Telma Hopkins

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Telma Louise Hopkins was born on 28 October, 1948, in Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States of America. She became known to the public as a member of the 1970s band Tony Orlando and Dawn, which had several number one hit records. She has made appearances on the CBS variety show Tony Orlando and Dawn from 1974 to 1976 along with Tony Orlando and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyce_Vincent_Wilson">Joyce Vincent Wilson</a>.

In the late 1970s, Hopkins started performing as an actress, acting as several characters on various situational comedies, such as Bosom Buddies (1980–82), Gimme a Break! (1983–87) and Family Matters (1989–1997) as Rachel. She starred in a leading role on Getting By from 1993 to 1994. Recently, Hopkins was a frequently appearing cast member on Half & Half (2002–06), Are We There Yet? (2010–13), and Partners (2014). Hopkins’ movie performances include acting in the 1984 science fiction film Trancers and in its sequels Trancers II (1991) and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trancers_III">Trancers III</a> (1992). She also played roles in The Wood (1999) and The Love Guru (2008).

Musical Career

Hopkins began her musical career as a backing singer in Detroit, Michigan. Her vocals were on many hits released by Golden World and Motown records. She worked as a vocalist with famous musical acts such as The Four Tops and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Gaye">Marvin Gaye</a>. She also provided backing vocals for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Hayes">Isaac Hayes</a> and can be heard shouting "Shut your mouth!" on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Hayes">Hayes</a>' hit song "Theme from Shaft”. Hopkins and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyce_Vincent_Wilson">Joyce Vincent Wilson</a> were recruited in 1971 by Tony Orlando to launch the vocal group Dawn.  Prior to Hopkins’ joining the group, Orlando had used the name Dawn when releasing the singles "Candida" and "Knock Three Times", recorded with session vocalists <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_November">Linda November</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toni_Wine">Toni Wine</a> backing him. When the singles found success on the charts, Orlando saw the need to get together a regular backing group to tour and record with, leading him to recruit Hopkins. Tony Orlando and Dawn had great success with their records throughout the second half of the 1970s, producing sixteen top-40 singles, three of which reached #1.  The group were featured in a CBS variety show (entitled Tony Orlando and Dawn) from 1974 to 1976. In 1977, Tony Orlando and Dawn publicly retired from the music scene.

Acting Career

Hopkins’ first acting role was  as Daisy in the ABC miniseries Roots: The Next Generations in 1979.  Soon after, Hopkins acted alongside <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eileen_Brennan">Eileen Brennan</a> on the ABC sitcom, A New Kind of Family. In 1980, she co-starred with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Hanks">Tom Hanks</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Scolari">Peter Scolari</a> in another ABC sitcom, Bosom Buddies. The comedy series was cancelled after two seasons in 1982. She also made guest star appearances on The Love Boat, Fantasy Island and The New Odd Couple during the early 1980s.

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In 1983, Hopkins became a cast member of the NBC sitcom Gimme a Break!,  starring <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nell_Carter">Nell Carter</a>. She played the role of Adelaide "Addy" Wilson, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nell_Carter">Nell</a>'s childhood friend, until the finale of the series in 1987. Hopkins was cast in 1989 in the role Rachel Baines-Crawford in the ABC sitcom Family Matters. She stopped appearing as a regular cast member on the series after four seasons, making guest appearances in later years to its finale in 1997. She left the cast of Family Matters in order to take a leading role in the ABC sitcom Getting By,  which was broadcast from 1993 to 1994.

Hopkins also has had number of supporting film roles. She played Engineer Ruth "Ruthie" Raines in the science fiction film Trancers (1984) starring <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Thomerson">Tim Thomerson</a> and <a href="/biography/helen-hunt">Helen Hunt</a>, and its sequels Trancers II (1991) and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trancers_III">Trancers III</a> (1992). In later years, she appeared as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_T._Jones">Richard T. Jones</a>' mother in the romantic comedy The Wood (1999), and played <a href="/biography/romany-malco">Romany Malco</a>'s mother in the comedy film The Love Guru (2008). She starred in the play <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._D._Lawrence_(playwright)">JD Lawrence</a>'s The Clean Up Woman in October 2008.

From 2002 to 2006, Hopkins acted in the UPN sitcom Half & Half alongside <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_True">Rachel True</a>, <a href="/biography/essence-atkins">Essence Atkins</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valarie_Pettiford">Valarie Pettiford</a>. She had regular parts on The Hughleys and Any Day Now. From 2010 to 2013, she was cast with <a href="/biography/terry-crews">Terry Crews</a> and <a href="/biography/essence-atkins">Essence Atkins</a> in the TBS sitcom Are We There Yet?. In 2014, she acted the role of <a href="/biography/martin-lawrence">Martin Lawrence</a>'s mother on the FX sitcom Partners.[6][7] In 2016, she played the role of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerrika_Hinton">Jerrika Hinton</a>' mother in the ABC comedy pilot Toast produced by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shondaland">ShondaLand</a>.

Personal life

Hopkins was born in Louisville, Kentucky. She grew up in Highland Park, Michigan. She has one child, a son, from her marriage to Donald B. Allen.

Hopkins is known for contributing her time for charitable causes. She has volunteered with Caring For Babies with AIDS, Act on Arthritis, and the PTA. She also contributes to mentoring children.  Hopkins is a well-known supporter of inspirational radio and gave permission for The Jazz Joy and Roy radio show to use her supportive remarks on the program's promos. Hopkins remarked to Jazz Joy and Roy, "I was raised by a grandmother who told me I could do whatever I wanted to do, as long as I was willing to work hard for it...."

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