It all started with JoMarie Payton. Co-creators Tom Miller and Bob Boyett felt that her character of Harriette Winslow, the elevator operator on their hit show Perfect Strangers, was strong enough to support her own show. That show, of course, became Family Matters.

"The key to Family Matters' original success was Harriette," says JoMarie. "She grounds the show. She's different from any other mother on TV. She's everybody favorite mom, favorite aunt, and the keeper of the neighborhood. She's someone everybody knows, not someone everybody knows about."

JoMarie feels the same way about the other characters on the show, as well. "I think the audience recognizes all the members of Harriette's family. They're all the sort of people you wouldn't be afraid to ask for directions or change for a doller. They're people you can touch, people you can really communicate with."

JoMarie Payton was born in Albany, Georgia, and went to high school and college in Miami, Florida. She began acting and singing in high school and knew that performing was what she really wanted to do. Her family supported her decision.

"My mother always trusted me to do the right thing," JoMarie recalls. "I used to write songs and perform in plays. She went to every performance I ever did from age six until I left home at 25."

JoMarie stayed in the Miami area after college. She now considers it her home. "I come back to Miami whenever I need to get juiced up," she explains. "Hollywood is a fantasy place. I come back to Miami for some reality."

JoMarie's big break came when she joined the touring company for the musical Purlie. The show ended its tour in Los Angeles, so JoMarie decided to stay out west and try to break into television. She was very successful. JoMarie appeared on such shows as The Redd Foxx Variety Show, Frank's Place, and The Slap Maxwell Story. Then she landed her role on Perfect Strangers and her career really took off.

JoMarie has also been in several movies including Camp Beverly Hills, The Disorderlies, and Crossroads.

Off the set, JoMarie devotes much of her time to volunteer work. She was honorary chairperson of Voting is a Family Matter, a local drive to register voters. She also donates her time to helping unwed mothers and the homeless.

There is even a volleyball tournament held every year, in her name, which raises money for scholarships for preschool and elementary schoolchildren.

The National Commission of Working Women honored JoMarie in 1990 for her outstanding portrayal as a working woman on Family Matters. For her commitment to the community, the city of Los Angeles and Mayor Tom Bradley honored JoMarie as Woman of the Year in 1991.

When she's not busy acting or helping others, she enjoys swimming, sewing, and music. She has one daughter who is eight years old, from her first marriage. Wedding bells will ring again for JoMarie who is planning to get married in April 1993.

Her involvement with the community also extends to the community of Family Matters viewers. "I have suggested," she said, "that if there is anything portrayed in this show people are not satisfied with, that they don't think we do honestly, then they should please write in and let us know."

"I think we owe our audience the responsibility to be honest with them. That's my main concern. If we can be honest about a situation, be it good, bad, happy, sad, or whatever, then the show works for everybody."

JoMarie believes that Family Matters strikes a perfect balance. "We're not so rich that you're intimidated by us, and we're not so poor that you're afraid of us. We're just right there where you can reach s, and that's how I'd like for it to stay."

With JoMarie Payton as the mom of the Winslow household, you can be sure that Family Matters will stay right there - at the top of the TV comedy world.