I don’t believe Charlotte Rae left “The Facts of Life” for health reasons

Geri Jewell had a terrible gas problem. The whole set was rank.🤢

I've never heard this that's the reason she left everything that talks about her leaving says it was her idea because she was bored and wanted to do something else. She felt the series sit out grown the role of Mrs Garrett. Nothing says she quit because of her health even though she did have a peacemaker. So what the f*** are you talking about?

R2, take a breath.

Here's what she told Entertainment Weekly in 2015:

Towards the end, I felt that I really wasn’t needed that much. The girls seemed to be self-sufficient, and I felt like my part had become… Well, it’s like my friend Jean Stapleton said about her character [Edith Bunker on All in the Family]: She felt like she’d done all of the different areas of the woman’s life, and she really felt like it was about over, that there was nothing more. For Mrs. Garrett, they always kept it in the same mold, but the girls were growing up, and I felt very comfortable about them being strong and powerful. So I left. But I felt good about it, because I knew that the girls were well-loved and the popularity would continue because of them and their connection with the audience.

The producers were shocked when I told them I was leaving. They offered me millions to stay. But I thought it over and said, “What are they gonna do, sprinkle money on my grave?” Because not only was I older than the girls, but I had a pacemaker with a mitral valve. When we came back from France—remember The Facts of Life Goes to Paris?—I had it put in. Over that Labor Day weekend, I had it done, and then I went back to work. We kept it a secret, and all was well, but I just didn’t want to overtax myself. I wanted to have a career and continue to act, because it’s such a privilege and I love it, but I didn’t want to kill myself. So I thought it was time to move on. And they did well without me, didn’t they? They went on for another couple of years.

Joan Collins got her fired.

She had a healthy attitude about work and life.

Angela Lansbury did have a long life, but she kept working because her brother was employed by MSW.

Rae has children, but so many actors etc. want to create generational wealth and that's just crazy. Relax, enjoy your money.

We ask the important questions here at the DL.

I've found it difficult to sleep sometimes, wondering what happened here.

Even more upsetting, why so many actresses played Beulah.

I’d always heard she got pregnant with George Clooney’s bastard child and had a back alley abortion.

Charlotte Rae and Paul Lynde were classmates and friends when they were undergraduates at Northwestern in the 50s. Can you imagine what being in a class with the two of them would be like?

Was it Blair or Natalie who had the abortion in Season 8?

[quote] Was it Blair or Natalie who had the abortion in Season 8?

That abortion had a NAME!

I can't imagine the part was very interesting. There are only so many times you can shout out, "Girls, GIRLS, [bold]GIRLS!![/bold] You're letting this tear you apart!" before it gets boring. And they almost never let Mrs. Garrett have anything to do on her own--you had no sense she had any other thing in life to do except supervise the girls.

That interview at R4 is interesting. I didn't watch the last few years and had no idea they wanted to spin it off.

I sorta had a crush on the male teacher in the first season.

Pacemakers have prolonged so many lives. Amazing technology!

R13 what are you talking about she started her own catering business and co-opted the girls as indentured servants.

It was an abortion, Snake! It was a son. A son! And I had it killed. Because this must all end! I know now that it’s over. I knew it then. There would be no way, Snake, no way you could ever forgive me. Not with this... [italic]Peekskill[/italic] thing that’s been going on for over two thousand years!

The actresses all seemed to like her

They wanted Lucy to play Mrs. Garrett but Gary talked her out of it.

At least Lucy had the right hair color to play Mrs. Garrett. But she would have just hit the girls when they fought.

They should have killed her off and made a dream season. Like Dallas.

I had heard Rae had a Broadway musical lined up which was offered to her, and that was why she left - to return to Broadway. However, the project never materialized and she never returned to the Broadway stage.

She was sick of Jo’s lesbianism

She did Beckett's "Happy Days" off-Broadway in the fall of 1990.

Weren’t Cloris and Charlotte friends, and Charlotte recommended Cloris to play her sister?

R25, they were. An interesting duo.

I hated Beverly. And that blond kid that showed up. And that Australian girl. Those last two years should have just been the four girls living as roommates. They were all in college or graduated from college at that point, weren't they? Who the hell needs a babysitter at that point?

I DEMAND a Congressional investigation into this earth-shaking controversy!!!

That congressional investigation would be a better use of the taxpayer dollars than anything we have seen in the last 10 years

We've already established the Beverlyn Ann (Cloris) years were better.

Is this thread the spiritual child of “I don't think the other members of the What's My Line panel liked Dorothy Kilgallen”?

In her Television Academy interview, she basically said what she said in EW.

They offered her tons of money to stay, but she was bored and wanted to do other things.

She wasn't too sick to work, because she went right into the national tour of Into the Woods as Jack's mother and did that for a while.

🎵… and suddenly you’re finding out the facts of life are all about you… ALL. ABOUT. YOU.

But they brought in Cloris Leachman as Mrs. Garret's sister to help the girls.

[quote] We've already established the Beverlyn Ann (Cloris) years were better.

Well, I never got to vote in that other thread and I would vehemently disagree.

"R1, R2! R3!! R4!!!"

r34 Yes, dear - and your point is?

I remember when Mrs. Garrett left; I was a pre-teen. I did not like Beverly Ann at all. I thought she was weird and abrasive and had a bad dyke haircut.

But I kept watching! The Facts of Life was the show you could not kill with a stick. NBC wanted a 10th season but Mindy Cohn and Nancy McKeon finally said enough.

One of the greatest episodes of the show was from the Beverly Ann era: Seven Little Indians.

I thought it had something to do with her being so handsy with her young colleagues. They did it quietly because they already have enough episodes for syndication and they didn't want to poison the golden goose with the scandal.

Rae got a good pay-off. The others all had to sign things to keep quiet because it turned out one of the "girls" stalked one of her costars. Guess who.

[quote] The others all had to sign things to keep quiet because it turned out one of the "girls" stalked one of her costars. Guess who.

Who are you talking about? Who stalked who?

The two greatest episodes are “The Four Musketeers” with the paint fight and the episode where they pull an all-nighter studying for finals. Sadly, they occurred early on in seasons three and four. The show pretty much died halfway through season 6 when Margie Peters and Linda Marsh left as producers.

So strange to watch this show dwindle into obscurity over the years. Younger generations just didn't take to it. I don't think it took off outside of the US, either.

[quote]So strange to watch this show dwindle into obscurity over the years. Younger generations just didn't take to it. I don't think it took off outside of the US, either.

It was a once-removed Norman Lear production (TAT/Embassy TV were the remains of the Lear machine, although he left TV for several years starting in 1979). A show very much of a specific time and approach. Topical, loud, and written with sledgehammers.

Lesbians and gay men loved this show.

I agree, R42!! But Seasons 6 & 7 had a couple gems -- Cruisin';The Last Drive-In; Come Back to the Truck Stop Natalie Green, Natalie Green; 3,2,1

R30 the Cloris years were not better

[Quote] So strange to watch this show dwindle into obscurity over the years. Younger generations just didn't take to it. I don't think it took off outside of the US, either

Your reply is so strange to me r43. That’s not my perception of The Facts of Life’s legacy. In fact, it airs daily in large time blocks on Logo TV.

The show was only good in the early 80s when all of them were in high school once Blair and the lesbian graduated high school and werein college it started to slip.

i put the facts of life go to paris ad from the tv guide on my mirror 'cause i wanted to go to paris junior year.

dang if i didn't.

she's a witch!

So there were only two years with Cloris?

It seemed like longer than that.

The audience for the Logo reruns is 10K max.

R18 It's pretty amazing that the cast got along throughout the entire series run considering how much backstage drama there is with these shows.

R52 so? Doesn’t indicate the show is forgotten or whatever you asserted in your reply. You don’t have a grasp on the shows impact or legacy.

R53 Can you imagine the drama if Linda Lavin was cast as Mrs Garrett?

At the end of Season 7, Blair’s hair was chopped short and flat and she looked like shit. I don’t know what Lisa Whelchel was thinking but then in the final two seasons, she looked better than she ever had before so I guess we can forgive her.

R56 I actually think her hair looks good there. Much better than the matronly styles that they gave young women during that era.

Church lady OP, she DIED in 2018, she didn’t “pass away.”

Mrs G.. Dead.

In retrospect, I think Rue McClanahan should've stepped in as 'Beverly Ann' and Cloris Leachman should have played 'Blanche' on 'The Golden Girls'. I think that switch could've really worked.

IIRC, the Broadway musical Rae was offered was a planned 1987 revival of "Annie" , and she was offered the role of 'Miss Hannigan' (the complete opposite of 'Mrs. Garrett'). Shortly after she left the show in 1986, the revival fell apart (couldn't find enough investors) and didn't happen for another ten years. Miss Hannigan was then replaced by Nell Carter and then Sally Struthers in the 1997 revival.

Yeah Blair was a bitch.

I get why she left. By season 7 the show had become more of a grown up situation comedy involving the girls and Mrs. Garrett seems out of place in a lot of it. You can tell the writers were having difficulty working her character into the storylines.

Cloris didn’t have much of a character but she gelled with the girls at that point better than Rae.

Facts was going to continue as The Lisa Whelchel Show with Blair supervising Eastland. Seth Green, Mayim Bialik and Juliette Lewis were going to be the kids. NBC put it on their Fall schedule Saturday nights after Golden Girls, but something happened during the writers strike that summer and by the Fall NBC decided to go with Empty Nest instead.

There are lots of discussion boards re: Facts of Life.

Would I want to watch it again? No. But I don't mind discussing it.

The REAL reason she HAD to leave was that nude, disgusting photos of her with various escorts, animals, and sex machines were discovered. She was a freak ho for many years in Hollywood. Take a Rae for a Lay in the Hay was an insider joke for years….

They filmed two episodes of the Blair spinoff. It sucked. Almost as bad as that attempted Golden Girls spinoff. Not the hotel that Rita Mirrano one.

That Rita Mirrano one?

Is English your first language, R67?

When I saw the 'girls' reunite on 'The Drew Show' a few months ago, I was the one who suggested they should reunite for a 'Golden Girls' type of comedy. I still say they should - without Tootie. I think if done correctly, it could last a few seasons.

[quote]I thought it had something to do with her being so handsy with her young colleagues.

That’s completely untrue. Charlotte had no interest in those girls beyond having to do scenes with them. Shame on you for implying otherwise.

Miss R70 doesn't recognize the twisted satire of the DL.

Come, enjoy some Edna's Edibles... In between my suuuugar waaaaaaaaalls!

She broke all there hymens with her stubby fingers, r70.

R73 Natalie Green remembers when all the girls were in bed and Mrs. Garrett went up to each one and said, "Now this won't hurt a bit !" Then she gave them an oatmeal cookie to stop their crying.

Give it up, R72, R73, and R74. You’re completely unfunny.

Q: What's white and smells like Tootie?

A: ɹǝƃuᴉɟ ʎW

What does Edna put in her edibles?

Did Natalie wear fishbowl tits as a gimmick,.or was that one of her friends?

[quote] At the end of Season 7, Blair’s hair was chopped short and flat and she looked like shit.

"Give me the full Markie Post."

--Blair, to her Peekskill beautician

Facts is on M-F at 2pm eastern on Antenna TV. Season 2 starts today with the arrival of Jo, and the Chug-a-Lug bar incident that forces the girls to live over the cafeteria.