My Story
Family Members
Mother: Telma Louise Hopkins
Spouse(s): Donald B. Allen (m. 1970; div. 1977)
Awards:
Event: BET Comedy Awards
Award Title: Half & Half
Year: 2005
Telma Hopkins
Biography
Telma Louise Hopkins (born October 28, 1948) is an American actress and singer. Hopkins rose to prominence as a member of the 1970s pop music group Tony Orlando and Dawn, which had several number-one songs. She also performed on the CBS variety show Tony Orlando and Dawn from 1974 until 1976 along with Tony Orlando and Joyce Vincent Wilson. In the late 1970s, Hopkins began working as an actress, playing roles on various sitcoms, including Isabelle Hammond on Bosom Buddies (1980–82), Adelaide "Addy" Wilson on Gimme a Break! (1983–87) and Family Matters (1989–1997) as Rachel Baines–Crawford. As lead actress, Hopkins starred on Getting By from 1993 to 1994. In recent years, Hopkins was a regular cast member on Half & Half (2002–06) portraying Phyllis Thorne, Are We There Yet? (2010–13), and short-lived Partners (2014). In film, Hopkins co-starred in 1984 science fiction film Trancers and in its sequels Trancers II (1991) and Trancers III (1992), as well as appearing in The Wood (1999) and The Love Guru (2008).
Hopkins started her career as a background singer in Detroit, Michigan, singing on many of the Golden World, Motown, Invictus Records, and Hot Wax Records hits. She appeared on such classics as Freda Payne's "Band of Gold" and Isaac Hayes' "Theme from Shaft" and working with legendary artists like the Four Tops and Marvin Gaye.
Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson were recruited by Tony Orlando to form the vocal group Dawn. As a recording act, Tony Orlando and Dawn would have much success throughout the second half of the 1970s, releasing 16 top-40 singles, three of which reached #1, and starring in a CBS variety show (entitled Tony Orlando and Dawn) from 1974-76. In 1977, Tony Orlando and Dawn announced their retirement.
In 1979, Hopkins made her acting debut playing Daisy in the ABC miniseries Roots: The Next Generations. Later that year, she co-starred alongside Eileen Brennan on the short-lived ABC sitcom A New Kind of Family. The following year, she was cast opposite Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari in another ABC sitcom, Bosom Buddies. The series was cancelled in 1982 after two seasons.
In 1983, Hopkins joined the cast of NBC sitcom Gimme a Break! starring Nell Carter. She played Adelaide "Addy" Wilson, Nell's childhood friend, until the series finale in 1987.
In 1989, Hopkins began starring as Rachel Baines-Crawford in the ABC sitcom Family Matters. She left the series after four seasons as a regular cast member, later making recurring appearances in the sixth season and making a guest appearance in the Season 9 Christmas episode "Deck the Malls" in 1997. She left Family Matters to star as the co-lead (with Cindy Williams) of the sitcom Getting By which aired for two seasons (one on ABC, the other on NBC) from 1993-94.
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