What Happened To Jazz Raycole After She Left My Wife And Kids?

For five seasons, the hit show "My Wife and Kids" kept audiences laughing with its special brand of humor. Starring Damon Wayans and Tisha Campbell, "My Wife and Kids" followed the exploits of Michael Kyle (Wayans), a father whose egotistical personality and over-the-top methods for teaching his children led to outrageous scenarios. Airing between 2001 and 2005, the show became a beloved fixture on ABC, winning multiple Image and People's Choice Awards during its run (via IMDb). With the family comedy becoming available to stream on Hulu in 2021, both old and new fans have reunited with the Kyle family and their colorful personalities. 

Possibly the most infamous member of this family unit was Claire Kyle, Michael's stubborn teenage daughter. Her notoriety amongst fans doesn't necessarily come from her personality or actions, but rather that following the first season, where she was portrayed by actress Jazz Raycole, the show replaced her with Jennifer Freeman, who would go on to play Claire throughout the remainder of the series. The show would acknowledge this in the first episode of the second season, where Michael comments on Claire's new look, saying that she looks like a "whole new person." Raycole would tell the Christian Post that the show's producers wanted someone older for the role and chose to let her go. Nevertheless, the show must go on for both "My Wife and Kids" and Raycole, so just where did the performer find herself following her departure from the sitcom?

Following her brief time on "My Wife and Kids," Raycole would appear in numerous other notable shows. These include several appearances on "Everybody Hates Chris," "The Office," and "Monk." Additionally, she would provide a voice in an episode of the hit Nickelodeon animated series, "Hey Arnold" in 2003. In 2012, Raycole starred in the TV Land series, "The Soul Man," where she worked alongside Cedric the Entertainer. The show, which followed the exploits of an R&B singer (C who moves to St. Louis with his family to become a preacher, struck close to home with Raycole, who plays as daughter Lyric Ballentine. In an interview with Studio Q regarding how she relates to the character, Raycole brings up how her upbringing within a religious, church-owning family helped her connect to the role. Afterward, she was featured in several episodes of the BET series "The Quad." 

More recently, Raycole has been a main cast member on the Netflix series, "The Lincoln Lawyer," a legal drama starring Manuel Garcia-Ruflo and Neve Campbell based on the best-selling 2008 Michael Connelly novel "The Brass Verdict." The show focuses on LA-based lawyer Mickey Haller (Garcia-Rulfo) and the cases he takes throughout the city from the back of his Lincoln Navigator. On the show, Raycole stars as Izzy Letts, a former drug addict who acts as Haller's driver. The show proved to be a success on the streamer, and a new season was announced with a release planned for 2023 (via Deadline).