ERNEST THOMAS You've Got to HAVE FAITH

The What's Happening!! alum looks back at the long road he's traveled

- William Keck

Laughter's power to open people's hearts became clear to Ernest Thomas shortly after he began playing Raj on TV's What's Happening!! Loosely based on the 1975 movie Cooley High, the sitcom followed the adventures of three African American teenage best friends. "I met one racist lady who told me she hated Black people until she was channel-surfing and discovered our show and started laughing," Ernest, 75, tells Closer.

It wasn't Ernest's first brush with racism. As a teen in Gary, Indiana, he attended an all-white school where he wasn't even allowed to use the front door. "When I look at the young kid I was before I got What's Happening!!, he's my hero now," Ernest says."I'd told the Lord I couldn't take any more rejection, but He did not allow me to give up. That's the power of belief!"

What did you want to grow up to be when you were a kid?

I wanted to be a social worker because of this lady who helped our family. That was my intent when I went to college. I was a shy church boy who stayed in his room, so I never thought I could be an actor.

You overcame a lot in your young life, including racism, physical abuse and bullying. What do you credit your strength to?

Because of my faith in God, those things were made smaller. I think without that, I could have become a drug addict or committed suicide. A lot of my friends in similar situations drank themselves to death because they allowed these situations to consume them.

What do you consider your big break?

I did an episode of The Jeffersons, and one of the agents told me about a pilot for a new show that became What's Happening!! I wanted that show so bad. It was do it or die.

Was your family supportive of your desire to become an actor?