Estelle Winslow

Estelle Winslow
First appearance	The Mama Who Came to Dinner
Last appearance	Deck the Halls
Portrayed by	Rosetta LeNoire
In-universe information
Species	Human
Gender	Female
Family	Carl Winslow (son) Franklin Aloysious "Frank" Winslow (son) Darryl Winslow (son) Calvin Winslow (son) Eddie Winslow (grandson) Laura Winslow (granddaughter)
Spouse	Samuel Winslow (dissolved) Fletcher Thomas

Estelle Winslow-Thomas (also known as Mother Winslow) is a supporting character on the long-running ABC/CBS African-American sitcom, Family Matters. The role was played by the late Rosetta LeNoire.

Estelle Winslow is the mother of Carl Winslow (born 1952 in Chicago, Illinois), a police officer with the Chicago Police Department, and mother-in-law of Harriette Winslow. She is the grandmother of the couple's three children: Eddie, Laura, and Judy. In addition, she is the surrogate grandmother of Richard "Richie" Crawford, the son of Harriette's sister, Rachel Crawford and the adoptive grandmother of 3J.

Character background

Estelle is claimed to be a voice of reason, and she was also very hip to the latest trends. For instance, in the opening credits she is shown to be a fan of Rolling Stone magazine. Also, despite her advanced age, she frequents adult nightclubs and partakes in many other activities of people much younger than she is.

She is also a strong advocate of black history, as she shared her struggles against racism; for instance, when she was a child, she was refused a library card, but her persistence eventually paid off. She has also shared stories about her family as they relate to the history of her race. Her most prized possession is an heirloom quilt, which details the history of Estelle's ancestors for more than 200 years.

Unlike most members of her family, Estelle was friends with Steve Urkel throughout the series' run. While Carl, Eddie and Laura saw him — a neighbor to the Winslows — as an annoyance (at least in the early years), Estelle was always delighted to visit with Urkel, he always called her "Estelle, my Belle", which she always loved. When Steve would dance to a song, for example, Estelle would smile away and clap her hands, while the members of her family would just stare with non-happy looks on their faces. Estelle also considered Urkel one of her surrogate grandchildren.

Husbands

Sam Winslow

Estelle's first husband was Sam, a fighter pilot for the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II.

In addition to Carl, the couple had three other boys. Frank, a professional clown who was apparently estranged from the family, was seen in the eighth-season episode "The Brother Who Came to Dinner" (an episode in which LeNoire did not appear). Another child referenced was Darryl (a character that did not appear on camera) Carl's older brother whom he planned to visit for his birthday during the first-season episode "The Party". Calvin, the fourth brother, was mentioned in the pilot episode.

Sam died when Carl and Frank were children, leaving Estelle to raise the couple's sons alone.

Fletcher Thomas

In 1990, Estelle met Fletcher Thomas (Arnold Johnson), who started to date much to the dismay of Carl. In 1993, during the show's fourth season finale, the episode entitled Mama's Wedding, Fletcher and Estelle were married, and her close friends and family were invited. Although still uneasy about the relationship, Carl learns to accept the fact that his mother had found new love. It is not known whether Fletcher had any children through previous marriages.

Fletcher continued to make occasional appearances during the next two years before quietly being dropped from storylines.

Final appearance

Like Rachel Crawford and her son, Richie, Estelle made her final appearance in the ninth season episode "Deck the Malls" (aired December 19, 1997).