Philip Banks, commonly referred to as Uncle Phil, is a prominent supporting character on the American TV sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, played by James Avery from 1990 to 1996.
[1] A self-made wealthy lawyer, Banks is the uncle of the delinquent Will, and takes Will into his home in posh Bel Air, Los Angeles, following Will's neighborhood troubles in Philadelphia.
[1] Outside of his family life, the character was "a former hippie-activist in the '60s turned Princeton-educated Los Angeles judge who was down to quote Malcolm X and call the criminal justice system out on its flaws at a moment's notice".
In the episode, "Mistaken Identity", when Will and Carlton are arrested on suspicion of stealing a car that they had actually been paid by one of Philip’s law firm’s senior partners to drive from one Bel-Air to Palm Springs, Phil berates the officers on duty for immediately writing the two off as criminals instead of going through the proper procedures, noting that they had not contacted him despite Will and Carlton being minors and Phil being both their legal guardian and their attorney.
A particularly poignant moment with the character is seen in the season four episode, "Papa's Got a Brand New Excuse", in which Phil offers Will compassion and a literal shoulder to cry on after Will's father visits and then leaves without Will, breaking a promise to take his son on a cross-country trip.
In one particular episode, entitled "Not with My Pig, You Don't" (originally aired on October 8, 1990), Phil's parents, Hattie (Virginia Capers) and Joe (Gilbert Lewis) come to visit for the weekend when he wins a prestigious award, and inadvertently reveal his humble country roots growing up on a farm in North Carolina.
A journalist (Kathy Griffin), comes to the Bankses house to interview Phil about his life, but plans to kill the story because she finds him boring after all he talks about is his work.
After spending his youth as part of the counterculture and social justice movements, Phil eventually attends and graduates from Princeton University, and then Harvard Law School.
In the final episode of the series, Will, who is remaining in Los Angeles to attend college, frets about losing the relationship that they have developed, but Phil assures him, "You are my son, end of story".