Joel Smollett spent most of his life outside the spotlight, but his name became closely associated with one of America’s best-known entertainment families. He was the father of six children—Jojo, Jazz, Jussie, Jurnee, Jake, and Jocqui Smollett—who grew up performing together before eventually building careers of their own.
Unlike his children, Joel didn’t pursue a career in front of the camera. He reportedly worked as a cable splicer and was also associated with civil-rights activism. His family life, however, placed him at the center of a household where creativity, performance, and social awareness were part of everyday life.
Joel Smollett died on January 7, 2015, at the age of 58. Although relatively little is known about his private life, accounts from his children and contemporary profiles offer a glimpse into the man behind the Smollett family story.
Joel Smollett At A Glance: Biography And Key Facts
Full Name: Joel Smollett
Date Of Birth: October 8, 1956
Birthplace: Russia, according to biographical sources
Date Of Death: January 7, 2015
Age At Death: 58
Nationality: American
Reported Heritage: Russian-Polish Jewish
Religion: Jewish, according to biographical accounts
Profession: Cable splicer and civil-rights activist
Wife: Janet Smollett
Children: Six
Sons: Jojo, Jussie, Jake, and Jocqui Smollett
Daughters: Jazz and Jurnee Smollett
Known For: Being the father of the six Smollett siblings
Cause Of Death: Cancer, according to available secondary biographies
Family Connection: Father of Jussie and Jurnee Smollett
Entertainment Connection: All six children appeared together on On Our Own
Who Was Joel Smollett?
Joel Smollett was best known publicly as the father of the six Smollett siblings, several of whom went on to become recognizable names in television, film, music, and other creative fields.
His family was unusual in one important respect: all six children became involved in entertainment at a young age. Their shared experience eventually led to the 1994 ABC sitcom On Our Own, where the siblings appeared together.
Joel himself remained largely behind the scenes. A 1994 Los Angeles Times profile of the family described a close-knit household in which Janet Smollett played an important role in managing the children’s early careers. Joel, meanwhile, visited the set when his work allowed him to do so.
That distinction is important when looking at Joel’s story. He wasn’t the celebrity in the family. His influence is better understood through the environment he helped create for his children.
Joel Smollett’s Early Life And Heritage
Biographical sources list Joel Smollett’s birth date as October 8, 1956, and identify Russia as his birthplace. Accounts also describe him as having Russian-Polish Jewish heritage.
Details about his childhood are considerably harder to verify than information about his famous children. Some online biographies provide additional claims about his parents, siblings, and early years, but those details aren’t consistently documented by strong primary or contemporary sources.
What is more firmly established is that Joel eventually came to the United States and built his adult life there. His background became an important part of the family’s broader story, particularly because he and Janet raised six children in a multicultural household.
How Joel Smollett Came To America
Available biographies report that Joel spent part of his early life in Poland before his family eventually immigrated to the United States. He was reportedly in his late teens when the move took place.
The family’s migration history is one of the less thoroughly documented parts of Joel Smollett’s biography, so exact details should be treated carefully. Still, his Russian-Polish Jewish background is repeatedly mentioned in accounts of the Smollett family.
After settling in the United States, Joel became involved in work and community life that eventually brought him into contact with Janet Smollett.
Joel Smollett’s Career And Work Life
Joel Smollett reportedly worked as a cable splicer. The job was far removed from the entertainment industry that later defined the careers of his children.
His working life also helps explain why he wasn’t always physically present during every stage of his children’s childhood. Jussie Smollett later acknowledged that his father wasn’t always there while he was growing up, although he also spoke about the meaningful relationship they developed during Joel’s later years.
Rather than portraying Joel as either a constantly present father or an absent one, the available accounts suggest something more complicated. He worked, supported his family and remained involved, even though the demands of his life sometimes kept him away.
Joel Smollett And Civil-Rights Activism
Civil-rights activism was another important thread in the Smollett family story.
Joel and Janet reportedly met in the San Francisco Bay Area while participating in civil-rights activities. Contemporary reporting on the family has also described both parents as civil-rights activists.
The precise details of Joel’s individual campaigns and organizational affiliations aren’t well documented in reliable public sources. For that reason, it’s more accurate to describe him as being associated with civil-rights activism rather than assigning him specific roles or campaigns that can’t be independently established.
That activism nevertheless appears to have influenced the family’s outlook. The Smollett children grew up in a household where discussions about identity, equality, community, and social responsibility were familiar parts of family life.
How Joel Smollett Met Janet Smollett
Joel Smollett met Janet in the San Francisco Bay Area, where the two were reportedly involved in civil-rights activism.
Janet, who was from New Orleans and African-American, later became a central figure in raising and managing the couple’s six children. While Joel worked outside the entertainment world, Janet took a more visible role in helping guide the children’s early careers.
Their family would eventually become known not simply because several children became performers, but because the siblings often worked together. The foundation for that unusual family dynamic was established long before their television careers began.
Joel Smollett’s Family Life
Joel and Janet Smollett raised six children: Jojo, Jazz, Jussie, Jurnee, Jake, and Jocqui.
The family moved frequently during the children’s childhood. In interviews connected with The Family Table, the siblings recalled moving between states numerous times, with family meals providing an important sense of stability despite those changes.
Food, performance, and family collaboration became recurring themes in the children’s lives. Years later, several siblings would work together on The Family Table, a cookbook that reflected the family’s memories and traditions.
Their childhood wasn’t simply about becoming entertainers. The siblings also participated in sports, read books, and spent time together away from the cameras. A Los Angeles Times profile from the family’s On Our Own years portrayed them as a close family whose parents remained involved in their lives.
How Many Children Did Joel Smollett Have?
Joel Smollett had six children with Janet Smollett.
Their children were Jojo, Jazz, Jussie, Jurnee, Jake, and Jocqui Smollett. Although several pursued acting, their careers eventually moved in different directions.
The six siblings were also part of a rare television family experience. They appeared together on ABC’s On Our Own, which premiered in 1994 and featured the brothers and sisters as members of the fictional Jerrico family.
Their shared appearance on television remains one of the most recognizable chapters in the Smollett family’s history.
Meet Joel Smollett’s Six Children
Jojo Smollett
Jojo Smollett, born August 28, 1977, was the oldest of the six siblings. He became an actor and producer, appearing in projects including City of Hope, Roseanne, On Our Own, The Practice, and Moesha.
Away from acting, Jojo has also been involved in community and nonprofit work.
Jazz Smollett
Jazz Smollett was born April 1, 1980. She became an actress, producer, writer, and television personality.
She studied at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and later worked on projects including Living by Design with Jake and Jazz, the Trumpet Awards, and Urban One Honors.
Jazz also became involved in the family’s culinary projects and co-authored The Family Table with her siblings.
Jussie Smollett
Jussie Smollett was born June 21, 1982, in Santa Rosa, California.
He became an actor, producer, director, and musician, earning widespread recognition for playing Jamal Lyon on the television series Empire. His work has also included music, including the album Sum of My Music.
Jussie’s career eventually made Joel Smollett more widely known as the actor’s father, even though Joel himself had spent most of his life outside the entertainment industry.
Jurnee Smollett
Jurnee Smollett was born October 1, 1986, in New York City. She began acting as a child and later established a substantial career in television and film.
Her credits include Full House, Wanda at Large, Grey’s Anatomy, Bad Girls, True Blood, Underground, Lovecraft Country, and Spiderhead.
Like her siblings, Jurnee’s early career was closely connected to the family’s shared experience in entertainment.
Jake Smollett
Jake Smollett was born July 29, 1989. He pursued acting before developing a career centered increasingly on food and television.
His credits include Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper, On Our Own, Eve’s Bayou, The Middleman, and Pitch This. He later became known as a celebrity chef, television host, and cookbook author.
Jake also worked with his sister Jazz on Living by Design with Jake and Jazz.
Jocqui Smollett
Jocqui Smollett, born August 1, 1993, in Los Angeles, is the youngest of the six siblings.
He appeared in projects including On Our Own, Amanda’s Return, and Pitch This. His later professional interests reportedly expanded beyond entertainment into technology, real estate, and public speaking.
His career illustrates how differently the Smollett siblings eventually developed despite sharing the same unusual childhood.
Why Did Joel Smollett’s Children Enter Entertainment?
It’s difficult to point to a single reason all six Smollett children entered entertainment. Their upbringing, however, clearly played a role.
The children were exposed to performance from an early age, and they had one another as built-in collaborators. Their mother, Janet, played a significant role in managing their early careers, while Joel supported the family in his own way.
The siblings’ experience wasn’t limited to acting. Music, cooking, writing, producing, and other creative pursuits eventually became part of their professional lives.
Their appearance together on On Our Own was therefore less a random Hollywood development than an extension of a family culture that already encouraged creativity and collaboration.
What Was Joel Smollett’s Role As A Father?
Joel’s role as a father appears to have been supportive, although it wasn’t always straightforward.
In a 2016 interview, Jussie Smollett described his father as far from perfect. He acknowledged that Joel wasn’t always present during his childhood but also emphasized that his father was capable of recognizing his shortcomings and changing.
That account adds an important human dimension to Joel’s story. Rather than presenting him as a flawless family patriarch, Jussie’s comments suggest a father who evolved over time.
A Los Angeles Times profile from the family’s On Our Own period also reported that Joel visited the set whenever his work allowed. Janet was more directly involved in managing the children’s careers, but Joel remained part of the family’s support system.
Joel Smollett’s Relationship With Jussie Smollett
Jussie Smollett has spoken publicly about his relationship with his father, providing some of the clearest insight into Joel’s personality.
Jussie remembered Joel as protective and, at times, a worrier. He also acknowledged that their relationship wasn’t perfect and that Joel wasn’t consistently present throughout his early childhood.
At the same time, Jussie described a man who was willing to change. That willingness appears to have mattered greatly to him, particularly during Joel’s later years.
These comments are valuable because they move beyond the simplified image of Joel as merely “Jussie Smollett’s father.” They show a family relationship that had its difficulties but also included growth, affection, and reconciliation.
Joel Smollett’s Battle With Cancer
Joel Smollett reportedly battled cancer before his death.
However, the specific type of cancer has not been reliably established in the strongest publicly available sources. Some secondary biographies identify cancer as the cause of his death without providing detailed medical information.
Because of that uncertainty, it’s better not to speculate about the type of cancer he had or the circumstances surrounding his treatment.
What is known is that Joel’s illness preceded his death in January 2015, when he was 58 years old.
When Did Joel Smollett Die?
Joel Smollett died on January 7, 2015, at the age of 58.
His death came around the time his son Jussie’s television career was entering a major new phase. Empire premiered in January 2015, making the period particularly significant for the Smollett family.
Jussie later publicly paid tribute to his father, reflecting the importance Joel continued to hold in his life.
Joel Smollett’s Legacy
Joel Smollett’s most visible legacy is found in his six children.
Jojo, Jazz, Jussie, Jurnee, Jake, and Jocqui followed different professional paths, but their shared upbringing continued to connect them. Their early work together helped establish the Smollett name in entertainment, while later family collaborations demonstrated that their bond extended well beyond television.
The family cookbook The Family Table offered another look at those connections. Food and family traditions had long been part of the siblings’ childhood, and the project allowed them to turn those memories into a shared creative work.
Joel’s legacy, then, isn’t based on a long public career of his own. It’s tied more closely to the family he helped raise and the values of creativity, collaboration, resilience, and social awareness that became part of the Smollett story.
Final Thoughts
Joel Smollett lived a relatively private life, but his influence can be seen through the careers and experiences of his six children.
He reportedly worked as a cable splicer, participated in civil-rights activism, and helped raise a family that would eventually become closely associated with American television and entertainment. His children all entered creative fields in different ways, with several becoming prominent actors and others developing careers in food, business, technology, and production.
Accounts of Joel’s relationship with his children also show a more complicated picture than the polished image often found in celebrity biographies. He wasn’t portrayed as perfect. Instead, his son Jussie described someone who had flaws but was willing to grow and become better.
Joel Smollett died in 2015, but the family he helped build remains his most enduring connection to the public. For readers interested in the story behind the Smollett family, understanding Joel provides an important piece of that history.
Frequently Asked Questions About Joel Smollett
Who Was Joel Smollett?
Joel Smollett was the father of six children, including actors Jussie Smollett and Jurnee Smollett. He reportedly worked as a cable splicer and was associated with civil-rights activism.
Who Was Joel Smollett’s Wife?
Joel Smollett and Janet Smollett were the parents of six children. Janet played a significant role in managing the children’s early entertainment careers.
How Many Children Did Joel Smollett Have?
Joel Smollett had six children: Jojo, Jazz, Jussie, Jurnee, Jake, and Jocqui Smollett.
What Did Joel Smollett Do For A Living?
Joel Smollett reportedly worked as a cable splicer. He was also associated with civil-rights activism, although specific details about his individual activism aren’t extensively documented.
Was Joel Smollett A Civil-Rights Activist?
Available accounts describe Joel Smollett as being involved in civil-rights activism. He reportedly met Janet Smollett while the two were participating in civil-rights activities in the San Francisco Bay Area.
When Did Joel Smollett Die?
Joel Smollett died on January 7, 2015. He was 58 years old.
What Was Joel Smollett’s Cause Of Death?
Secondary biographical sources report that Joel Smollett died after battling cancer. The specific type of cancer hasn’t been reliably established in publicly available sources.
Who Are Jussie Smollett’s Siblings?
Jussie Smollett’s siblings are Jojo, Jazz, Jurnee, Jake, and Jocqui Smollett. All six siblings appeared together on the television series On Our Own.
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