Moments of happiness and thinking about the past can help bring the family back together. The family's guardian, Joel Smollett, died of cancer more than four years ago, but his happy family still remembers him as a man with great dignity and inner strength. Joel became famous because he has six children who have made names for themselves in the movie business.

Brief CV

Molly Hirschenson and Peter Smollett had their first child, Joel Smollett, in 1956. Like him, Ashkenazi Jews can return to Romania, Russia, and Poland. Even though his grandparents, David Smollett, and Dawley Levy, were Roman Jews who moved to the United States, he is white.

At age 58, cancer kills!

Joel, a loving father of six, died suddenly on January 7, 2015, at 58. The guardian of the Smollett family lost his battle with cancer. Cells in his body grew in the wrong way, which killed him.

Joel's son Jussie Smollett confirmed the sad news on Instagram with a touching tribute to his father. Everyone in Smollett's family was very sad about his death. 

Father of six; Linked to Janet Smollett

The family patriarch, Joel Smollett, who was killed, married the beautiful Janet Smollett in the Bay Area. The Russian-Polish Jewish man immediately fell in love with the African-American woman from New Orleans. The two people worked to improve civil rights in the heavily populated area around the northern part of the U.S. state.

His wife, Janet Smollett, was a star of the civil rights movement along with Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. She taught Julian Bond and was a tutor him. Soon after, she became well-known in the civil rights movement and was one of the prominent people who helped start the Black Panther Party.

Life on Stage with Jussie Smollett

In 1991, Smollett made his acting debut in the movie "A Little Piece of Heaven." He then played Terry Hall in the movie "The Mighty Ducks." The movie is about a lawyer from Minnesota who has to coach a team of young hockey players as part of his community service.

In 1993, Jussie did voice work for "Cro," and she stayed on for an extra year. In 1994, he played Jesse Jerrico with his siblings on the TV show "On Our Own." In 2012, Jussie was on "The Skinny" and "The Mindy Project." In the latter, she was a guest star. Then he had small parts in the movies Ask Me Anything and Mariah Carey: Infinity. In 2015, he became famous when he was cast as Jamal Lyon on the hit Fox TV show Empire. The show is about a father with three sons who has to decide who should run the family business.

The Defamation Case of Jussie Smollett

When Jussie Smollett said he got a letter with "threatening language," a racist and homophobic insult, and a crushed Tylenol, he got a lot of attention from the media and anger from the public. 

After the attack, the actor was taken to the hospital, but in the following weeks, he made up the attack because he feared that his role in "Empire" would be cut. Jussie was charged with making a false report to the police and could spend up to three years in jail. At the end of 2019, a judge in Chicago refused to throw out a complaint against the actor, who could now have to pay a fine of $130,000.