-themed wedding, but walk out on the ceremony after being interrupted so many times and realizing they were not ready. The second time they try to get married, Will starts feeling some doubts, especially when he notices that, like Jazz, he also knows very little about Lisa, culminating in him asking if Lisa is her real first name, upon which she reveals it's actually Beulah. Will manages to overcome these doubts but Lisa reveals that she is also having doubts and the two decide not to marry. She is never seen again.
The night before the wedding Lisa and Will send Vy and Lisa's father to a restaurant to get to know each other and they are caught sleeping together. When Lisa and Will cut their second wedding short, he and Will's mother decide not to let the ceremony go to waste; they get married right then and there, Lisa and Will become step-siblings.
Long also played Claudia in the episode "She Ain't Heavy", where she played the role of a stupid date Will took to the dance when Dee Dee (Queen Latifah
) did not answer his calls.
, was introduced in "Where There's A Will, There's a Way (Part 1)" in season four. At first, Carlton believed that Jackie was "the girl of his dreams" after she told off some people who were making fun of his peacock costume (Carlton participated in football games as ULA's mascot, the peacock). Later that night, at a party, Will discovers that this girl Carlton was talking about was Jackie, a girl he had known but did not keep in touch with back in Philly. She is initially upset that he did not attempt to contact her, but eventually forgives him.
As manager of The Peacock Stop, Jackie is the object of Will's affection and frequent come-ons, but continually spurns his advances, deeming him too immature. The two were old childhood friends from Philadelphia, but she feels Will has not grown up since those days. There are certain innuendos indicating she still has feelings for Will. Jackie seems to warm more to Carlton, arguably because she sees him as more mature and stable than Will, although she is not as keen on dancing to Bobby Vinton
as is Carlton. However Jackie moves on from Will for good when Will challenges a jock to a drinking game while at a stag party. After being rebuffed by both Will and the football player
when she tries to stop them, she has Carlton drive her home and is never heard from again.
(*) – Played more than one character.
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from September 10, 1990 to May 20, 1996. The show stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart teenager from West Philadelphia who is sent to move in with his aunt and uncle in their...
.
Philip Banks
- Nickname by Will: "Uncle Phil"
- Nickname by Parents: "Zeke"
- Nickname by Carlton: "Big Guy" or "Dad"
- Nickname by Geoffrey: "Mr. Banks"
- Nickname by Ashley and Hilary: "Daddy"
The Honorable Philip Banks (played by James Avery) was born on January 30, 1945 in South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
. Philip was raised on a farm in Yamacraw
Yamacraw, North Carolina
Yamacraw is an unincorporated settlement in Pender County, North Carolina, United States.-In popular culture:Yamacraw is the birthplace of the character Philip Banks on the television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air....
, North Carolina, where he was referred to by his parents, Hattie and Joe Banks, as "Zeke". At age 16 he moved to Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
.
In the 1960s, he became an activist for the civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
movement. He was present at the riots in Selma
Selma, Alabama
Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, Alabama, United States, located on the banks of the Alabama River. The population was 20,512 at the 2000 census....
in 1965 and Watts Riots
Watts Riots
The Watts Riots or the Watts Rebellion was a civil disturbance in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, California from August 11 to August 15, 1965. The 5-day riot resulted in 34 deaths, 1,032 injuries, and 3,438 arrests...
, and, in the pilot episode, he also mentions he heard Malcolm X
Malcolm X
Malcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...
speak, and that he had read every word that he wrote. In 1963, he was awarded a scholarship to study at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, after which he went to Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
. In 1975, Philip was put on the board of the NAACP and was later awarded the Urban Spirit Award for his work in promoting civil rights. He is a conservative and a member of the Republican Party. At first glance, Will had come to Bel Air with an attitude that because he came from West Philadelphia
West Philadelphia
West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Though there is no official definition of its boundaries, it is generally considered to reach from the western shore of the Schuylkill River, to City Line Avenue to the northwest, Cobbs Creek to the southwest, and...
that he was hardened against anything and was dismissive of Phil and his family as too soft, until he is sternly rebuked by Phil, who reveals his past in seeing the turmoil that happened before Will was born and that it has been his hard work that has earned him a manor in Bel-Air. Philip was also shown to have admired Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, namely because during the series run Reagan had retired from the presidency and moved into the same neighborhood as Philip's. Reagan was said to have declined party invitations until he appears at a traditional Christmas party of the Banks; ironically shown to be a friend of Hilary's.
At the beginning of the series, Philip is a senior partner with the firm of Firth, Wynn and Meyer (which Will humorously compares to Earth, Wind & Fire
Earth, Wind & Fire
Earth, Wind & Fire is an American soul and R&B band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1969 by Verdine and Maurice White. Also known as EWF, the band has won six Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards. They have been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of...
in the pilot episode). In the third season, he is appointed to the judiciary
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
; he becomes a judge after his ex-mentor, Judge Carl Robertson, who beat Philip by a landslide in the elections, dies suddenly, and the mayor appoints Philip to the position. Philip later considers making a deeper foray into politics, but decides against it when his wife disapproves. In the episode "To Thine Own Self Be Blue...And Gold," it is revealed that Phil is a member of the fictional fraternity Pi Nu. After meeting and dating his future wife Vivian, he proposed to her while on live television during an episode of Soul Train
Soul Train
Soul Train is an American musical variety show that aired in syndication from October 1971 to March 2006. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists, although funk, jazz, disco, and gospel artists have also appeared.As a nod to Soul Trains...
. He claims to have been a lifelong fan of classical music in the episode "Bang the Drum, Ashley", though Vivian rebuffs that "When we met, you were into James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
!", which Philip rebuts by stating it is possible to like both classical music and the music of James Brown.
Philip is somewhat of a strict and gruff man, but he does have a softer side, and is an upstanding citizen. Nonetheless, his anger can get him into trouble at times, especially when he feels his image is being besmirched. Additionally, Philip can be financially greedy; he pays his butler Geoffrey a salary so low that Geoffrey quits after Philip gives him a mediocre additional annual raise, and only returns when Philip apologizes for taking him for granted and agrees to increase his salary, benefits and to hire more help during formal functions. In the series finale, when Geoffrey retires, Phil rewards him with both a large cash bonus and an expensive first class
First class (aviation)
First class is a luxury travel class on some airliners that exceeds business class, premium economy, and economy class. On a passenger jetliner, first class refers to a limited number of seats or cabins located in the front of the aircraft which are notable for their comfort, service, and privacy...
plane ticket to London, England. Similarly, while he always spoils Hilary, Philip refuses to increase the allowances of his children, although in later seasons he begins to tire of spending his hard-earned money on spoiling Hilary and becomes more gruff with Hilary to pay her own way in the world. A recurring gag is about Philip's children being afraid of his punishments because, while his anger is understandable, he can be incredibly sadistic and sociopathic in his punishments. For example, in season three's "The Best Laid Plans", in which Will tries to trick a girl he is dating (who does not believe in premarital sex) into marrying him in order to go all the way with her, Philip became severely disappointed and upset, and promises to impose the cruelest punishment that he could find (which he manages to do three years after the incident, while he read about medieval tortures and with a malicious smile in his face).
However, despite being a miser
Miser
A miser, cheapskate, snipe-snout, penny pincher, piker, scrooge, skinflint or tightwad is a person who is reluctant to spend money, sometimes to the point of forgoing even basic comforts and some necessities...
, Philip is a very caring and loving husband and father. He makes sure that he does what is best for all his children, including Will. Despite being related to Will only by marriage (and whom he sometimes grumbles about Will being a goof-off), he very much cares for him as his own son. Throughout the series, Philip has been there for his children in their time of need, which rubs off on his nephew as Will comes to see Philip as a genuine father-figure (as opposed to his true father, who left him and his mother as a young child). When Will is eager to bond with his biological father Lou after he suddenly re-enters Will's life, Philip warns Will to be wary of Lou and comforts him when Lou turns out to be uninterested in rekindling their relationship.
Philip goes out of his way to make sure all of his children, including Will, make something of themselves. He also fights fiercely to protect his family: When Will and Carlton are arrested for "stealing a car" as they are driving it for his law firm partner, Philip threatens to tie the police station up in "so much litigation that [their] grandchildren are going to need lawyers". He is overprotective of Ashley and has trouble with her growing up into a young woman. A common occasion for humor on the show is Philip's portly shape and big appetite. Will commonly makes cracks about his girth, as does Geoffrey at times. Unfortunately, Philip's appetite has given him trouble and even caused him to suffer a heart attack in season four's "Home is Where the Heart Attack Is". Philip also reveals himself to be an amazingly adept pool
Pocket billiards
Pool, also more formally known as pocket billiards or pool billiards , is the family of cue sports and games played on a pool table having six receptacles called pockets along the , into which balls are deposited as the main goal of play. Popular versions include eight-ball and nine-ball...
player in the episode "Banks Shot", showing his skill by out-hustling the pool shark who hustled Will at the pool hall. He has a personal cue stick
Cue stick
A cue stick , is an item of sporting equipment essential to the games of pool, snooker and carom billiards. It is used to strike a ball, usually the...
, that he has named "Lucille".
Vivian Banks
- Nickname by Will: "Aunt Viv"
- Nickname by Her children: "Mom" or "Mommy"
- Nickname by Geoffrey: "Mrs. Banks"
- Maiden Name: Molzon
Prof. Vivian Banks (née Smith), PhD, born on October 21, 1951, was portrayed by Janet Hubert-Whitten
Janet Hubert-Whitten
Janet Louise Hubert , also previously known as Janet Hubert-Whitten, is an American film and television actress. She is best known for playing her role of Vivian Banks on the sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air from 1990 to 1993.-Biography:Hubert was born in Chicago, Illinois. She spent her early...
during the first three seasons and by Daphne Maxwell Reid for the last three. She has been a retired Doctor then earned her PhD at UCLA since 1971, and in one early episode takes a temporary job as a teacher for a unit in Black History at Bel-Air Academy, the upscale preparatory high school attended by Will and Carlton. She has one older sister, Vy (Will's mother), and two younger sisters, Helen and Janice.
Vivian's personality and role in the show changes over the run of the series. During the Janet Hubert-Whitten years, she is a no-nonsense, vocally-talented, forthright, and career-minded woman who plays a part in the show equal to her husband Philip. It is revealed in the season one episode "Love at First Fight", that Vivian dropped out of high school as a teenager and worked menial jobs, before attending night school in order to get her high school diploma and enter college to work toward her PhD
After Reid took the part in 1993 and baby Nicky was added to the cast, she was reimagined as a homemaker who showed reluctance toward ambitious career moves, such as Philip's political aspirations. The Reid-played Vivian appeared in fewer episodes than Whitten (despite them both being on the show for an equal number of seasons) and with a less fiery demeanor than how Whitten portrayed the role. She also supported her children in whatever they wanted, even if it was wrong. An example of this permissive behavior including Philip that Hilary should make the decision for herself to pose naked in a Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
pictorial in the season four episode "Fresh Prince After Dark", letting Hilary to get abruptly married to her news anchor boyfriend Trevor in "Where There's a Will, There's a Way" and have a seance for Trevor in the episode "Hex and the Single Guy", while it seems that Janet Hubert-Whitten's Vivian would have disapproved such attitudes; however, in the episode It's a Wonderful Lie, she's at Philip's side when he severely reprimands Ashley for having gone to a house party without permission.
In an occasional running gag within the series, whenever a member of the family goes through old family photos, Will would occasionally comment who the mannish-looking person is in the photo, to which it is then revealed that the person in question is Vivian. The change between the two is the object of two humorous quotes from Jazz. One of them is in the fourth season premiere, when he remarks: "You know, Mrs. Banks, ever since you had that baby, there's something different about you"; after this, Will stares uneasily into the camera. The other is in an episode when he sees the suddenly grown Nicky and asks: "So, who's playing the mother this year?".
Carlton Banks
- Nicknames by Will: "C", or "Boogaloo Shrimp" (also "Stumpy," "Squidget","Snigglet" or basically any name pertaining to Carlton's small stature)
- Nickname by Geoffrey: "Master Carlton"
Carlton Banks (played by Alfonso Ribeiro
Alfonso Ribeiro
Alfonso Lincoln Ribeiro is an American actor, director, dancer, game show host, and comedian. While he received attention for his performance in the title role of the Broadway musical The Tap Dance Kid and his appearance as a dancer in a Pepsi commercial featuring Michael Jackson, Ribeiro is best...
), born September 21, 1974, is Vivian and Philip's eldest son and Will's pedantic maternal cousin.
Carlton is a quintessential preppy
Preppy
Preppy, preppie, or prep refers to a modern, widespread United States clique, often considered a subculture...
. While highly intelligent, he is commonly annoying and arrogant. Like many of his social class, Carlton aspires to attend an Ivy League
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...
university; in earlier seasons, he states he aims to get into Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, but later fixes a determined focus on Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, his father Philip's alma mater. Carlton is the heir presumptive
Heir Presumptive
An heir presumptive or heiress presumptive is the person provisionally scheduled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir or heiress apparent or of a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question...
to the Banks assets, and probably the mansion grounds itself.
Like his father Phillip, Carlton is a firmly conservative Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
and this often puts him at odds with Will. Although Carlton and Will often exchange insults, and Will normally refers to Carlton as a disgrace, Carlton obviously cares about Will, referring to him in season two episode "Vying for Attention" as "the brother I've always wanted". At first it appears there is an antagonistic relationship between Will and Carlton, but in later seasons Will significantly warms to Carlton, ultimately accepting Carlton and the other cousins as the siblings he never had. On one occasion in the season three episode "Just Say Yo", Carlton is considerate enough to cover for Will when he is admitted to the hospital after having taken speed tablets from inside Will's locker, but allows his parents to think that Will saved him. He attributes this to "still being high at the time" when asked by Will why he covered for him. This spurs Will to admit responsibility to Uncle Phil; although Carlton did ingest speed, Will bore responsibility as he had accepted the pills from a schoolfriend, storing them in his locker, then absentmindedly said to Carlton he had a bottle of Vitamin E
Vitamin E
Vitamin E is used to refer to a group of fat-soluble compounds that include both tocopherols and tocotrienols. There are many different forms of vitamin E, of which γ-tocopherol is the most common in the North American diet. γ-Tocopherol can be found in corn oil, soybean oil, margarine and dressings...
in his locker.
Carlton drives a silver Mercedes-Benz E-Class
Mercedes-Benz E-Class
The Mercedes-Benz E-Class is a range of executive-size cars manufactured by Mercedes-Benz in various engine and body configurations. The E initially stood for Einspritzmotor, ; a new feature in volume production vehicles at the time that the E-Class first appeared, with the E as a suffix to the...
from the early 1990s, which is seen in a few episodes. Carlton also was a bit of a servant to sister Ashley when she hit it big on the singing charts. He held doors open for her and fanned Ashley while she tanned. His role model is talk show host Bryant Gumbel
Bryant Gumbel
Bryant Charles Gumbel is an American television journalist and sportscaster. He is best known for his 15 years as co-host of NBC's The Today Show. He is the younger brother of sportscaster Greg Gumbel.-Early life:...
and his favorite singer is Tom Jones
Tom Jones (singer)
Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...
. His favorite actor is William Shatner
William Shatner
William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
, whom he annoys by making lame Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
references. Carlton also idolizes Macaulay Culkin
Macaulay Culkin
Macaulay Carson Culkin is an American actor. He became widely known for his portrayal of Kevin McCallister in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. He is also known for his roles in Richie Rich, Uncle Buck, My Girl, The Pagemaster, and Party Monster...
, whom he once dressed up as for Halloween. He is also a big fan of The Jeffersons
The Jeffersons
The Jeffersons is an American sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, through June 25, 1985, lasting 11 seasons and a total of 253 episodes. The show was produced by the T.A.T. Communications Company from 1975–1982 and by Embassy Television from 1982-1985...
and Beverly Hills, 90210
Beverly Hills, 90210
Beverly Hills, 90210 is an American drama series that originally aired from October 4, 1990 to May 17, 2000 on Fox and was produced by Spelling Television in the United States, and subsequently on various networks around the world. It is the first series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise...
, the latter of which he is confident enough to admit to others; this is unlike Will, who scoffs at the show in front of friends but confesses to Carlton that he is a secret 90210 fan as well.
Carlton is similar to Family Ties
Family Ties
Family Ties is an American sitcom that aired on NBC for seven seasons, from 1982 to 1989. The sitcom reflected the move in the United States from the cultural liberalism of the 1960s and 1970s to the conservatism of the 1980s. This was particularly expressed through the relationship between young...
character Alex P. Keaton
Alex P. Keaton
Alex P. Keaton is a fictional character on the American television sitcom, Family Ties, which aired on NBC for seven seasons, from 1982 to 1989. Family Ties reflected the move in the United States away from the cultural liberalism of the 1960s and 1970s to the conservatism of the 1980s...
in many respects: he dresses in a preppy style, has conservative political leanings, is obsessed with college and his future career, is fairly short, and does not enjoy the popular music of most people his age. Carlton is often called upon to do a comic, usually improvised dance routine to Tom Jones' "It's Not Unusual
It's Not Unusual
"It's Not Unusual" is a song written by Les Reed and Gordon Mills, first recorded by a then-unknown Tom Jones after having first been offered to Sandie Shaw. Jones recorded what was intended to be a demo for Shaw, but when she heard it she was so impressed with Jones' delivery that she declined the...
" (which was inspired by a dance performed by Courteney Cox
Courteney Cox
Courteney Bass Cox is an American actress, she is best known for her roles as Monica Geller on the NBC sitcom Friends, Gale Weathers in the horror series Scream and as Jules Cobb in the ABC sitcom Cougar Town, for which she earned her first Golden Globe nomination....
in the music video for Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
's "Dancing in the Dark
Dancing in the Dark (Bruce Springsteen song)
"Dancing in the Dark" is a 1984 song, written and performed by American rock singer Bruce Springsteen. Adding up-tempo synthesizer riffs and some syncopation to his sound for the first time, it became his biggest hit and, as the first single released from Born in the U.S.A., started it off to...
"). In earlier seasons, he makes frequent references to his virginity (twice referencing that he plans on losing it at some point), and also plans to attend Princeton University. In later seasons, these arcs are both resolved: Carlton does indeed lose his virginity to a woman who is married to a ULA professor, but is not initially admitted to Princeton; instead he first attends the University of Los Angeles, where he briefly manages ULA's student store, the Peacock Stop.
As seen in the episodes "You Bet Your Life" and "Viva Lost Wages", Carlton also seems to have a gambling problem and loses all of his money in any situation where gambling is involved and constantly imagines the gambling tables and slot machines talking to him, but seems fully aware that he is subject to compulsive gambling
Compulsive gambling
Problem gambling is an urge to continuously gamble despite harmful negative consequences or a desire to stop. Problem gambling often is defined by whether harm is experienced by the gambler or others, rather than by the gambler's behavior. Severe problem gambling may be diagnosed as clinical...
, and this limits his exposure to gaming. He usually declares that gambling is "evil" right before he goes all in and loses his and others' money. One exception to this was where he participated in a casino night in the season two episode "Something for Nothing", but that was done for charitable reasons and not for real money. In season five's "Bullets Over Bel-Air", Will tries to protect Carlton when they get robbed after using an automated teller machine
Automated teller machine
An automated teller machine or automatic teller machine, also known as a Cashpoint , cash machine or sometimes a hole in the wall in British English, is a computerised telecommunications device that provides the clients of a financial institution with access to financial transactions in a public...
, Will gets shot, taking a bullet for Carlton and is sent to the hospital (eventually recovering from his injuries); Carlton acquires a firearm later in the episode, as the event heightens his awareness of the need for self-defense, but later disposes of the handgun upon Will's insistence.
One running gag in the show involves Carlton repeatedly being slapped in the back of the head by various characters, usually in response to comments that are ridiculously self-centered (in later seasons, for example, he would often make humorous comments about gaining his father's inheritance) or due to portraying ignorance of lives other than his own. Often Will would ask to hold what Carlton is holding and once receiving it he would slap Carlton across the head with the object (e.g. a folder containing Will's testament written by Carlton, in "Ill Will"). Carlton's height is frequently made fun of, especially by Will, who, in the episode "Grumpy Young Men", jokes that Carlton is the average height for a woman.
He is sometimes portrayed as being extremely naive. An example is when, in the episode Mistaken Identity, he and Will are arrested after police officers falsely believe that they stole a Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
belonging to Philip's law firm partner, who requested Will and Carlton drive the vehicle to Palm Springs
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...
as a favor. At the end, Carlton insists that the policemen were only doing their job, not really accepting the fact that he and Will were victims of racial profiling
Racial profiling
Racial profiling refers to the use of an individual’s race or ethnicity by law enforcement personnel as a key factor in deciding whether to engage in enforcement...
. However, he seems to wonder if they were wrong, as when he asks his father if he (Phil) were a policeman if he would pull over someone who was driving too slow, for which Phil answers: "I asked myself the same thing the first time I was stopped"; after that, Carlton seems in deep thought over the situation. Although he was portrayed early on as a snobby rich kid, Carlton evolved after having his view challenged when arrested for "stealing a car" and when Will is shot, Carlton is angered that the shooter will probably not face justice for harming Will.
In the sixth and final season, Carlton finally gains transfer admission to Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
(an unlikely situation in reality, since Princeton generally does not accept transfer students) and leaves for the east coast in the series finale.
Carlton Banks age is consistent in the series: in season two, she is said to be 21 in the episodes "Ill Will" and "Striptease For Two". In season three, she is said to be 21 in the episodes "Will Gets Committed", "A Night At The Oprah", "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum" and "The Cold War" and 22 in the episode "The Best Laid Plans". In season four, she is said to be 22 in the episode "Father Of The Year" and 23 in the episode "Mother's Day".
Hilary Banks
- Nickname by Will: "Hil"
- Nickname by Geoffrey: "Miss Hilary"
Hilary Violet Banks (played by Karyn Parsons
Karyn Parsons
Karyn Parsons is an American television and film actress and model best known for the role of Hilary Banks on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.-Early life:...
), born August 18, 1969, is Will's attractive, but dull-witted, eldest cousin, known for her notable lack of intelligence, her pretentious attitude, for being spoiled, and her dependence on Geoffrey.
In earlier seasons, Hilary's snobbishness is emphasized, as well as her shallow trendy environmental activism. During this time, she often claimed to hobnob with celebrities and loved being mistaken by people for Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
. Later on, Hilary is written as a self-centered airhead; she looks down on Will's upbringing and is obsessed with shopping and money (this is shown early in the series; her first line of the show is "Dad, I need $300!," which she intended to spend on a hat). However, despite her apparent shallow personality, she has a strong sense of integrity and shows obvious affection to her family members; Will gets along with her better than with Carlton does, though Will is at times bewildered by Hilary's lapses of intelligence. Hilary is portrayed as a stereotypical valley girl
Valley girl
Valley Girl is a stereotype leveled at a socio-economic and ethnic class of American women who can be described as colloquial English-speaking and materialistic...
and speaks with some strong valspeak
Valspeak
Valleyspeak or Valspeak is a common name for an American sociolect, originally of Los Angeles, California, in particular Valley girls. This stereotype, which originated in the 1970s, became an international fad for a certain period...
habits, in spite of her disdain for the San Fernando Valley
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
(as evidenced in two season three episodes: in "Asses to Ashes", when talking about what heaven and hell might be like, she describes hell to be "like, the Valley"; in "Robbing the Banks", when Will lets it slip to Hilary, Carlton and Ashley that Luther, whom Philip was coaxed into hiring to help around the house while Vivian and Geoffrey were each on vacation, spent time "in the pen
Penitentiary
Penitentiary may refer to:* Prison or penitentiary, a correctional facility* Apostolic Penitentiary, a tribunal of mercy, responsible for issues relating to the forgiveness of sins in the Roman Catholic Church* Penitentiary...
", Hilary responds "The pen, please tell me that's slang for the Valley").
During the series, Hilary attends and drops out of UCLA, after which she begins a long streak of varying luck that eventually lands her a nationally-syndicated daytime talk show titled Hilary. It starts when she becomes a weather reporter at a local television station, where she meets and falls in love with the station's lead news anchor Trevor Collins (Brian Stokes Mitchell
Brian Stokes Mitchell
Brian Stokes Mitchell is an American stage, film and television actor. A powerful baritone, he has been one of the central leading men of the Broadway theatre since the early 1990s...
). However, Trevor dies in a bungee jumping
Bungee jumping
Bungee jumping is an activity that involves jumping from a tall structure while connected to a large elastic cord. The tall structure is usually a fixed object, such as a building, bridge or crane; but it is also possible to jump from a movable object, such as a hot-air-balloon or helicopter, that...
accident while proposing marriage in the episode "Where There's a Will, There's a Way", part of an ill-conceived live televised event that Hilary and the rest of the Banks family watch at home on the living room television. At the conclusion of the series, Hilary's talk show moves to New York City, as does most of the rest of the Banks family.
Hilary's hair styles have changed as the series progressed; early in the series it was brown and bushy, it then became longer and curly with blonde highlights, but later it was black, straight, and shoulder-length.
Ashley Banks
- Nickname by Will: "Ash"
- Nickname by Geoffrey: "Miss Ashley"
- Nickname by Vivian and Philip: "Ashley Honey"
Ashley Banks (played by Tatyana Ali
Tatyana Ali
Tatyana Marisol Ali is an American actress and R&B singer, best known for her childhood role as Ashley Banks on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air...
) is Will's younger cousin, born April 29, 1979. Ashley was Vivian's baby girl, and always loved being with her mom. Phillip was always trying to control Ashley's life so she did not become anything like regular teenage girls. Will's devil-may-care approach to life proved to be an exciting alternative, which makes her generally more sympathetic and understanding towards him than other members of the Banks family; with that being, Ashley looked up to Will as a big brother and spent much time following him in her younger days.
Possibly because of Will's influence towards Ashley, she often acts rebelliously as she gets older, for which her father becomes very angry at Will. One of these moments is in the episode Father Knows Best, which reveals that she dropped out of her private school and enrolled in secret at a public high school and was planning to hide this from her parents as long as possible; though after a failed plot in which Will posed as Ashley's father when she is asked to attend a parent-teacher conference
Parent-teacher conference
A parent-teacher conference is a short meeting or conference between the parents and teachers of students to discuss children's progress at school and ways for improvement...
, Will eventually convinces Ashley to come clean. She also spends less time with Will and sometimes gets upset with him when he becomes overprotective like Philip to the point of showing a great deal of annoyance and contempt. She believed that she was old enough to make her own decisions when it comes to boys which neither Will nor Uncle Phil enjoyed hearing or believed. Phillip never enjoyed having Ashley grow up.
Ashley's age is inconsisent throughout the series: in season one, she is said to be 9 in the episode "Bang the Drum, Ashley" and is 10 in the episode "Deck the Halls", but turns 12 in the episode "Just Infatuation"; a few episodes of seasons two and three, starting with the season two premiere "Did the Earth Move for You", reference Ashley as being 13, while she is 15 in the season five episode "It's a Wonderful Lie" and 17 in the season six episode "Eye, Tooth".
Ashley matures very much in the series; she becomes a one-hit wonder
One-hit wonder
A one-hit wonder is a person or act known mainly for only a single success. The term is most often used to describe music performers with only one hit single.-Characteristics:...
with a hit song called "Make Up Your Mind" in the season five premiere "What's Will Got to Do With It?"/"The Client", however her career quickly fizzles out when her album doesn't sell because as the agent Philip hired to replace Will mentioned "kids got sick of her [song]", when it gets too much exposure. Beginning in the episode "Breaking Up is Hard to Do", she also strives to become a fashion model after being discovered by the president of a modeling agency at her job at a mall food court
Food court
A food court is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food vendors and provides a common area for self-serve dining. Food courts may be found in shopping malls and airports, and in various regions may be a standalone development...
hot dog stand.
In the series finale, Ashley decides to attend a performing arts school in New York City. As Hilary is also moving to New York when it is announced that her talk show is relocating there, the two sisters decide to live together; they become extremely excited about the whole idea, much to the annoyance of Phillip, who does not want to lose his daughters. In the episode "The Baby Comes Out", where her brother Nicky is born, Ashley mentions she knew how to drive since she was 12 years old.
Nicky Banks
- Nickname by Will: "Little man"
- Nickname by Geoffrey: "Master Nicky"
Nicholas Andrew Michael Shawn Nathan Wanyá Banks (played by Ross Bagley
Ross Bagley
Ross Elliot Bagley is an American actor. Most popular as a child actor during the mid-1990s, he is best known for his role as Nicholas "Nicky" Banks the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air from 1994-1996.-Career:...
for the final two seasons) is born to Philip and Vivian on February 22, 1993, toward the end of the third season. Except by one episode, when Carlton professionally calls him "Nicholas", every member of the family calls him by his nickname, Nicky.
The character was primarily used as a plot device
Plot device
A plot device is an object or character in a story whose sole purpose is to advance the plot of the story, or alternatively to overcome some difficulty in the plot....
, often adding motivation for other characters, comic relief, or an emotional punch to the show's storyline. In the fifth season, Nicky grows from a newborn infant to a preschooler, which is common in television series and soap operas
Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome
Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome is a term used to describe the practice of accelerating the age of a television character in conflict with the timeline of a series and/or the real-world progression of time. Characters unseen on screen for a time might reappear portrayed by an actor several years...
. In the fifth season premiere "What's Will Got to Do With It", the first episode to feature this change, Jazz expresses amazement while Will just stares uneasily into the camera.
Four of his middle names are taken from the names of the members of the R&B group Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men is an American R&B vocal group best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are the most successful R&B group of all time, having sold more than albums worldwide. In the 1990s, Boyz II Men found fame on Motown Records as a quartet, but original member Michael McCary...
; he was middle-named this way after they performed at his christening in the season four episode ""; however in the season three episode "The Baby Comes Out", Philip addresses Nicky's full name, with a middle name already given, as "Nicholas Andrew Banks".
Geoffrey Barbara Butler
- Nickname by Will: "G"
Geoffrey Barbara Butler (played by Joseph Marcell
Joseph Marcell
Joseph Marcell is a St. Lucian-born British actor, best known for his work as Geoffrey the English butler on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.-Early life and career:...
), born in Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia is an island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 620 km2 and has an...
in August 1947, serves as the Banks family's cynical
Cynicism
Cynicism , in its original form, refers to the beliefs of an ancient school of Greek philosophers known as the Cynics . Their philosophy was that the purpose of life was to live a life of Virtue in agreement with Nature. This meant rejecting all conventional desires for wealth, power, health, and...
butler
Butler
A butler is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some also have charge of the entire parlour floor, and housekeepers caring for the entire house and its...
. Geoffrey is the first character that appears on screen in the pilot episode The Fresh Prince Project. He is seen going to answer the door to Will, who mistakes him for Philip.
In addition to four years at the University of Oxford and a long career working for British aristocrats, Geoffrey was an Olympic runner several years before being hired by the Banks family (as revealed in the episode "It's Better to Have Loved and Lost It..." from the fourth season, when Geoffrey shows the Banks family a videotape of a documentary called Shame of a Nation), but fled his home country in shame after being exposed for cheating while participating in the men's marathon at the 1976 Summer Olympics
1976 Summer Olympics
The 1976 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1976. Montreal was awarded the rights to the 1976 Games on May 12, 1970, at the 69th IOC Session in Amsterdam, over the bids of Moscow and...
in Montreal, winning a Gold Medal at the marathon only because he had taken a cab ride to the stadium parking lot; Shortly after receiving his medal, Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
, who apparently presented the medals, got word of Geoffrey's cheating, pushing aside the bronze medalist to hit Geoffrey with her purse and rip the medal off his neck; Geoffrey then ran from the stadium in shame. In the 1970s, he was a butler for the band Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
. In the early 1980s, Geoffrey was sparring butler for Chuck Norris
Chuck Norris
Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris is an American martial artist and actor. After serving in the United States Air Force, he began his rise to fame as a martial artist and has since founded his own school, Chun Kuk Do...
. In the episode Nice Lady, he reveals having practiced Greco-Roman wrestling
Greco-Roman wrestling
Greco-Roman wrestling is a style of wrestling that is practised worldwide. It was contested at the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 and has been included in every edition of the summer Olympics held since 1908. Two wrestlers are scored for their performance in three two-minute periods, which can...
in his youth.
Geoffrey's character changes over the series: in early episodes, he is very dutiful and gentlemanly, whereas he becomes very cynical in later episodes. Joseph Marcell explains that he began by playing Geoffrey as stereotypically English but then felt that the American audience was not accustomed to seeing Black Englishmen
Black British
Black British is a term used to describe British people of Black African descent, especially those of Afro-Caribbean background. The term has been used from the 1950s to refer to Black people from former British colonies in the West Indies and Africa, who are residents of the United Kingdom and...
. Geoffrey's favorite television program (as revealed in the pilot episode) is Masterpiece Theater, which he routinely watches when he goes off duty at 9 pm
Geoffrey always refers to Will as "Master William" (except once in part two of the series finale "I, Done", at Will's request) and the other Banks children as "Master Carlton", "Miss Hilary", "Miss Ashley", and "Master Nicky". Known for his sarcasm
Sarcasm
Sarcasm is “a sharp, bitter, or cutting expression or remark; a bitter jibe or taunt.” Though irony and understatement is usually the immediate context, most authorities distinguish sarcasm from irony; however, others argue that sarcasm may or often does involve irony or employs...
, he is the voice of caustic humor on the show, often commenting on Philip's weight, his own low pay, his lack of a social or romantic life, the overall laziness
Laziness
Laziness is a disinclination to activity or exertion despite having the ability to do so. It is often used as a pejorative; related terms for a person seen to be lazy include couch potato, slacker, and bludger....
of the family, or Will's goofiness. However, Geoffrey did seem to impress women by having the confidence to be himself, such as when he was set up on a blind date with a Black English woman (played by Naomi Campbell
Naomi Campbell
Naomi Campbell is a British model. Scouted at the age of 15, she established herself among the top three most recognisable and in-demand models of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and she was one of six models of her generation declared "supermodels" by the fashion world...
).
In early episodes, he has an interest in classical music and is often hinted at as leading a vibrant private life. Ironically, although a stickler for tradition, he incorrectly tells Will it is proper to refer to a butler by his first name, although this is possibly because his surname and job title are the same. He considers himself to be part of the English working-class, despite speaking the Queen's English and, in one episode, being wary of a relationship with a rich woman.
He becomes the godfather of Nicky Banks in the fourth season episode "Twas the Night Before Christening", after Vivian tires of the bickering amongst her sisters Vy and Helen and noted that no one has been more devoted to her youngest son than Geoffrey has. Midway into the sixth season, Geoffrey discovers he has a son he never knew about, named Frederick, born to a former lover. During the same episode, it is also revealed that his middle name is "Barbara", which he explains is a "family name". In the series finale "I, Done", Geoffrey leaves to be with his son in London; however, in the fourth season episode "'Twas the Night Before Christening", a sequence
Sequence
In mathematics, a sequence is an ordered list of objects . Like a set, it contains members , and the number of terms is called the length of the sequence. Unlike a set, order matters, and exactly the same elements can appear multiple times at different positions in the sequence...
set in 1998 (two years after the ending of the series) portrays him as still being the Banks family's butler.
There are two running gags centered around Geoffrey. One is that he is often compared to or confused with Benson, from the series with the same name
Benson (TV series)
Benson is an American television sitcom which aired from September 13, 1979, to April 19, 1986, on ABC. The series was a spin-off from the soap opera parody Soap ; however, Benson discarded the...
. The other, which is more common is that whenever the doorbell rings, everyone continues with what they were previously doing, or look to Geoffrey, prompting Geoffrey to say "oh, please, will you let me get it this time?" or some variation, in a sarcastic tone. He is very similar to Niles, from The Nanny, as they are both British butlers, both went to Oxford, and both have the same sarcastic personality.
Jazz
- Nickname by Will: "Jazz, man" (also "J")
Jazz was portrayed by Will Smith
Will Smith
Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood...
's musical partner Jeffrey A. Townes, popularly known as D.J. Jazzy Jeff
DJ Jazzy Jeff
Jeffrey Allen Townes , also known as DJ Jazzy Jeff or simply Jazz, is an American hip hop, R&B record producer, turntablist and actor. He is best known for his early career with Will Smith as DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince...
. Jazz was born on May 20, 1971 and is Will's ill-mannered and dim-witted best friend who lives in the inner-city community of Compton, California
Compton, California
Compton is a city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, southeast of downtown Los Angeles. The city of Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county and on May 11, 1888, was the eighth city to incorporate. The city is considered part of the South side by residents of Los...
. He has had a long-standing crush on Hilary Banks, and almost every time his advances are rejected. Jazz eventually marries a prison inmate named Jewel who had appeared on an episode of COPS
COPS (TV series)
Cops is an American documentary/reality television series that follows police officers, constables, and sheriff's deputies during patrols and other police activities...
, in which she bites the arm of a police officer (this is not shown although the officer is heard calling for police backup because of this). In the season four episode "Mother's Day", Jewel reveals that she and Jazz are expecting a baby, though no other mention of their child is ever made after that point. He divorces her shortly afterward, realizing he knows nothing about her, finding out that she cheated on Jazz with several men and that her real name is not even Jewel (it is Hortense). Jazz is almost completely tactless, and succeeds in insulting or irritating Philip almost every time they are together. He knows how to play the drums very well, and once gave Ashley a lesson in the episode his character is introduced "Bang the Drum, Ashley". Jazz wears sunglasses in nearly every episode he is seen. In an early episode of season one, Jazz wears regular glasses
Glasses
Glasses, also known as eyeglasses , spectacles or simply specs , are frames bearing lenses worn in front of the eyes. They are normally used for vision correction or eye protection. Safety glasses are a kind of eye protection against flying debris or against visible and near visible light or...
for the entire episode instead of his trademark sunglasses. In the episode "Cased Up" the following season, Hilary asks her boyfriend (Malcolm-Jamal Warner
Malcolm-Jamal Warner
Malcolm-Jamal Warner is an American television actor, film director, and musician. He is best known for his role as Theo Huxtable on the long-running NBC sitcom The Cosby Show. Additionally, he appeared as Malcolm McGee on the UPN sitcom Malcolm & Eddie. He is currently starring as Dr...
) to take off his glasses; thinking she was speaking to him, Jazz charmingly removes his glasses, revealing his eyes.
In a recurring gag throughout the series, Philip usually ends up literally throwing or, as it was referred to the first time, dropkick
Dropkick
A dropkick is an attacking maneuver in professional wrestling. It is defined as an attack where the wrestler jumps up and kicks the opponent with the soles of both feet; this sees the wrestler twist as he or she jumps so that when the feet connect with the opponent one foot is raised higher than...
ing Jazz out of the house, though sometimes Hilary, Geoffrey, Vivian, and even Will (the only character other than Philip to do it more than once) throw him out. Whenever Jazz is thrown out of the house, he is usually wearing the same clothes; it was decided to use the same clip of Jazz being thrown out the front door as often as possible rather than returning to the exterior location each time (the reuse of the clip is evidenced by the sudden noise of a sprinkler
Irrigation sprinkler
Irrigation sprinklers are sprinklers used on farms, golf courses, and yards, to provide water to vegetation and plants in the event of drought. They may also be used for recreation, as a cooling system, or to keep down the amount of airborne dust....
whenever Jazz is thrown out). Will was once on the receiving end of this punishment after making egregious changes to Philip's political campaign
Political campaign
A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, wherein representatives are chosen or referendums are decided...
tape in "A Night at the Oprah", and in a similar joke was thrown out of a nightclub while trying to dance with Geoffrey's blind date in "Kiss My Butler". During the 1993 Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
episode "Hex and the Single Guy", Jazz got revenge by throwing Philip out instead, as the main plot to the story was that misfortune
Misfortune
Misfortune is an Italian fairy tale, from Palermo, collected by Italo Calvino in his Italian Folktales.Another telling of the tale appears under the title Unfortunate in A Book of Enchantments and Curses, by Ruth Manning-Sanders.-Synopsis:...
plagued the Banks family following a so-called "hex
Curse
A curse is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to some other entity—one or more persons, a place, or an object...
" from a con
Confidence trick
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. A confidence artist is an individual working alone or in concert with others who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as dishonesty and honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility,...
psychic
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
communicator. This was later shown to be in a dream
Dream
Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, philosophical intrigue and religious...
Will was having, though when he woke up, the dream appeared to be a premonition, and it was implied that the whole ordeal may truly happen indeed. There was also an instance where Jazz was standing outside of the house, taunting Philip because he was already standing outside; as a result, Philip throws him inside the house. In another episode, Jazz was thrown out in the backyard along with a cardboard cutout of Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...
that he was lugging around. There was also a scene at Jazz's apartment in episode "How I Spent My Summer Vacation," where Jazz throws Will out of his apartment. In this same episode, it is briefly mentioned by Geoffrey that Philip did also throw Will out of the house onto the front lawn when he was leaving the house, but was never shown. There was a time when Vivian threw Jazz out through the back door for saying that he would bring a stripper
Stripper
A stripper is a professional erotic dancer who performs a contemporary form of striptease at strip club establishments, public exhibitions, and private engagements. Unlike in burlesque, the performer in the modern Americanized form of stripping minimizes the interaction of customer and dancer,...
to Will's birthday party. At the beginning of the episode "Cased Up," a nighttime version of the shot is used, with crickets as a sound effect (though the actual video of Jazz getting thrown out is simply darkened for effect).
Jazz's last appearance was in the first part of the series finale
Series finale
A series finale refers to the last installment of a series with a narrative presented through mediums such as television, film and literature. In many Commonwealth countries, the term final episode is commonly used in regards to a television series...
"I, Done", in which he gave Philip his grandmother's teeth as a gift for Philip's 50th birthday, because Jazz thought Philip was getting old. Thus, Philip was once again angry and threw Jazz out of the house (it is actually mentioned that Philip broke his previous record in tossing him). After the house had been sold in the second part of the episode and Will had found an apartment, Philip was the only person to mention Jazz when asking when he was coming by to help Will pack, to which Will responded, "As soon as you leave." Philip was not surprised, but he did want to wish Jazz luck in the future.
Vy Smith-Wilkes
Viola "Vy" Smith-Wilkes, portrayed by Vernee Watson-JohnsonVernee Watson-Johnson
Vernee Watson-Johnson is an American actress. She is best known for her recurring roles as Vernajean Williams on Welcome Back, Kotter and as Viola "Vy" Smith on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, playing the mother of Will Smith's character.She played a small role on Sister, Sister as Lisa's best...
, is Vivian's oldest sister and Will's loving mother. However, she is quite rude and violent to many around her. It was her idea that Will should go to Bel Air to get a good education and avoid a life of violence in their West Philadelphia
West Philadelphia
West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Though there is no official definition of its boundaries, it is generally considered to reach from the western shore of the Schuylkill River, to City Line Avenue to the northwest, Cobbs Creek to the southwest, and...
neighborhood. Vy works as a supervisor at the post office. It was due to this she opposed the decision when Janice decides to marry Frank, a white man. Though by their next encounter she is more acceptable. Vy eventually marries Lisa Wilkes' father after Will and Lisa call off their second wedding attempt. However, it is unknown whether or not the marriage lasts, since in Vy's next appearance, Mr. Wilkes is not seen or mentioned. Her maiden name and married name were previously the same, as Will's father was named Lou Smith.
Hattie Banks
- Nicknames by Will: "Granny" or "DJ Granny"
Hattie Banks, played by Virginia Capers
Virginia Capers
Eliza Virginia Capers was an American actress.-Early life:Born in Sumter, South Carolina, Capers attended Howard University and studied voice at the Juilliard School in New York City. She made her Broadway debut in Jamaica in 1957...
, is Philip's mother, having appeared in six episodes over the series' run. She forms a close affinity with Will (to the point where he sees her as his grandmother) and even falls for some of his pranks, much to Philip's irritation. She embarrasses Philip by telling stories of his humble origins and refers to him by his childhood name "Zeke."
Joe Banks
- Nickname by Will: "Grandpa"
Joe Banks, played by Gilbert Lewis
Gilbert Lewis
Gilbert Lewis is an American actor who is best known for playing The King of Cartoons in the first season of the 1986 children's show, Pee-wee's Playhouse. Lewis played the King of Cartoons in thirteen episodes before being replaced by actor, William Marshall...
, was Philip's father, having appeared in only one episode, "Not With My Pig, You Don't". His death sometime later (offscreen) left Phillip and Hattie feeling lost.
Kellogg Lieberbaum
- Nickname by Will: "Cornflake"
Kellogg Lieberbaum (played by Michael Weiner
Michael Weiner (actor)
Michael Weiner is an American actor and composer. He is probably best known for his occasional role of "Kellogg 'Cornflake' Lieberbaum" on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. As a composer, Weiner co-produced the soundtrack album and wrote the score for the 1999 movie Man of the Century. -External links:...
) was a classmate and friend of Will and Carlton at Bel-Air Academy. Most of his appearances were in the first season, but he makes two appearances in the second season as well. As a pun on Kellogg's Corn Flakes
Corn flakes
Corn flakes are a popular breakfast cereal originally manufactured by Kellogg's through the treatment of maize. A patent for the product was filed on May 31, 1895, and issued on April 14, 1896.-History:...
, he is nicknamed "Cornflake" by Will. Much of the humor of his character comes from the dissonance of an unassuming Jewish preppie using such phrases as "She is one fly sister" and "Power to the people – say it loud: I'm black and I'm proud!"
Tyriq Johnson
- Nickname by Will: "Ty"
Tyriq Johnson, portrayed by Perry Moore, is one of Will's close friends in Bel-Air, who appears frequently in season 2. He is described in the episode "Eyes on the Prize" (wherein he and Jazz compete against Will and Carlton on a televised game show) as "Bel-Air's oldest tenth grader," a lover of frozen pizza, and a fan of Laverne and Shirley reruns. His father's name is also revealed as "Winky" in this episode.
Trevor Collins/Newsworthy
Trevor (portrayed by Brian Stokes MitchellBrian Stokes Mitchell
Brian Stokes Mitchell is an American stage, film and television actor. A powerful baritone, he has been one of the central leading men of the Broadway theatre since the early 1990s...
) was Hilary's news anchor fiancé back in 1992 and co-worker at the television station at which they both worked. Trevor often gave himself compliments. Also, he always left the air and the Banks' mansion by saying, "Goodnight and Godspeed." He was originally referred to as "Trevor Collins", but later episodes established his surname as "Newsworthy." He eventually proposes to Hilary, but she insists that he officially proposes on live television later that day. Trevor then proposes to her on television while bungee jumping
Bungee jumping
Bungee jumping is an activity that involves jumping from a tall structure while connected to a large elastic cord. The tall structure is usually a fixed object, such as a building, bridge or crane; but it is also possible to jump from a movable object, such as a hot-air-balloon or helicopter, that...
, and dies during the stunt when something goes wrong with the jump and he hits the ground. Hilary mourns his death by bringing back what she presumes to be Trevor's ashes in an urn
Urn
An urn is a vase, ordinarily covered, that usually has a narrowed neck above a footed pedestal. "Knife urns" placed on pedestals flanking a dining-room sideboard were an English innovation for high-style dining rooms of the late 1760s...
, but later learns that Trevor was not cremated, and that she grabbed a stranger's urn. His death continues to haunt Hilary for the next few episodes and his memory, unlike almost everything else (including Trevor's very name), never leaves her mind.
Helen Smith
Helen Smith, portrayed by Jenifer LewisJenifer Lewis
Jenifer Jeanette Lewis is an American film and television actress and singer.-Early life:Lewis was born in Kinloch, Missouri, to a nurse's aid mother and a factory worker father. She attended college at Webster University in Webster Groves, Missouri...
, is Vivian's loud-mouthed younger sister. She has frequent marriage difficulties with her husband Lester, whom she finally divorces, leaving him with custody over their son Bobby.
Janice Smith
- Nickname by Will: "Aunt J"
Janice Smith, played by Charlayne Woodard
Charlayne Woodard
Charlaine "Charlayne" Woodard is an American film, stage and television actress and playwright. She has written four plays, titled Pretty Fire, Neat, In Real Life, which she starred in, and "Flight"....
, is the youngest of the Smith sisters, flighty according to Vivian, and married to a white man named Frank (portrayed by Diedrich Bader
Diedrich Bader
Karl Diedrich Bader , better known as Diedrich Bader, is an American actor, voice artist and comedian. Many know him for his roles as Oswald Lee Harvey on The Drew Carey Show, Lawrence from the film Office Space, the Tae Kwon Do instructor Rex from Napoleon Dynamite, Tank "Shredder" Evans in Surf's...
in Season 2, Robert Torti
Robert Torti
Robert Felix Torti is an American actor.Torti was born in Van Nuys, California. He married DeLee Lively on June 24, 1999. Together, they have three children.-Filmography:*Quincy M.E....
in one episode in Season 3), a marriage older sister Vy initially objects to. She also appears in the series with a baby son.
Judge Carl Robertson
Judge Carl Robertson was played by Sherman HemsleySherman Hemsley
Sherman Alexander Hemsley is an American actor, most famous for his role as George Jefferson on the CBS television series All in the Family and The Jeffersons, and as Deacon Ernest Frye on the NBC series Amen. He also played Earl Sinclair's horrifying boss, a Triceratops named B.P...
. This man was a cunning lawyer and a one-time mentor to Phil. Judge Robertson visits a few times during the show, and is known for being eccentric and mischievous. He also appears to have become greatly absent-minded, but makes up for this with his boundless charisma.
Philip begins to question the competence of his mentor and runs against him in the race for Superior Court judge and loses, largely due to Robertson's outrageous smear campaign against Phil. However, at the victory party where he is confronted by Will, Judge Robertson suffers a fatal heart attack, although it appeared that he suddenly died at the "voice" of Will who inadvertently told him to drop dead. The incident leaves Will guilt-ridden, but at the funeral it is shown that quite a few people who knew the judge are quite happy to see him gone. They revealed that he was quite promiscuous and wrongly convicted those he prosecuted, and most of them attended just to make sure he was dead, actually applauding Will for his act. The state then appoints Phillip to take Judge Robertson's seat.
Though Robertson dies in the third season, Hemsley played his other character George Jefferson
George Jefferson
George Jefferson is a fictional character played by Sherman Hemsley in American television sitcoms All in the Family and its spin-off The Jeffersons...
from The Jeffersons
The Jeffersons
The Jeffersons is an American sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, through June 25, 1985, lasting 11 seasons and a total of 253 episodes. The show was produced by the T.A.T. Communications Company from 1975–1982 and by Embassy Television from 1982-1985...
in the series later. Hemsley as Jefferson appeared in the Season 5 episode "Will is from Mars...", where he is with his wife (Isabel Sanford
Isabel Sanford
Isabel Sanford was an American actress best known for her role as Louise "Weezy" Jefferson on the CBS television sitcoms All in the Family and The Jeffersons .-Career:...
as Louise Jefferson
Louise Jefferson
Louise Jefferson was a supporting character, portrayed by Emmy Award-winning actress Isabel Sanford, who appeared first on the television series All in the Family. She later became one of the main characters in its spinoff series, The Jeffersons...
) at counseling with Will and Lisa. George Jefferson also appears in the very last episode of Season 6.
Lou Smith
Lou Smith (played by Ben VereenBen Vereen
Ben Vereen is an American actor, dancer, and singer who has appeared in numerous Broadway theatre shows. Vereen graduated from Manhattan's High School of Performing Arts.- Early years :...
) was a one-time character, appearing only in the episode "Papa's Got a Brand New Excuse." He is Will's biological father, and a trucker. Lou abandoned his family (Will and Viola "Vy" Smith ) when Will was 5-years-old, and explains his motives for leaving by saying he "felt trapped."
Lou drops in unannounced at the Peacock café where Will and Carlton work. Will invites Lou to the Banks' residence, but when he arrives, he is unwelcomed; Vivian and Phillip want nothing to do with him, especially Phillip, who roars at Lou "how dare you show your face in my house". Will and his father go to a carnival where Lou explains to him he was not ready to be a father. When they return to the house, Lou announces that Will is joining him for the summer on a nationwide trip in Lou's truck. Philip objects to this because he believes Lou will let Will down again. After Lou leaves the mansion to go to the pool house, Will and Philip get into a heated argument that ended with Will berating Phil as he is not his biological father. Philip is hurt and begins wondering if he is a good father to his own kids. He apologizes to Will the next day and wishes him good luck.
After a while, the family is still waiting for Lou to return. Lou eventually shows up, telling them he has found a "big" new job that will not afford enough space for Will. Provoked, Philip challenges Lou, first by offering to buy Will a plane ticket to Augusta, Maine
Augusta, Maine
Augusta is the capital of the US state of Maine, county seat of Kennebec County, and center of population for Maine. The city's population was 19,136 at the 2010 census, making it the third-smallest state capital after Montpelier, Vermont and Pierre, South Dakota...
so Will can meet up with Lou, then by bluntly reminding him of his responsibility to Will, and explains that being there for his family is what a man does. However, Lou refuses to listen. Will then walks in before Lou can duck out, again. Lou tells Will that he cannot take him along because of his job, and promises to call him "next week". Lou leaves and Will, feeling hurt and betrayed, rants angrily against his father before breaking down in tears. Having seen his father abandoning him a second time, Will accepts the fact that Uncle Phil is the closest to a father he's ever had.
During the beginning of the episode, Will had trouble referring to Lou as his father. However, in the amusement park, he finally felt close enough to his dad so that he could call him dad. When he comes to leave with his dad, he calls out, "Daddy-o!". However, when Lou tells Will he has to leave, He tells Will he will see him around and Will replies with, "You too, Lou". In that one moment, all affection Will had regained towards his father was gone. Will was now reserved and formal once again, and had silently made the decision to never speak to Lou anymore.
The episode fades out with Will hugging Uncle Phil tightly and sobbing as the only sounds being heard. The camera fades in on a statuette of an apparent father figure embracing his son in his lap, displaying the symbolism of a father always being there for his son. This gift had been purchased by Will, intending it for his father.
Although Lou never reappeared after this, Will was so hurt by the incident that he developed a deep resentment towards his father whenever he was mentioned. In a later episode, during a heated argument with Carlton, Carlton insulted Will by comparing him to his father. Shaking with anger, he calmly but clearly stated, "I am nothing like my father!" In an earlier episode before Lou's appearance, when Phil suffers a heart attack and Carlton is in denial, Will confronts Carlton to go visit Phil in the hospital. Will wins the argument using reverse psychology
Reverse psychology
Reverse psychology is a technique involving the advocacy of a belief or behavior that is opposite to the one desired, with the expectation that this approach will encourage the subject of the persuasion to do what actually is desired: the opposite of what is suggested...
by reminding Carlton he has a father who is always there for his children when Will asks Carlton "Do you know where my father is"? When Carlton answers in the negative, Will rebuts "Well, neither do I!"
It is unknown if Lou ever called Will again.
Lisa Wilkes
Beulah "Lisa" Wilkes , portrayed by Nia LongNia Long
Nia Talita Long is an American actress and occasional music video director. She is best known for her roles in the television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Third Watch, and the films Boiler Room, Soul Food, Love Jones, The Best Man, Big Momma's House, Big Momma's House 2, Are We There...
, was introduced in the fifth season episode, "Will's Misery," as the girlfriend who tames Will into forsaking his womanizing ways.
The two fall deeply in love and are engaged to be married, going so far as the ceremonies twice, but never actually tie the knot. The first time, they elope to Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
and try a Shaft
Shaft (1971 film)
Shaft is a 1971 American blaxploitation film directed by Gordon Parks, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. An action film with elements of film noir, Shaft tells the story of a black private detective, John Shaft, who travels through Harlem and to the Italian mob neighborhoods in order to find the...
-themed wedding, but walk out on the ceremony after being interrupted so many times and realizing they were not ready. The second time they try to get married, Will starts feeling some doubts, especially when he notices that, like Jazz, he also knows very little about Lisa, culminating in him asking if Lisa is her real first name, upon which she reveals it's actually Beulah. Will manages to overcome these doubts but Lisa reveals that she is also having doubts and the two decide not to marry. She is never seen again.
The night before the wedding Lisa and Will send Vy and Lisa's father to a restaurant to get to know each other and they are caught sleeping together. When Lisa and Will cut their second wedding short, he and Will's mother decide not to let the ceremony go to waste; they get married right then and there, Lisa and Will become step-siblings.
Long also played Claudia in the episode "She Ain't Heavy", where she played the role of a stupid date Will took to the dance when Dee Dee (Queen Latifah
Queen Latifah
Dana Elaine Owens , better known by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American singer, rapper, and actress. Her work in music, film and television has earned her a Golden Globe award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Image Awards, a Grammy Award, six additional Grammy nominations, an Emmy...
) did not answer his calls.
Jackie Ames
Jackie Ames, portrayed by Tyra BanksTyra Banks
Tyra Lynne Banks is an American model, media personality, actress, occasional singer, author and businesswoman. She first became famous as a model, but television appearances were her commercial breakthrough...
, was introduced in "Where There's A Will, There's a Way (Part 1)" in season four. At first, Carlton believed that Jackie was "the girl of his dreams" after she told off some people who were making fun of his peacock costume (Carlton participated in football games as ULA's mascot, the peacock). Later that night, at a party, Will discovers that this girl Carlton was talking about was Jackie, a girl he had known but did not keep in touch with back in Philly. She is initially upset that he did not attempt to contact her, but eventually forgives him.
As manager of The Peacock Stop, Jackie is the object of Will's affection and frequent come-ons, but continually spurns his advances, deeming him too immature. The two were old childhood friends from Philadelphia, but she feels Will has not grown up since those days. There are certain innuendos indicating she still has feelings for Will. Jackie seems to warm more to Carlton, arguably because she sees him as more mature and stable than Will, although she is not as keen on dancing to Bobby Vinton
Bobby Vinton
Bobby Vinton is an American pop music singer of Polish origin. In pop music circles, he became known as "The Polish Prince".-Early life:...
as is Carlton. However Jackie moves on from Will for good when Will challenges a jock to a drinking game while at a stag party. After being rebuffed by both Will and the football player
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
when she tries to stop them, she has Carlton drive her home and is never heard from again.
Other guest stars
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Leeza Gibbons Leeza Kim Gibbons is an American talk show host. Gibbons is the host of her own radio show, Hollywood Confidential, part of the United Stations radio syndication company.-Early life:... Lark Voorhies Lark Voorhies is an American actress who rose to fame playing Lisa Turtle in Saved by the Bell, for which she was nominated for the Young Artist Award four times, winning in 1990 and 1993. She also portrayed the role as a regular on Good Morning, Miss Bliss.-Acting career:Voorhies made her acting... Riddick Bowe Riddick Lamont Bowe is a retired American boxer. He is a two-time heavyweight champion and a former undisputed heavyweight champion... Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the... 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(*) – Played more than one character.