Remember ‘Thelma’ from ‘Good Times’? You better sit before seeing her today

BernNadette Stanis had an incredible opportunity to amuse millions of people when she became the first African American teenager to appear on television.

However, there was a terrifying chapter of her life hidden beneath the stunning “Thelma” performance.

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The actress recently shared details of an extraordinarily traumatic event that she went through.

Though Stanis was 20 years old when filming started, she played a bright, ideal 16-year-old in the series. Stanis went into the audition thinking she was only going to have a summer job for the short term; she had no idea the role would transform her life.

All of a sudden, she was on a plane headed for Hollywood with only one ticket. She was dreaming of being a singer or dancer at the time, and she was enrolled in studies at the Juilliard School of Music in New York.

Stanis stated, “I wasn’t ready to leave school,” in an interview with The Gaffney Ledger from 1975. They offered me a week to decide. I made the decision that working as a performer would be more beneficial than learning to become one.

The show, which was set in a Chicago public housing project, focused on the Evans family in particular, following James and Florida Evans as they raised their three children and dealt with the difficulties of living in an urban setting.

Some have referred to the show as the first sitcom to defy racial stereotypes.

In 2007, Stanis said to The News Journal, “We brought to the world how poor, struggling Black people with morals make choices and improve their lives.”

Thelma was a highly beautiful and intelligent girl in the sitcom who took her education very seriously and saw it as a way to provide for her family.

Stanis has been called TV’s first African-American sex icon, and many men had a thing for her back in the 1970s. It is a derogatory term.

“I didn’t know about it at the time. I’m so glad and proud that I left my mark now,” she exclaims.

Stanis found it quite simple to play Thelma in many respects. She and the character in the series shared some resemblance.

I recognized a lot of myself in that role, as I was the little girl raised in Brownsville, New York, from birth. I aspired to be someone when I was growing up in the projects. I wanted to wait to be married and be that good girl. I wanted to follow all the proper procedures. My mother and I had a tight relationship, and it was reflected in that persona. Like me, Thelma was fiery, according to Stanis.

Stanis had trouble with her confidence when she was younger. She once nearly pulled out of a beauty pageant out of self-doubt. She even attempted to stage an asthma attack in order to withdraw from the tournament.

Stanis remembered, “I moved like a snail,” and he continued, “I was hoping the pageant would be over when I got there.”

But her mother persuaded her to take part, refusing to allow fear to rule her daughter. A manager with contacts at CBS was in the crowd at the beauty pageant, and he encouraged her to try out for Good Times after spotting Stanis.

Couldn’t speak for months

Stanis had modest beginnings, as many of you may have imagined. She was the oldest of five siblings and grew up in a two-room apartment in Brooklyn, New York. The Good Times actress frequently mentions in interviews how much she adored her parents, who gave her unwavering support throughout her childhood.

Stanis recalled his mother telling him, “Bern Nadette, one day, the whole world is going to know your name.” “However, she didn’t inform me that it would be ‘Thelma.”

BernNadette Stanis sprang to fame when she played Thelma Ann Evans on Good Times. Her character appealed to a wide range of people, especially young African-American women, since she was intelligent, aspirational, and sassy.

Life after being cast as Thelma was bittersweet for Stanis. She had dreamed of showcasing her abilities and fusing them into her character as Thelma because she was an enthusiastic singer and dancer. But she never had the opportunity.

Stanis sadly suffered from a disease that damaged her vocal chords during her third year on the hit show, which resulted in her losing her voice. Stanis had to have surgery since it was so bad, and his recovery process was difficult and drawn out. For months, she was mute.

Stanis prayed to God at this trying period, seeing her illness as a sign from God.

She remarked, “He had to calm me down.” I took away something from that. I started to become more perceptive to some things and I

Her father was murdered

Regretfully, George T. Stanislaus, Stanis’s father, would not survive to witness everything that his daughter accomplished in life. On May 29, 1991, a teenage gang assassinated him, forcing her, her brothers, and her mother Eula to become even closer.

“My father was killed.” We learned that he was struck in the head and from behind by a gang of young men, maybe between the ages of 16 and 19. Stanis said, “And someone claimed to have seen him fall and then immediately stand back up because my father, who was 66, had the body of a 19-year-old.”

When he returned home on a Saturday, he claimed to have eye pain on Sunday. The next thing we know, he was talking to me, and I asked, “Daddy, what’s wrong?” He claimed to have gone into a coma due to pain at the back of his head.

”A knife in my heart”

Stanis tragically experienced yet another loss, possibly brought on by the murder of her father. The family soon discovered that something wasn’t quite right with their cherished mother, Eula Stanislaus, following the vicious attack on her father.

Not long after, Eula received a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, a devastating illness that affects the affected person as well as those close to them. For eight years, Stanis, who was close to her mother, took on the role of caregiver.

“I was aware that something was wrong, but it was just a mild case of forgetfulness.” When she quit cooking, I became really aware of a difference. Every time, she would place an order. Her hair was messy and her clothing were not put together the way I knew she could. I made the decision that my mother should move in with me.

Stanis suffered greatly from caring for her mother, who was in financial distress. It was sad to watch her mother degrade to the point where she was unable to recognize her own daughter.

She’s still haunted by one specific incident from this time.

Good Times was a favorite show of her mother, who had supported and loved Stanis throughout her acting career. They used to watch it together occasionally.

“As my mother and I watched the show, she glanced at me and saw Thelma.” You know, that’s the cute little elderly girl, she said. And I understood that she had forgotten that I was Thelma, that it was me. However, she was unable to identify the connection she felt existed in her brain.

“When she told me that, it was like a stab to my heart. How could she forget the positive effects “Good Times” had on our family? It completely altered our life.

A lot of tears

Mom of Stanis passed away on October 6, 2011. But Eula endures eternally in her memory and in “The Last Night: A Caregiver’s Journey Through Transition and Beyond,” her book.

“My mother and I intended to pen our narrative, our book. I told her the night she died, “It’s not over yet.”

But writing the book turned out to be a really difficult task. She would cry every time she finished a paragraph, sentence, or thought on a page or two of writing.

“Writing it took a lot of time for me. Writing it was a journey of sorrow. It has to be communicated, in my opinion. A great deal of folks are taking care of a loved one and experiencingStanis is now a fervent supporter of those with Alzheimer’s disease. She founded her own nonprofit organization, The Remembering the Good Times Foundation, and acts as a spokesman for the national Alzheimer’s Association. She wants to dispel the stigma associated with Alzheimer’s disease by using her fame.

Bernadette Stanis husband

Bern Nadette Stanis is the mother of two girls and has been married four times.

Dior is the name of her first daughter, while Brittany Rose is her youngest.

Thomas Fauntleroy, her boyhood crush, was the subject of her first marriage. When Thomas was 22 and Stanis was 15, they first met. They were wed in 1974 and divorced in 1978.

In January 1979, Stanis then got married to Darnell Johnson, the owner of a nightclub in Brooklyn. Stanis then wed Terrence Redd, a mechanical engineer, in 1982. In April of that same year, she also gave birth to their daughter, Dior Ravel.

Kevin Fontana is Stanis’s fourth husband at the moment. A 2012 story stated that they had been wed for thirty-one years. Fontana reared Dior as his own and fathered Brittany Rose.

BernNadette Stanis, 66, accompanied by her stunning daughters, Dior Ravel Fontana, 38, and Brittany Rose Fontana, 25. (2017) #ThelmaEvans #GoodTimes ImageThe youthful, energetic adolescent from Good Times is now 70 years old, which is difficult to comprehend. Stanis’s large Instagram following frequently remarks that she appears to be in her 30s or 40s!

Stanis is also a proud grandmother to Leto, the kid of her daughter Dior. As a grandma, who would have imagined Thelma from Good Times? Still, Stanis has revealed that, in her long and varied career, this is the role she treasures the most.

Stanis is aging so gracefully and wonderfully, and he is very gorgeous! She also has a lovely soul in person. If you think she’s amusing and relatable, please share this article on Facebook!