About
Reginald VelJohnson (born Reginald Johnson; August 16, 1952) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying police officers on screen, such as Sergeant Al Powell in the Die Hard franchise and Carl Winslow in the television sitcom Family Matters (1989–1998).
VelJohnson was born Reginald Johnson in New York City, in the borough of Queens. His mother Eva was a nurse’s aide, while his father Dan was a hospital attendant. His father left the family, which included Reginald’s brother Barry, when Johnson was 13 years old. Their mother subsequently married John Reilly. Johnson attended Benjamin N. Cardozo High School.
He obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in theater from New York University, where he had a chance to work with Joseph Papp’s Black/Hispanic Shakespeare Company, in which Morgan Freeman and CCH Pounder were among his fellow actors. Early in his acting career, he changed his name from Reginald Johnson to Reginald VelJohnson. He later said he changed his name “because I wanted a name people would remember”.
VelJohnson is known for playing police officers in films and on television. His early career included a brief appearance in Ghostbusters…
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