​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.   Ernest Lee Thomas (born March 26, 1949) is an American actor. He was born in Gary, Indiana. He is most famous for his role as aspiring writer Roger "Raj" Thomas on the 1970s ABC sitcom What's Happening!!, and its 1980s syndicated sequel, What's Happening Now!! Description above from the Wikipedia article Ernest Lee Thomas, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.