Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth Interview with Ernest Lee Thomas, Renowned Actor, Star of “What’s Happening!!”
Ernest Lee Thomas is a beloved actor, producer and author who is perhaps best known for his portrayal of “Roger Thomas” – better known as “Raj” – on the immensely popular sitcom “What’s Happening!!”, and the equally popular sequel, “What’s Happening Now!!”. And of course, he is loved as “Mr. Omar” on “Everybody Hates Chris”.
Beyond those iconic roles Ernest Lee Thomas has had a long and distinguished career. He starred on Broadway in “Love For Love” and “The Member Of The Wedding”. On the big screen, you’ve seen him in dozens of movies including “A Piece of the Action”, “Malcolm X”, “Paroled”, “Funny People”, “The Pastor and Mrs. Jones”, “Revenge”, “79 Parts”, “Loved to Death”, “The Gods 2: The Dark Side”, and the multi-award winning short film, “Earworm”, for which he won a Best Actor award at the Indie Horror Film Festival.
On television, besides the shows already mentioned, he appeared in the highly acclaimed miniseries “Roots”, and on popular TV shows including “The Jeffersons”, “Baretta”, “In the Heat of the Night”, “Soul Food”, “The Steve Harvey Show”, “Are We There Yet”, “Diarra from Detroit”, and the wonderful TV movie “The Lost Souls Café”. He has also written 2 highly inspirational, poignant and uplifting books: “Conversations with my Mother: Food for the Mind, Body and Soul”; and a wonderful memoir entitled, “From Raj to Riches: Overcoming Life Through Faith”.
And coming in September, Ernest Lee Thomas will be appearing in the new animated series “EVERYBODY STILL HATES CHRIS” which will make its debut on the Comedy Central channel.
Harvey Brownstone is a retired judge of the Ontario Court of Justice and was the first openly gay judge in Canada. He is also the bestselling author of “Tug of War: A Judge’s Verdict on Separation, Custody Battles and the Bitter Realities of Family Court” and hosted “Family Matters with Justice Harvey Brownstone,” a television talk show on matters involving the family justice system.
After a distinguished legal career, Harvey was appointed a judge at the age of 38 in 1995. He has presided in family and criminal courts. He has been a trailblazer in several ways. He was the first openly gay judge in Canada. He was the first sitting judge in the world to write a national best seller and to host a TV talk show.
Harvey has been a role model and icon in the LGBTQ community. When same-sex marriage was legalized in Canada in 2003, he was the only judge to make himself publicly available to officiate at weddings for lesbian and gay couples travelling to Toronto from all over the world to get married. In 2007, he officiated at the wedding of Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer, the American couple whose marriage triggered the 2013 United States Supreme Court decision overturning the definition of “spouse” in the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
In February 2021, Harvey launched his online talk show “Harvey Brownstone Interviews” on his own YouTube channel. He saw this as an interesting hobby. Within several months, the show attracted hundreds of thousands – and then eventually, millions – of viewers. Because of the overwhelming success of the show, Harvey decided to retire from the judiciary on December 31, 2021 after having presided as a full-time judge for 26 1/2 years. Free from the constraints imposed upon judges regarding the expression of opinions and the endorsement of private enterprise, Harvey now happily devotes his full-time attention to hosting “Harvey Brownstone Interviews” as a regular member of the public – albeit one with a rather illustrious and unique career history.
Watch Ernest Lee Thomas on Harvey Brownstone Interviews on Youtube here:
The official website for Harvey Brownstone Interviews may be found at https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com
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For more information about Harvey Brownstone, here’s his Wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Brownstone