By Kathi Stearns

When Marcus Miller was growing up, his West End classmates used to call him “Urkel,” after the character in the series “Family Matters,” because “I looked like a nerd with my big glasses.”

His mother, Geneva, remembers trying to comfort her son, explaining that kids tease each other and telling him not to take it seriously.

The next day she walked by her son’s room and saw him wearing suspenders, white socks and a bow tie, with his pants pulled up above his waist, trying to imitate the nasal voice of Steve Urkel. “No wonder (they) call you ‘Urkel,’” his mother exclaimed.

But nowadays his classmates are laughing with him, as Marcus, a fourth-grader at St. Anthony’s School, was one of three winners of a national contest to find Urkel impersonators. The 10-year-old was chosen from over 3,000 entrants and won a trip to Los Angeles with his family as he guest starred in a “Family Matters” episode.

To audition for the show his parents and neighbors helped Marcus put together a one-minute videotape in which he spoke three of Urkel’s most famous lines and stuck several of Urkel’s more popular poses.

“The hardest part of the audition was perfecting my Urkel voice,” Marcus said. “I’d walk into my dad’s office and say, ‘Hey there big guy,’ or I’d walk into the kitchen and say to mom, “What’s for dinner, my little babushka?,’ until I mastered his voice.”

In the episode, entitled “Father of the Bride,” Marcus is one of Steve Urkel’s children in a dream sequence envisioned by neighbor Carl Winslow (Reginald VelJohnson), who has bribed his daughter Laura (Kellie Shanygne Williams) to go bowling with Steve Urkel (Jaleel White). The episode aired Feb. 11.

Marcus explained that he always loved the Urkel character. “Steve is so funny. He does something wrong every other second or knocks something down. Yet no matter what he does, people forgive him.”

Marcus found life in Hollywood to be different than life in Atlanta. “When I was in school, I wondered about what I would have for lunch the next day, or if I would have my homework done so I could watch television,” he said. “When I was in Hollywood I kept wondering whether the limo would pick us up on time, if the restaurants we ate at would have food that I liked and if I needed an agent.”

Marcus memorized the entire script for the Feb. 11 episode. The director, fearing he might be overwhelmed by the Hollywood experience, asked Marcus if he had memorized his lines. Marcus turned to him and said, “You should eat more fiber,” in his nasally Urkel voice, one of his three lines for the episode. The entire cast broke up.

The actual taping was the most nerve-wracking experience for Marcus. “I got scared when I saw all the seats in the studio. It was so intense I didn’t think I’d make it through the whole thing without passing out. After the first scene I got the hang of it, and everything was cool after that.”

His family sat in the first row to help calm his fears. “My brother kept giving me the sign for victory, and I knew if my mind can conceive it, then my heart can believe it, and I can achieve it.”

Marcus is a distinguished student at St. Anthony’s with a 4.0 grade-point average. He is also president of his class and a reporter for the school newspaper. When he’s not studying he can be found playing computer games, basketball or reading.

His teacher, Sharon Alexander, said that Marcus is one of her more gifted students. “He always does more than is asked of him,” she said. As his teacher bragged about his accomplishments, Marcus responded with an Urkel-voiced “Oh shucks.”

Yet a career in entertainment does not dominate Marcus’s vision for his future. “I want to be an astronaut and discover a cure for AIDS and cancer. Acting will have to be a secondary job.” He said.

“He can do it, but he’ll be busy,” Mrs. Alexander concluded. And with that Marcus grabbed his lunch box and said, “Heidy-ho, it’s back to class I go,” in his now famous Urkel voice.