Kenan and Kel: Then and Now

Kenan Rockmore - THEN

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Kenan is the son of Sheryl and Roger, older brother of Kyra and of course, Kel's best buddy.  He is usually the mastermind to Kenan and Kel's unsuccessful schemes!  Some of them are carried out in the hope of gaining favors, such as raising cqsh to buy a car, against th parents' wishes.

Kenan Thompson - NOW

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After the show wrapped back in 2000, the now 45 year old Kenan has appeared in small TV and film roles.  That was until 2003 when he landed his dream gig on "Saturday Night Live." Fast forward 20 year and he has become an SNL fan favourite, appearing in over 1500 sketches and establishing himself as a revered comedian.

Kel Kimble - THEN

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Kel Einstein Hypothalamus Kimble is the super clumsy best friend of Kenan.  He loves orange soda more than anything and talks about it in the third person!  He has a habit of visiting Kenan at the store he works at and helping himself to the soda, without paying for it.

Kel Mitchell - NOW

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A year younger than Thompson, Mitchell was 17 years old when the sitcom first premiered. After the series ended, he moved straight on to "Clifford The Big Red Dog" where he gained an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Performer for Daytime Animated Program. For the last 20 years, Kel has worked in successful film roles.

Roger Rockmore - THEN

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Roger is the only one who doesn't seem to like Kel  mostly because Kel often makes a sarcastic remark about Roger's baldness.  He tends to injure Roger and damage his house during his visits.  However, Roger hangs out with Kel when he goes that bit too far with his stupid actions and ends up getting hurt yet again.

Ken Foree - NOW

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Ken Foree already had a 20 year career behind him before he appeared on the sitcom.  He has mainly appeared in horror productions such as "Halloween", "Dawn Of The Dead" and "The Lords of Salem."  He did, however, take a break from the terrifying flicks with the romantic drama "Water For Elephants."  Ken loves to meet his fans at film conventions.

Kyra Rockmore - THEN

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Kyra is Kenan's younger sister and she makes it her life's mission to make things hard for him and tell her parents every time he steps out of line.  She has a major crush on Kel which makes him so uneasy and he tries to keep his distance.  Having said that, Kel uses Kyra when he needs help in winding up Kenan.

Vanessa Baden - NOW

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The show ended when Vanessa Baden was 14 and the actress didn’t return to our screens until 2011 when she appeared in the TV series "Fall."  During her break away, she graduated with a degree in sociology.  Most of her work is now behind the camera as a writer for "Animal Kingdom."

Chris Potter - THEN

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Chris Potter is Kenan's boss at the local grocery store.  He' a nice guy but extremely gullible and easy to fool.  He still lives with his mom, or his mom lives with him and he spends his personal life caring for her as she suffers with bad health.  Chris turned into a mentor for Kenan and Kel.

Dan Frischman - NOW

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Since Kenan & Kel, Dan Frischman has only appeared in a handful of productions, although he has directed three episodes of "Sam & Cat".  They weren’t the episodes that Kel guest starred in so there was no mini reunion.  If he’s not on set, Frischman is  perfecting his magic tricks under the moniker "The Great Houdanny."

Sheryl Rockmore - THEN

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Sheryl Rokmore is mom to Kenan and Kyra and wife of Roger.  She has a knack of knowing exactly what Kenan and Kel are up to and is definitely more patient with Kel than her husband is!  She is a very good listener but, when agitated, she has a bit of a temper on her.

Teal Marchande - NOW

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Teal Marchande has not acted professionally since she left the show in 2000.  She went on to have a relationship with Ravin Caldwell, linebacker for the Washington Redskins.  They have a daughter together, Talia Caldwell and she played college basketball for the Universityof California, Berkeley.  Teal is a big advocate for abused and neglected kids.

Sharla Morrison - THEN

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Sharla Morrison  was introduced to viewers at the start of season three.  She became the new employee at Rigby's and Chris hired her because he felt that Kenan needed more help around the store.  Kenan was always chatting up the super smart assistant and she agreed to go on a few dates with him.

Alexis Fields - NOW

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After taking time away after the show to attend Pepperdine University, Alexis Fields appeared in an episode of "The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air."  She had a starring role in the hit sitcom "Living Single "from 1993 to 1998, playing Regina "Reginé" Hunter.  Field then began performing R & B and rap music with a group called Impromp.  More recently, she has appeared in "All That Matters."

Marc Cram - THEN

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Marc Cram became a regular on Kenan and Kel during seasons 3 and 4. He was revealed as having been the spelling bee champion.  When he found a 1952 watch. in Kenan's room, the boy told him that his father had given it to him. The next day, Kenan's watch went missing and he thought that Marc had taken it.  Turns out he was wrong - it was Kel!

Biagio Messina - NOW

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Biagio Messina has produced and contributed to over a hundred hours of TV and film!  He made a feature film funded with money he had won on a gameshow called "Majority Rules."  He continued producing and directing television programs as they wre his real passion, rather than acting in front of the camera.

Principal Dimly - THEN

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Principal Dimly appeared in three episodes, one where she called Kenan and his parents into her office to discuss his school work.  She was unaware that she was meeting with actors who were posing as his parents. The next episode she was in was when she caught Kel cutting class.

Hersha Parady - NOW

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Hersha Parady was once married to Oscar winning producer John Peverall and theynhad a son, Jonathan.  She currently lives in Florida and continues to act on stage!  In July 2005, she delighted fans by attending a reunion of "Little House on the Prairie" along with other members of cast of the icon tv show.

Becky - THEN

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Becky, the new girl, transfers over to Kenan and Kel's history class just as they begin discussing the Salem Witch Trials. Her very strange behavior leads Kenan to believe she is actually a witch.  To make matters worse, Ke and to make matters worse, Kel falls in love with her!

Linda Cardellini - NOW

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Linda Cardellini appeared in "ER" from 2003 to 2009, with the gorgeous George Clooney!  She also starred in "Dead To Me" which earned her a nomination for the Primetime EmmyAward for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.  Hr most recent work was in "Sanjay and Craig."

Janet - THEN

Image source IMDbJanet appeared in three episodes of "Kenan & Kel", most notably "The Crush".  She was sweet on Kel but Kel had set his eyes on the stand-in teacher at school and for some ridiculous reason, thought that she reciprocated his feelings.  There was a huge mix up which left Janet storming off!

Catherine Mangan - NOW

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Following on from the program, Catherine continued to act, firstly on television and then switching to film roles.  Her most notable appearances were in "Monster" in 2003,  "Altered" in 2006 and "Convict" in 2009.  She was recently interviewed by a superfan of "Kenan & Kel" and said those times in the show held some of her happiest memories ever!

Bill Bellamy - THEN

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Bill Bellamy appeared as himself during the 1999 episode of "Kenan & Kel" entitled "Picture Imperfect."  When Kel accidentally destroys about half of the student pictures that were to be used in the yearbook, he enlists the help of actor and comic Bill Bellamy.  It was a hilarious episode!

Bill Bellamy - NOW

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In 2002, Bellamy had a co-starring role in "Fastlane" and also made frequent appearances as a roundtable guest on the talk show "Chelsea Lately."  A few years ago he hosted "Bill Bellamy's Who's Got Jokes" and he was executive producer on that show.  In 2020, he starred in the Netflix mini series "Self Made."

Eric - THEN

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Eric is Kenan and Kyra's cousin, and Roger and Sheryl's nephew. He was first introduced in "The Honeymoons Ove", where Kenan went to his house to escape his parents.  He later appeared in "Girl Watchers" where Kenan & Kel picked up his girlfriend but got the wrong girl!

Mystro Clark- NOW

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The American entertainer went on to  become a film and television actor and wrote for the show "Cousin Skeeter."  He was also executive producer on the season premiere of  "American Soul" in 2020.  He was in a marathon episode of "The George Lucas Talk Show."

Britney Spears - THEN

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Surprise, surprise - Britney Spears turned up on "Kenan & Kel"!  Already bursting on the scene herself, she appeared in Episode 9 Aw, Here It Goes To Hollywood." Kenan and Kel meet up with pop starlet and end up making an unexpected appearance on the "Julie Brown Show."

Britney Spears - NOW

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The Princess of Pop has gone from strength to strength since she made it big, aged just 15.  There have, of course, been blips along the way, because of Britney's mental health but there's no disputing the fact that the girl has talent and is going nowhere.  She recently remarried and has two teenage sons.

Kim Bass - THEN

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Kim Bass was the creator and main writer on the hit tv show "Kenan & Kel".  He had met the boys much earlier and saw how well they played off each other.  Kim had already been involved in other Nickelodeon programs and ended up writing 59 episodes and producing many.

Kim Bass - NOW

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Kim Bass was flying high after the success of "Kenan & Kel" and he was on everyone's guest list!  He wrote and produced further successful shows for Nickelodeon and then turned to the movie world.  His film credits include the movie" Junkyard Dog" starring Vivica A Fox and "Kill Speed."