Laura Winslow
Laura Lee Winslow (born May 23, 1976) is a main character and soon one of the main attractions in later seasons on the hit ABC/CBS sitcom, Family Matters. She was portrayed by Kellie S. Williams. Laura's original name in a draft of the Perfect Strangers episode Crimebusters, is Felicia Winslow.
Character Background
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Laura Winslow is the middle child and daughter of Carl and Harriette Winslow. She was born in May 23, 1976 (age 41) in Chicago, Illinois. She has an older brother, Eddie, a little sister named Judy, and eventually had an adopted little brother named 3J. During the early years of the series, Laura was the smart-aleck, know-it-all child of the Winslows, whom Eddie doesn't have a good relationship with at times. In junior-high and high school, Laura was a straight-A student; her goal was to enroll in the Harvard Law School. She attended Illinois Occidental University (IOU), a fictional school, which she maintained straight-As there.
In an early episode, titled "The Quilt," Laura learned about responsibility when she accidentally sold a museum curator her grandmother's family heirloom, a quilt that had been in the family for more than 200 years. Laura sees that Mother Winslow (who manages to veil her extreme disappointment) has been hurt, Laura goes to great lengths to get the quilt back, and gives a tearful plea to the curator; although the curator tries not to let emotion get in the way, she eventually agrees to give it back. When she and Carl return home with the heirloom, an elated Mother Winslow (after telling the story of the quilt) sees that Laura has learned to become responsible and lets her keep it in her room.
In addition to being an outstanding student, Laura was involved in cheerleading; several episodes revolve around her participation in the activity, such as "Making The Team" and "It Didn't Happen One Night"
Laura like Carl and Eddie had a chance to see what life is like as Urkel. In "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Urkel", after she wishes for Steve to find out what life is like as her. Her guardian angel, Tyrone, grants it but also revealed there was a catch to her wish. She had to endure life as Urkel such as getting yelled at and having her feelings hurt that made her respect Steve more.
Friends and Adversaries Edit
Throughout the series, Laura had several potential suitors; although several of them were very nice and had nothing to hide, more often than not these young men had hidden secrets. Sometimes, it was a hidden agenda to have sex with Laura and get her in trouble with her family, the boyfriend would have other girlfriends or allow rumors to be spread, or the boyfriend would be a reckless driver.
Then, there was Steve Urkel, the nerdy next-door neighbor to the Winslows. Steve — who is the same age as Laura — had a huge crush on her, although her feelings were clearly (at least early on) not exactly the same (though she did occasionally act nice to him). In fact, Laura countlessly rejects Steve's requests to go out on a date; Steve supposedly has kept track, and counts the 1,000th rejection as a milestone in their relationship.
Although it has often been said in the series that Steve has a crush on Laura ever since kindergarten (when she supposedly made him eat Play-Doh), the first time that they are paired together is in the first season episode "Laura's First Date."
Despite the friction and differences in feelings between the two, Laura appreciated Steve's efforts to be a friend, although this often was not realized until after Laura tries to end their friendship because of a mistaken belief that he is meddling in her life (such as when Urkel warns Laura about a potential boyfriend being a wolf in sheep's clothing). Steve and Laura were often paired together for class projects, and the two always helped each other out in their times of need.
Laura also did agree to date Steve on several occasions, but those early dates were out of pity and wound up being unmitigated disasters. In one episode, Steve's clumsiness, weird food likes (e.g., frog's legs and cheese) and just him being himself annoyed Laura. Another time, when Steve vowed to stay on top of her house until Laura agreed to go out on a date him, Laura finally gave in, only for the overjoyed nerd to slip from a snow-covered roof, fall to the ground, and have his date in a hospital room.
In the episode "Dr. Urkel and Mr. Cool", Steve created a elixir and, in the process, an alter ego: Stefan Urquelle (White in a dual role). Stefan was everything Laura hoped her one-week suitor would be: handsome, suave, graceful, good social graces, cool; all traits Steve did not have at first. Steve created Stefan so that he could finally realize his dream of winning Laura's heart. The Stefan-Laura relationship blossomed for several years, and at one point the two are nearly engaged at Walt Disney World Resort. However, in Stefan's premiere episode, his vain personality made her lose interest in him and she demanded Stefan that he changed back into Steve after finding out that one of her father's colleagues was shot by a man during a routine traffic stop.
However, as the years wore on, Laura's feelings for Steve began to change. Like the rest of her family, she warmed up to Steve and accepted him as a true friend. Much like her father and her brother, Laura had a chance to see what it was like to walk in Steve's shoes (i.e., getting yelled at for clumsiness and being a perceived pest), gaining a reputation of being a nerd.
In Episode Out With Old Laura bids on Steve's kisses because no one would bid on his kisses. This ending foreshadows the changing relationship between Steve and Laura as Laura seems to enjoy the kiss much more than she expected.
In the episode Drinking and Jiving, Laura goes to a party and gets drunk. When Steve takes Laura home, Laura kisses Steve. The next day Steve attempts to talk to Laura about the kiss, but Laura states she does not remember the kiss. However later that day, Laura tells Maxine that she did indeed remember the kiss and she was shocked, because she enjoyed this kiss and thought she might like Steve.
At one point during the final season, Laura agrees to accompany Steve to a polka festival, where — instead of becoming annoyed at Steve's interests and larger-than-life friends — she realizes that Urkel is the man her heart was after all along. The two are engaged, but not until after Laura makes a heart-breaking decision on whether to marry Steve or Stefan. Laura ultimately chose Steve over Stefan, and the alter-ego was retired and never seen again. In the series finale, when Steve goes into outer space (and his well-being is in jeopardy), Laura constantly watches television reports about the endangered space mission. Eventually, Steve salvages the space mission and returns home to his first (and only) love: Laura. Laura makes Steve promise never to go into ou
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