Michelle Thomas
Michelle Doris Thomas (1968–1998) was an American actress and comedian. She is best known for playing Justine Phillips on The Cosby Show (1988–1990), Myra Monkhouse on Family Matters (1993–1998), and Callie Rogers on The Young and the Restless (1998).
She was born on September 23, 1968, in Brookline, Massachusetts, and grew up in Montclair, New Jersey. Her mother, Phynjuar "Penwah" Thomas, was a stage actress, and her father, Dennis "Dee Tee" Thomas, was a musician and a founding member of Kool & the Gang. She graduated from West Essex High School in 1987, and her mother coached her in acting.
As a teenager, she won Miss Talented Teen New Jersey and later Miss Talented Teen International in Montego Bay, Jamaica, at age 15. She appeared in her first TV commercial in 1983 and performed on Soul Train in 1984.
Her acting credits include The Cosby Show (Justine Phillips) from 1988 to 1990, A Man Called Hawk (1989), Thea (1994), Dream Date (1989), and Hangin’ with the Homeboys (1991). She also appeared in music videos for Mint Condition, Chubb Rock, and Dru Hill, and she guest-hosted Soul Train in 1996 and 1997.
From 1993 to 1998 she played Myra Monkhouse, the girlfriend of Steve Urkel, on Family Matters. In 1998 she joined The Young and the Restless as Callie Rogers, an aspiring singer, but took medical leave in October 1998 due to illness.
In August 1997, she was diagnosed with a rare cancer called intra-abdominal desmoplastic small-round-cell tumor (DSRCT). She did not smoke or drink and was a vegetarian. She had surgery in early 1998 and another in October 1998 after a new tumor formed. She died on December 23, 1998, in New York City at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, at age 30. A Muslim funeral was held on December 26, and she was buried in New Jersey at Rosedale Cemetery in Orange. Malcolm-Jamal Warner, a longtime friend and former boyfriend, was among those at her bedside. She appeared posthumously as Anne in the film Unbowed (1999).
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 17:12 (CET).