Telma Hopkins is an actress and vocalist who began performing as a Motown session singer with many musical greats in her hometown of Detroit, Michigan.
Then she gained worldwide recognition as one of the founding members of the musical group, Tony Orlando and Dawn. She also starred in the trio’s television variety show of the same name.
Soon after her early years with Dawn, Hopkins shined in various television sitcoms, including “Bosom Buddies,” “The New Odd Couple,” “Gimme A Break,” “Family Matters,” “Getting By,” and “Half & Half.”
More recently, she appeared in two Netflix projects, which included “Dead To Me” and “Family Reunion.” Hopkins also appeared as Freya in the science fiction feature, “The Matrix Resurrections.”
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Upcoming for Hopkins is the holiday film, “Brewster’s Millions Christmas, and she also filmed the Norman Lear television production, “Clean Slate.” However Hopkins says her greatest work to date is her son, Jerald.
Jerald Hopkins remembers growing up for him with a celebrity parent was surprisingly normal.
He said, “I got to experience some unique things, but it never really felt like some unusual situation. It really felt like this is what my mom does. This is what her career is, and this is what it entails.”
But Jerald Hopkins says there were some occasions when he was younger in which he didn’t always understand or appreciate his mother’s fans interrupting family outings.
“When people walked away, she could tell I was really grumpy and she would say, ‘I just want to remind you those shoes that you’re wearing, those nice Nikes that you begged me for and then we went out and bought? Those people are why we can do those things,’” said Jerald Hopkins.
He says that lesson from his mother helped to keep him grounded in the future and gave him the clarity that they were blessed because of her admirers.
“But it doesn’t make us special,” said Jerald Hopkins. “It makes it very real, and it kept us down to earth.”
Telma Hopkins says the hardest part about raising her son was balancing work and home, but she thankfully had the support of family and close friends.
“I had family who kind of slid into place whenever I would leave town, but still, it messed with me,” said Telma.
She says because she grew up without her mom, she never wanted Jerald to feel like he was growing up without her.
“I had a lot of mom guilt. I just had to realize to give him the life that I wanted him to have – I was going to have to make the sacrifice, and hopefully that sacrifice was not going to be detrimental to him,” Telma recalled.
But, the village that she surrounded Jerald with made him miss her absence less, but it was still very hard for her.
Telma added that she would also be remiss not to mention the support of her live-in housekeeper, who became like a second mom to her son.
“That made it easier, too, because I knew he was always taken care of, even if I was not able to do it,” said Telma.
“Obviously, when she goes out of town, you miss her,” chimed in Jerald.
“I don’t carry around now as an adult – I literally have friends whose parents weren’t there, who still as an adult are still talking about how their parents weren’t there.”
He resumed, “I never felt that. She was always able to create a life where even when she wasn’t there, it didn’t feel like she wasn’t there.”
Jerald also commends their above-mentioned housekeeper, who was with him and his mom from the time he was five years old until he was sixteen.
Telma added that her son also accompanied her on the road many times before he started school, and sometimes appeared with her on stage.
They both fondly recall Jerald because he was with his mom touring so often in those early days, developing his own rapport with many iconic celebrities like Hopkins’ former “Bosom Buddies” castmate Tom Hanks and the late-great Michael Jackson.
He says although he was a fan of many of the famous people in his mother’s circle, Telma Hopkins was still just mom to him.
