317:), comes to the Banks' house to interview Phil about his life, but plans to kill the story because she finds him boring after all he talks about is his work. Will, overhearing, tells her stories about Phil's past "barnyard life" he heard from Hattie, including the story about the pig that Phil had a close bond with. This goes down well with the newspaper editors and Phil's parents, but Phil confronts Will about his secret. Hattie overhears Phil angrily berating Will for revealing the truth about his past, and she becomes convinced he is ashamed of his roots, and explains to him that Phil has nothing to be ashamed of, and then is angered to tears. The next night the whole family (including Phil's parents) goes to an awards ceremony for Phil, where he realizes his good fortune to have had such a background and loving parents, and expresses renewed pride in his roots and gratitude for being raised by two devoted parents in his acceptance speech.
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berates the officers on duty for immediately writing the two off as criminals instead of going through the proper procedures, noting that they had not contacted him despite Will and
Carlton being minors and Phil being both their legal guardian and their attorney. After their release, Will and Carlton argue about racial profiling, with Carlton insisting that the justice system is not flawed, but Phil recounts a similar personal experience. Later in the season, in the episode, "Banks Shot", Will steals the car keys to go to a pool hall, and winds up losing his money and the car to a hustler. Phil goes to rescue him, at first acting like he has never played pool before and letting the hustlers win, but then playing again with his signature cue named Lucille for $ 100 a ball, winning $ 900 and the car back.
374:) had beaten him to the post of Superior Court judge in a landslide vote. The whole Banks family went to City Hall to congratulate Carl, where Will confronted him regarding over-the-top foul play Robertson made against Phil during the campaign. Will went as far to say, "You can just drop dead." Ironically, Judge Robertson suddenly dies of a massive heart attack seconds later, and after the funeral the governor appointed Phil to the post of Superior Court judge, where he remained for the rest of the series run.
269:", Phil is initially happy to see Will, but dislikes his attire and use of slang. Phil is embarrassed by Will's uncouth behavior at a dinner with Phil's colleagues, and has a talk with Will afterwards. Will says that Phil does not know how life is on the streets, but Phil objects, telling him that he started his career on the streets of Baltimore. He references Will saying at the beginning of the episode that Malcolm X was his hero, complimenting his Malcolm X poster and saying he heard him speak.
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A particularly poignant moment with the character is seen in the season four episode, "Papa's Got a Brand New Excuse", in which Phil offers Will compassion and a literal shoulder to cry on after Will's father visits and then leaves without Will, breaking a promise to take his son on a cross-country
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Uncle Phil bails Will and
Carlton out of jams on several occasions. In the episode, "Mistaken Identity", when Will and Carlton are arrested on suspicion of stealing a car that they had actually been paid by one of Philip’s law firm’s senior partners to drive from one Bel-Air to Palm Springs, Phil
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Avery sought to portray the character as "an Uncle Phil that everybody wishes was their uncle", and felt that it was important to show
African-Americans striving for success. Outside of his family life, the character was "a former hippie-activist in the '60s turned
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and call the criminal justice system out on its flaws at a moment's notice". As "a former civil rights activist and
Harvard Law-trained attorney", the character became "a role model for Smith's sometimes wild character".
362:. In the final episode of the series, Will, who is remaining in Los Angeles to attend college, frets about losing the relationship that they have developed, but Phil assures him, "You are my son, end of story".
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After spending his youth as part of the counterculture and social justice movements, Phil eventually attends and graduates from
Princeton University, and then Harvard Law School. In 1969, Phil met his wife,
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Banks is "the stern but loving uncle to Will Smith's character", parenting in this way both with Will and with his own children. By the end of the series, Banks has come to think of Will as his own son.
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Holmes, in reprising the role, paid homage to Avery's depiction of "a good man and a real leader in every sense of the word", but also drew inspiration from
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In the fall of 1992, Phil discovers that Vivian was pregnant with her fourth child, and in 1993 she gave birth to
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339:, and on August 4, 1974, five years later, Phil and Vivian gave birth to their second child, and their first son,
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on the
November 7, 1994 episode). During that year, they gave birth to their first daughter and child,
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wealthy lawyer, Banks is the uncle of the delinquent Will, and takes Will into his home in posh
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The role was noted to be Avery's most famous. The cast of the series honored Avery in their
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trip. The episode aimed to show Phil at "the height of his protective fatherly tendencies".
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In the
November 16, 1992 episode "Asses to Ashes", Phil's rival Judge Carl Robertson (
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on
January 30, 1946, to parents Joe and Hattie Joe Banks. He and his family moved to
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who turned out to be very intelligent. The Banks family moved to a run-down
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with a collection of clips of the character's best moments on the show.
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618:DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince
834:Fictional characters from Baltimore
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128:Superior court judge (1992–1996)
65:"Dreams and Nightmares" (2022)
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73:"I Done, Part 2" (1996)
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213:Bel Air, Los Angeles
191:supporting character
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651:(1990–1996)
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301:) and Joe (
205:James Avery
152:Nicky Banks
144:(older son)
82:James Avery
48:James Avery
823:Categories
739:Characters
623:Will Smith
489:August 27,
463:Refinery29
409:References
379:East Coast
328:Soul Train
187:Uncle Phil
164:Will Smith
123:Occupation
116:Uncle Phil
103:TV series)
385:Reception
333:flashback
291:Baltimore
247:Malcolm X
243:Princeton
209:self-made
36:character
663:Season 1
658:Episodes
516:Andscape
484:TV Guide
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295:Maryland
166:(nephew)
161:(mother)
113:Nickname
63:" (1990)
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