Charlotte Rae

Charlotte Rae was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on April 22, 1926 as Charlotte Lubotsky. She has appeared in many TV shows such as "Car 54, Where Are You?" and "Sesame Street". She also played Edna Garret on "Diffrent Strokes" from 1978-1979. In 1979 she was cast in the spin-off, "The Facts of Life". She played Mrs. Edna Garret, the girls lovable confidant and surrogate mother. In the retooled second season she got promoted to school dietician. In season 5 she left her job at Eastland and opened her own gourmet food shop Edna's Edibles. In season 7 she got married again and moved to Africa with her new husband to join the peace corps. Her sister, Beverly Ann Sickle (Cloris Leachman), replaced her. After Charlotte left the show in 1986 she had appeared in over a dozen movies and TV shows. Some shows she guest stared on were "Diagnosis Murder", "The Secret World of Alex Mack", "Cant Hurry Love", and "Sisters". Some films she's appeared in are "Crime in Connecticut: The Story of Alex Kelly" (1999), "Nowhere" (1997), "Tom and Jerry: The Movie" (1992), "Save the Dog!" (1988), and one of my personal favorite's "The Worst Witch" (1986). Her most recent film was the made for TV movie "Another Womans Husband" (2000). Charlotte is still acting and currently residing in California with her husband. She recently starred in a Paper Mill Playhouse Musical; Pippen.

Kim Fields


Kim Fields was born on May 12, 1969 in New York, New York. Kim made her debut on "Sesame Street" at the age of 5, but her most recognizable early role was as the little girls who "looooooooooved" Mrs. Butterworth in the classic syrup commercial. After a small role on "Baby Im Back" and an appearance on the acclaimed miniseries "Roots" she was cast as the role of Dorthy "Tootie" Ramsey, on the Facts of Life. On the first season of the Facts of Life Tootie was cast on roller skates to avoid difficult camera angles because she was too short . Ironically, she was cut from Diffrent Strokes because she was too tall to play Gary Colemans girlfriend. Roller skates were typically associated with African American culture, so in the retooled second season the new writer thought it was too stereotypical so they got rid of them. After the Facts of Life ended Kim went to star in Foxs sitcom "Living Single" from 1993-1998. She also directed some episodes of Nickelodeons "Kenan and Kel". Her most recent films are 2000s "Glow", the made for TV movie "Hidden Blessings", (also 2000), "An Invited Guest" (1999),"Music of the Heart" (1999), "C Bear and Jamal" (1996), "The Crew" (1995), "The Golden Palace" (1992), and "Martin" (1992). When the FOL went off the air in 1988 Kim got her degree in communications and film at Pepperdine University.

Did you know? Kim Fields was voted "Most Talented" at Burbank High School class of 1986.

Mindy Cohn

Mindy Cohn was born on May 20th, 1966, in Los Angeles, California. Mindy was discovered by Charlotte Rae when she was going around private schools to find just the right girl for her new TV show. Charlotte knew the first time she saw her, that Mindy was perfect. Mindy was then cast for the role of somewhat neurotic Natalie Green on the Facts of Life. Since the Facts of Life ended in 1988 Mindy has had many projects including being a talk-show hostess and a game-show guest star. She has also guest starred on shows like "Suddenly Susan" and "Dream On". In 1995 Mindy got a degree in sociology at Loyola Marymount University. This helped her because soon after she got her degree she hosted a radio program in Phoenix, Arizona on teen issues with Alan Thicke. Coincidentally, Thicke co-wrote the Facts of Life theme song. The five most recent programs she was in are "The Kids From Room 402" (2000), "Alone with a Stranger" (2000), "The Chimp Channel" (1999), "Dead Simple" (1999), and "The Second Half" (1993). Mindy also has plans to do a Facts of Life reunion movie in the fall of 2001 along with Charlotte Rae and Lisa Whelchel.

Lisa Whelchel

Lisa Whelchel was born on May 29th, 1963 in Fort Worth, Texas. Lisas Hollywood career began after she got a spot on The New Mickey Mouse Club in 1977. The producers created a special spot just for her. Ironically Julie Piekarski, who played Sue Ann Weaver on season 1 of the Facts of Life, also was cast for the same show. After her Mousketeer days she was in a few made for TV movies but in 1979 she was cast for the role of Blair Warner on the Facts of Life. Lisa is the only Facts of Life cast member to have appeared in every episode from 1979 to 1988. In 1984, during the shows run, she made an album "All Because of You". It got her a Grammy nomination for Best Inspirational Performance. In July of 1988, just after the FOL ended, she married Steve Cauble, and had three children which she homeschools. She has no plans to return to acting. Except for the FOL reunion. The most recent films she has stared in are "Where the Red Fern Grows: Part 2" (1992), "The Facts of Life Down Under" (1988), "The Facts of Life Goes to Paris" (1982), "The Wild Women of Chastity Gulch" (1982), and "Twirl" (1981). She also guest starred in the TV show "Family" in 1976. Aside from her physical beauty, Lisa Whelchel was nothing in common with her FOL character, Blair Warner. Lisa, a devout Christian, spends her days taking care of her children. In 1997 Lisa appeared in an infomercial for the SpaceMate Gold Exerciser. She also did promos for the 2000 "Facts of Life Unhidden Mysteries" marathon and for "The Blair Tootie Project" (a parody of The Blair Witch Project). Lisa also has a new book out "Creative Correction".

Nancy McKeon

Nancy McKeon was born on April 4, 1966, in Westbury, New York. She has one brother, Phillip, who is 18 months older. Nancy grew up in Forest Hill, NY and was middle class. Her brother and her stared in over 60 commercials together growing up. One day Phillip was trying out for a model job and Nancy's babysitter canceled at the last minute and Nancy had to come along. Nancy was just standing with her mom and the people there picked her for the job. This started her career. Later her family moved out west to California. Phillip got cast on the CBS TV show "Alice" playing Alice's son Tommy. Nancy had a few guest appearances on "Alice" and a few jobs here and there but nothing big. Mean while the Facts of Life just finished 74th in the ratings and NBC was number 3 in a 3-network market. With no other choice, they left the FOL on but some changes had to be made. On the re-tooled 2nd season they needed a fresh face and Nancy was it. In 1980 Nancy McKeon was cast as Jo Polniaczeck on the Facts of Life. This sparked her acting career. Nancy did some acting in between the Facts of Life like "The First Egg", "This Child is Mine", and "Firefighter". After the Facts of Life was cancelled in 1988 she stared in many other movies like 1989s "A Cry For Help: The Tracey Thurman Story", "Love Honor & Obey: The Last Mafia Marriage" (1993), and "The Wrong Woman"(1995). In 1995, she also produced her own short-lived TV series, "Cant Hurry Love". Now Nancy is staring in the Lifetime original series, "The Division", playing Inspector Jinny Exstead.