For the linguist and language teacher, see Michel Thomas. Michelle Thomas Michelle Thomas (September 23, 1969 – December 22, 1998) was an actress who is best known for her role as Myra Monkhouse, the girlfriend of Steve Urkel, on the long-running American sitcom Family Matters. Thomas was born in Trinidad and Tobago but grew up in New York City, where she attended the Montclair School of the Arts and the Broadway Dance Center. Her mother was Phynjuar Thomas, a stage performer, and her father was Dennis Thomas, a founding member of the band Kool & the Gang. She appeared in a variety of television programs during the 1990s including The Cosby Show, Roseanne and The Young and the Restless (for which she won a NAACP Award for outstanding African American actress in a daytime television program). On December 22, 1998, Thomas died in New York City at the age of 29 from stomach cancer. Her then-boyfriend, actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner, was at her side. External Links Michelle Thomas at the Internet Movie Database Michelle Thomas at a fan page for Kellie Shanygne Williams Michelle Thomas at NNDB  This article about an American television actor is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Search Term: "Michelle_Thomas" Categories: American television actor stubs | 1969 births | 1998 deaths | African-American actors | American soap opera actors | American television actors | Cancer deaths | Entertainers who died in their 20s | People from New York City