- Born
- Died
- Birth nameCharlotte Rae Lubotsky
- Height4′ 10½″ (1.49 m)
- Charlotte Rae was born Charlotte Rae Lubotsky in 1926, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the middle daughter of three sisters, between Beverly and Mimi. Her parents, Esther (nee Ottenstein) and Meyer Lubotsky, were Russian Jewish immigrants. Her father owned an automobile tire business. Her mother had been a childhood friend of Milwaukee-reared Golda Meir, future Prime Minister of Israel.
Rae wanted to be a dramatic actress, but eventually wound up being a comedienne, all because of her stand-up comedy routines. Her family moved to the village of Shorewood, Wisconsin (Milwaukee County) in 1936. After graduating from Shorewood High School, she attended Northwestern University, where she met future actress Cloris Leachman; the two would be lifelong friends. She dropped out of college and moved to New York City, and began a career as a stage actress, performing in such plays as "Pickwick", for which she was nominated in 1966 for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, and, in 1969, for Best Actress in a Play for "Morning, Noon and Night". She co-starred with Fred Gwynne and Al Lewis in Car 54, Where Are You? (1961). She would live there until 1974 when she moved to Southern California.
She was nominated for an Emmy Award for her supporting role in Queen of the Stardust Ballroom (1975). After guest-starring on numerous shows, including Norman Lear's All in the Family (1971) and Good Times (1974), Lear hired her old friend to co-star on Diff'rent Strokes (1978) as Gary Coleman's housekeeper, "Edna Garrett". Within a year, she gained popularity with her character, which eventually led her to having her own series, The Facts of Life (1979). Between Norman Lear and NBC, they gave her the green-light to star in her own show, which focused primarily on the housekeeper of an all-girls school. The spinoff series featured newcomers including Kim Fields as "Tootie" and Lisa Whelchel as rich spoiled brat "Blair Warner".
Before then, she approached young Mindy Cohn at Westlake School in Los Angeles, and suggested that she take the role of smart "Natalie Green", a character Rae created for her and named after one of her best friends from high school. Cohn stayed on the show for eight seasons. Rae left the show in 1986 reportedly owing to a health issue. She reportedly created the role of "Beverly" for her old friend, Cloris Leachman, to play on The Facts of Life (1979) after she left the show.
She returned to the stage. In 1992, she was the voice of "Aunt Christine Figg" in Tom and Jerry: The Movie (1992) and appeared in "The Vagina Monologues" in New York. In 2000, she starred as "Berthe" in the Paper Mill Playhouse production of "Pippin". In 2007, she appeared in a cabaret show at the Plush Room in San Francisco for several performances. In the 2008 movie, You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008), she played a mature woman who has a fling with Adam Sandler's character. On February 18, 2009, she appeared in a small role as "Mrs. Ford" on the "I Heart Mom" episode.
Rae's older sister, Beverly, died from pancreatic cancer in 1998, while Rae's ex-husband of 35 years, John Strauss, died in 2011, following a long battle with Parkinson's disease. A pancreatic cancer survivor, Rae continued to act while making guest appearances everywhere, especially TV Land, where her show, The Facts of Life (1979), won the 2011 award for Pop Culture Icon.
Charlotte Rae died on August 5, 2018 at her home in Los Angeles, aged 92, from bone cancer, which had been diagnosed a year earlier. She also suffered from asthma and scoliosis, and had been fitted with a pacemaker.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Richard Collins II/Robert Sieger
- SpouseJohn Strauss(November 4, 1951 - March 28, 1976) (divorced, 2 children)
- ChildrenAndrew Brian StraussLawrence Meyer Strauss
- ParentsEsther OttensteinMeyer Lubotsky
- RelativesBeverly Lubotsky(Sibling)Miriam Ann Lubotsky(Sibling)
- Auburn-reddish hair
- Her husky voice
- Her smile
- Her plump, short stature
- Composed The Facts of Life (1979)'s 1st season theme song.
- Remained on good terms with Lisa Whelchel, Nancy McKeon, Mindy Cohn and Kim Fields only after The Facts of Life (1979) ended. During the run of the show, however, she felt that the girls were "politely distant" with her. It was almost a decade that she knew the reason why. McKeon confided in her that the girls thought of her more as a boss, rather than a colleague. In reality, Charlotte was a hired-hand like they were and had nothing to do with the network and producers' decision to fire the six cast members during the first season. McKeon asked her to guest-star on her show Burning Bed (1995) to which she agreed.
- Discovered young Mindy Cohn for The Facts of Life (1979) show while Rae and the TV show were at an all-girls school preparing for research and casting. Rae was instrumental in getting young student Cohn cast.
- Rae divorced her husband, composer John Strauss, before starting Diff'rent Strokes (1978). Her youngest son, Larry Strauss, is a South Central Los Angeles school teacher and a writer. He helped write her memoir, "The Facts of My Life" (2015), revealing the reason her marriage ended in divorce was because her husband came out as bisexual and wanted to have an open marriage. She didn't want that kind of marriage but remained friends with him and his partner, artist Lionel Friedman, until both men died.
- Rae's elder son Andy was autistic. She knew something was wrong since he was a baby and kept taking him to doctors who told her that she was worrying over nothing. Eventually, a doctor who diagnosed childhood cognitive disabilities told her that her son was autistic. She thought he said "artistic" and was relieved. Then, he wrote out the word "autistic" and explained to her Andy's condition and that if he didn't improve by age six, he would have to be institutionalized. She was devastated. But she and her husband helped Andy as much as they could, and when he grew up, he had a girlfriend Rhonda, who was also challenged, but more-functioning than him. Her mother Edna was warm, caring, and wise, and became fast friends with Charlotte. When it came time to giving Mrs. Garrett's first name on The Facts of Life (1979) , she insisted to the writers the character be named Edna, because she wanted her character to have the same qualities. When she told the real Edna about it, she was very flattered and honored. Andy died in 1999, predeceasing both of his parents.
- I can't even go to Barbados without people wanting to hug me and 'Oh, Mrs. Garrett!', you know, it [The Facts of Life] really had an impact on their lives.
- [in 1979, about her small, awkward, plump stature]: How did I fit? I didn't. I felt inferior. I had this tremendous need to perform. I wanted to be acceptable to my peers. To feel equal. I had an older sister, Beverly, who seemed to be very secure. I had a younger sister, Mimi, who was cute! I thought if I could just be a big star, I'd feel like somebody too.
- [on theater]: I became drunk with power. I was burning to get to New York. But my parents begged me to stay. I needed to graduate, they said. I did soap opera on radio in Chicago. When I told the director my name was Lubotsky, he said, 'But you can't use that.' My father was very hurt. 'But why?,' he wanted to know.
- [on Teresa Brewer]: Teresa Brewer and I stood on the bar and sang 'Can't Help Lovin' That Man' and 'Cockeyed Optimist. Sometimes a drunk would give me 50 cents. My father came in once and nearly died. With tears in his eyes, he told me the cigarette girl had tried to hustle him.
- [on her professional friendship with Norman Lear]: So open. So up front. Not a big shot. Not afraid to take a risk, make a mistake.
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