Charlotte Rae

Very sad news over the weekend...

Charlotte Rae, the actress who became known to millions of TV viewers as the tough but admirable Mrs. Garrett on Diff’rent Strokes and The Facts of Life, has died. She was 92 years old. 

Rae died Sunday at her Los Angeles home. Rae got her start in the theater, eventually acting on Broadway. However, it’s her television work that made her a household name. She was best known as Edna Garrett, a flame-haired housekeeper to three children on Diff’rent Strokes. She continued the role on the Strokes spin-off, The Facts of Life. 

Rae, who was born Charlotte Rae Lubotsky in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1926, began her career in New York City. She cut her teeth on the stage, performing in Broadway plays like The Threepenny Opera and Li’l Abner, later picking up two Tony nominations in 1966 (for best featured actress in a musical in Pickwick) and 1969 (best actress in a play in Morning, Noon and Night).

She first played Mrs. Garrett, a frank, funny housekeeper with a distinctive bouffant, in 1978 in Diff’rent Strokes. She carried on the role until 1984, going between that show and The Facts of Life. Though the actress left the role behind in the mid-1980s, she kept acting, returning to the stage and turning up in shows like ER and Pretty Little Liars, as well as movies like Ricki and the Flash, acting alongside Meryl Streep.

She had quite a long career and will definitely be missed.