Friday, July 8, 2011

Marla Gibbs's Biography!





Margaret Theresa Bradley, known professionally as: Marla Gibbs (born June 14, 1931), is a former American airline stewardess, a five-time Emmy Award-nominated prolific character actress of stage, television, film, comedienne, game show panelist of the 1980s, and a jazz singer. In her four decades of acting, she is probably best known for her role as Louise & George Jefferson's (played by Isabel Sanford and Sherman Hemsley respectively) sarcastic maid, Florence Johnston, on the long-running 1970s sitcom, The Jeffersons and its short-lived spinoff, Checking In. She also starred as razor-sharp tongue housewife, Mary Jenkins, in the popular 1980s sitcom, 227, co-starring her best friends Hal Williams and Alaina Reed Hall. Her trademarks are her dry, acid wit and for the characters whose housewives were sarcastic.


Biography

Early years

Gibbs, who was the second of four children, born as Margaret Theresa Bradley in Chicago, Illinois, to Douglas Bradley, a self-taught mechanic (later ice truck carrier), and Ophelia Birdie Kemp, a grocery store clerk and a restaurant manager, who would also worked in a church theater, where her mother would charged the whole family $1.00 to watch a show = 10 cents for the children and 25 cents for the adults. Her mother also sold all the snacks in the concession stand. Her grandmother also ran a boarding home, where there were 3 rooms, had done most of the ironing little Margaret had tried.[1] In 1935, a distraught Margaret soon realized her parents were getting divorced as her mother left Chicago to pursue a popular evangelical ministry on radio in another midwestern state.[2] As a young film buff of the 1940s, she grew up watching the movies in the likes of: Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Joan Fontaine, Clark Gable, Tyrone Power and Vivien Leigh, as she would go out to certain movie theaters. She also learned there were almost no African-American moviestars, who were so popular at the time. She once had a crush on William Marshall, prior to acting.[3]

Despite of her parents divorce, Margaret stayed with her father and siblings in Chicago, while her mother moved to Detroit, Michigan. Her older sister, Vera Louise, was named after her own aunt, Margaret was named after her own aunt, and her younger sister, Freda was named after her aunt's husband's-sister. She's of German descent by her grandfather. From what little Margaret has been raised, her mother had a lot of sayings, she didn't understand at the time, though mostly what she said are true. At a very young age, she wanted to adopt and save each and every one of the dogs. She lost one of her four dogs, one disappeared and she went looking for the other, she didn't find the other dog. She went to the pound, where she was told about the dogs and the final cage, who only had five days to live. Nobody adopted them, they were all dead.[citation needed] She wanted to have all the dogs, but couldn't get them all, she was only allowed to pick one. She tried to get the dog to her grandmother's house, but her grandmother wouldn't allow her too, hence, Margaret was kicked out of her house, that same year she graduated from Chicago's popular Wendell Phillips High School, in 1949.[citation needed] It was also at Wendell Phillips (where she attended, and became a classmate to the late Sam Cooke).[4]

After her father's death at 16, and the eviction of her grandmother's at 18, she couldn't take her dog back to the pound. She took her dog to reside at her best friend's house, whom she had given a dog to, who in turn, her best friend also had a dog. The cat came by the window suffered a busted eye, and was immediately taken in - hence, her best friend, had had enough. Young Margaret took the Chicago Transit Authority bus, where she took the cat in the bag, to the veterinarian. The vet said she couldn't take the cat in the bag, after badgering the veterinarian, he took Bradley around and showed her some other pets, including birds, among other things that other pet customers had brought, but never came back, hence, she couldn't take her cat back, hence, she was forced to keep it, feeding the cat some food.[citation needed] Her best friend had insisted on Margaret and herself to give up the place, hence, they both had to let their own dogs go. She was also looking for work. Her best friend told her to lie on just about everything. Margaret's first job was working in the Garment District, where she jumped up though she came up with the name of A.H. Gleberman, and said she'd made it someplace else like Racine, Wisconsin. She went in and had the experience working as a factor, wiping chalk marks on clothing. One of the staff came in to work, and Bradley's boss said of another co-worker she was let go, hence she used her time card to clock her, and was determined to work. The next day, going against the boss's orders, the same co-worker of Bradley's came back to work, clock in, but was already informed, she was fired, hence, Margaret's boss had stopped using her as an employee. Bradley was asked by her best friend if she had any sewing experience, and she said yes, fortunately for Margaret and unfortunately for her best friend, she didn't know how to turn the sewing machine on. She later worked at a men's factory, whose job was to straighten up the zippers while cutting the ribbons. Plus she was celebrating for doing her work, though she was too slow.[citation needed]

Later, she worked at Service Bindary, who did her usual two jobs, making sure there was succession of jobs, she went in for an interview realizing they weren't hiring. Later, her boss told her the work was hiring and was immediately taken in, after reviewing her application. Her job was to take the easels, at the time, they made all the displays, where it was a mounting in a book-bindary company. Every display have been stood up with an easel, like a cardboard, where they pull the easel on the back and hose it up. She ran the easels through the glue machine, and put it over there. She got a lot of experience in working through that. She also hired a lot of people for the job. She also had a job working in the mailroom. In the same situation as her previous job (in the factory), one of her co-workers, the mailclerk, had one beer too many and continued using the bathroom, until her boss was furious with her co-worker, noticing he wasn't there, hence, she was just sitting there, waiting for him to return. Despite of her co-worker's drinking behavior, he got fired and Bradley took over.[4].

A lady who grew up with her wanted to know from her if Bradley knew how to run a switchboard, when she didn't, hence, she stayed in the mailroom.[5]

She wanted to be a comedic actress, playing the kind of roles she would more likely to do. Despite not doing dramatic roles, Bradley eventually wound up in comedy.

Before she got to do some acting, she also worked in a all-black Gotham hotel in Detroit, where she worked as a switchboard, the job that everybody was more familiar with her, and later she worked for the Department of Street Railways, where she worked for a switchboard in a bus company.[6]

In order for her to become an actress, she legally changed her name from Margaret Theresa Bradley to Marla Gibbs. This was because her name was too long, she wanted to go with the ebb and flow of her newly, rechristened name.


Career

Before the start of the acting career, in 1963, Gibbs had worked, as an airline attendant for United Airlines, a job she'd held for 12 years, before relocating with her children from Detroit to Los Angeles. Soon afterwards, she joined PASLA (Performing Arts Society of Los Angeles) with her daughter, Angela, and studied at the Mafundi Institute and Watts Writers Workshop (both in Watts, California). Ms. Gibbs soon performed in several well-received productions including Medea, Amen Corner and The Gingerbread Lady at the Zodiac Theatre. After a few bit parts, Ms. Gibbs landed the plum role of Florence on The Jeffersons, where she started to gain international notoriety.


Acid-dry character actress

Gibbs also had a wide variety of guest-starring roles. She made her guest-starring debut on an episode of Barney Miller. The part led to other roles such as: The Love Boat, 3 episodes of Pryor's Place opposite Richard Pryor, A Different World, In The Heat of the Night, Empty Nest, Martin, she reprised her role as Florence Johnston on the very last episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, 2 episodes of Martial Law, Touched By An Angel with Roma Downey and Della Reese, Dawson's Creek, Happily Ever After, The King of Queens, Judging Amy, ER, The Rerun Show, among many others.


The Jeffersons

Prior to Gibbs, who was working on her last days for United, her Hollywood agent wrote a open letter to the Hollywood Reporter, which an agent printed, she auditioned for the role of sassy maid, Florence Johnston on CBS's, The Jeffersons. This reminded her of her grandmother and aunt, in favor of the unfamiliar actress who went in, got the call and won the role, after she read for producers Don Nicholl and Norman Lear. Gibbs, who never had any time to watch the parent show, All in the Family (from which The Jeffersons had spun off) where it already starred: Isabel Sanford and Sherman Hemsley, both as: Louise and George Jefferson respectively. The show was already an immediate hit, where it ranked #4 in the ratings. The show was based on Family, that revolved Louise who lived in the sky-high apartment with her husband, who also worked for the cleaner, who also had kids and had an interracial couple, whose marriage wanted to work as an authentic couple. Though the scene wasn't real, Lear needed to make it real, as well as the couple's first kiss, where it was Lear's idea.[7] He dissected and solved the problem, very successfully, plus there were a lot of chemistry that she had with Sanford & Hemsley of 1970s/80s television.

Originally, her character had a recurring role, but kept on coming back for more appearances, hence, Gibbs's character grew to be popular, receiving the most fan mail, hence, she became the breakout character for the entire show. She was also nominated for 5 Emmy Awards, but didn't win. In addition, ratings continue to build, for the next six seasons, between 1979-1985, ex. when she left on a temporary basis to star in her own short-lived series, Checking In, before she came back.

Compared to Family, among many other Norman Lear's groundbreaking series, this one also dealt with topics, such as: racism, suicide, peer pressure, dating, gun illiteracy, among many other issues that other 1970s television had offered.[citation needed]

Despite good ratings, when The Jeffersons was unexpectedly and sadly canceled in the summer of 1985, she and the rest of the cast realized the show had ended in controversy after CBS axed the series without an appropriate series finale, hence, they were all shocked, esp. Gibbs herself, but was not out of work for long.


227

After a short hiatus from television, Gibbs switched networks from CBS to NBC, to play the leading role of sharp-tongued housewife and resident gossip who rocks the inner-city brownstone, Mary Jenkins, on 227.[8] Originally, the series was supposed to make its debut after 1985, however, since Gibbs was released from her contract at CBS, Norman Lear allowed her to star, produce and write in her own series, the same year The Jeffersons got axed from the prime-time line-up, though she was still working at the same production company, outside of Lear. The show was about a play where her real-life daughter, Angela, produced the play by Christine Houston, that Gibbs actually did a play in her own theater, she founded in 1981.

Compared to her other role on The Jeffersons before this one, she played almost exactly the same role, and it was also an immediate hit, too, where it was the answer to other mid-1980s groundbreaking sitcoms that stood the test of time such as: The Cosby Show (which was a downscale cousin), The Golden Girls (a show that aired immediately-following 227), Growing Pains, Who's The Boss, Cheers and Newhart. In turn, Gibbs also made 227 a hit, where she show talked about various topics like: dating, peer pressure, business partnership, dancing, depression, lying, drugs, winning, sex, among many others.
Also starring on 227 was a familiar actor and a best friend of Gibbs', Hal Williams, in the role of construction worker/husband, Lester Jenkins, a Broadway actress, the late Helen Martin in the role of Mary's nosy neighbor, Pearl Shay, another familiar actress, the late Alaina Reed Hall as her best friend, Rose Lee Halloway, along with 2 unfamiliar actresses, Regina King (who was in the 227 play) as Mary's teenaged daughter, Brenda Jenkins and Jackée Harry as Mary's sexy, attractive building vamp, Sandra Clark. Above all, the entire cast got along real great on- and off-camera for the last years of the 1980s, esp. King, with the exception of Harry (despite rumours swirling around Gibbs & Harry). Harry was also one of the several candidates to audition for Rose and Sandra, at the same time. She in turn was also one of the 500 young ladies to also audition for either a female 227 character, where Jackee stayed at the hotel. Gibbs's co-star also had changed clothes continually for two separate characters, and when it was clear, the very moment she left the hotel room, she got a call, where both Marla and the producers got Jackée to play Sandra instead, hence, the role of Rose was eventually given to Hall.[9]

Compared to Gibbs's own Jeffersons character, her co-star was also said to have a recurring role lasting for only 7 episodes, despite being a regular, when she came in every show, each week for Harry to become a breakout character of 1980s television, for the four of five seasons that she stayed on the air, also like Gibbs, Harry also got fan mail, as is the case for Martin. Despite of all the fame Harry was receiving, tensions were mounting between the two ladies as 227 focused more on Sandra's character at the beginning of the fourth season in 1988. NBC was also given a chance for Jackee to star in her own series, the following year, where she created her character, hence it was never developed. She finally left 227 midway throughout the 1989-90 season, and Gibbs wasn't very happy, though they feuded occasionally.

That same season (1989-90), this once-successful show was also on the brink of cancellation, as well, despite of low ratings and Harry's departure, after 5 seasons and 115 episodes. Unlike The Jeffersons last episode, 227's final episode had the appropriate series finale. NBC didn't just say goodbye to 227, but this also put an end to Gibbs's 15 yr. career on network television, playing 2 separate roles.

Jackée Harry said in a 2010 interview with Essence.com, about 227 that made it a success, a quarter of a century ago, who also talked about how Marla was the “head-honcho,” of the series, “That Marla Gibbs was the star of it. She's strong. People took it for granted, but she implemented a lot of change on there. She did not hold her tongue. She fought for all of us. She and I are great friends. She and I have come full circle. She's the best person.” Harry also responded in a 2009 interview on BET’s The Wendy Williams Show, if she actually feuded with series’ lead, Marla Gibbs, both on- and off- the set, as far as the show was going, “That was true at the time, she and I sensed we have the greatest friends. We’ve come full circle, and by that I mean, I talked about it honestly and woman-to-woman, and she didn’t have to, but she said, ‘People putting things to her heads and telling her things that, she was believing in them,’ and she said, ‘She finally come to me, to talk to me, and we got it all straight.’ We are the best buds, me her and Alaina Reed [who recently passed away] and the fabulous Regina King.” This was weeks after in another interview with E! True Hollywood Story prior to joining the cast of 227 was she didn’t want to be a comedienne, when Marla strongly insisted Jackée to be, “Well, I said, ‘I don’t want to be funny, tomorrow.’ Marla said, ‘Yes, I want you to be funny because our show will be picked up.’ And she said, ‘The funnier everybody is, the better, the show will be.’” The last thing Harry said was of her feud with Marla before her departure from the series during the 1989-90 season: “When Sandra took off and I took off with her, the truth is it did indeed create a lot of tension. There were problems on Marla’s part, which was truly ridiculous because she had all the power. It was her show. Maybe the problem stemmed from the fact that from the beginning Marla wanted someone else for the part, but the network insisted on me. They were all pushing Sandra, and they were pushing me. That changed when I got big, maybe too big, in Marla's eyes. Not that Marla and I ever had any arguments. She was never rude to me, and we always remained cordial. But on the biggest night of my life, when I won my Emmy, not only wasn't there a party given for me, but there was also not a flower or a word of congratulations. Ever. There was nothing, and that hurt. Afterward, my part got less and less each week, and it became clear to me that it was time to leave so I did.” After the feud, Gibbs completely took Harry in, as a best buddy, sister and comrade - Susie's (Marla's real-life sister) death in 2002, drew Gibbs & Harry real closer, as Harry was so devastated to hear about her mentor's sister who lived a good life. Today, Harry remains on good terms with Gibbs, as they speak woman-to-woman, having to come full circle with each other. On January 14, 2010, Gibbs and the rest of the cast members were reunited on NBC’s The Today Show to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of 227, by reporter Al Roker. The cast got together to ask questions, tell some cold hard stories, even, for Marla herself, in telling Al how she got the role of Mary, after she got the role of Florence, from The Jeffersons.


Other roles

Gibbs has also appeared as guest star in several African American sitcoms, including, The Hughleys and Chappelle's Show. She also has done voice-over work for the animated TV series, 101 Dalmatians. Gibs also starred and sang in the movie Stanley's Gig. She performed the theme song "In the Memory of You", by writer/producer Frank Fitzpatrick, which will be released on the upcoming CD entitled, Scenes In Jazz.

In 2004, Gibbs had a recurring role on the NBC daytime drama, Passions, as the foul-mouthed, and somewhat hateful "Aunt Irma Johnson."

Gibbs owned a jazz club in South Central L.A. called "Marla's Memory Lane Jazz and Supper Club" from 1981 to 1999. She released a music CD, "It's Never Too Late", in May 2006. She also co-wrote 227's theme song with television songwriter Ray Colcord.


Hobbies

She has 9 hobbies: praying, sewing, reading the Bible, movies, traveling, singing, listening to jazz music, spending time with her family and acting.


Personal life

Gibbs lost her father, Bradley Kemp, in 1947, at the time she was 16.

Gibbs reconciled with her mother Ophelia, and even after her death in 1967, her relationship continues to grow strong in Heaven.[10]

Gibbs, who is divorced, has three adult children (two sons and a daughter, whom she had by the age of 20). She was first married at the age of 13, with Jordan Gibbs (the marriage ended when she was only 30). Gibbs is also the younger sister of late supporting actress Susie Garrett (died in 2002), who co-starred with actress Soleil Moon Frye and veteran character actor George Gaynes on the 1980s NBC-TV sitcom show Punky Brewster. She is also the great aunt of actress Cherie Johnson, who co-starred on Punky Brewster and Family Matters.

She suffered both a small aneurysm and a stroke in 2006. Both surgeries were so successful.

On October 17, 2010, Gibbs was inducted at The La Femme Film Festival in Los Angeles, California, as Honorary Board Member.[1]

Like her best friend Della Reese, Gibbs is also a born-again Christian.


Personal Quotes:

Marla: "When you're the head of the show, you really have to take care of the other actors, and you really have to do what the producers want, what the network wants, and it was fun for me, because I learned a lot getting an opportunity to do those things." - (Source: The Bill Kerwin Show)

Marla: "Nothing is out of our realm, because it has nothing to do with color. As Black people, we're not different from anyone else, other than the exterior." - (Source: EbonyJet.com)

Marla who said of Jackée Harry: "She is hysterically funny. As a matter of fact, she would say some things that were so outrageous or she'd do something and she'd have to stop and laugh herself and it would break me up, so we'd have to stop and go again." - (Source: The Bill Kerwin Show)

Marla who said in 1985: "As soon as I finish one thing, there's always something else on the horizon I want to do. I don't have any intention of retiring from anything." - (Source: EbonyJet.com)

Marla who said in 1989: "People come up to me all the time, little kids run up to me and identify me for their parents. I say, 'George Jefferson sent you, right?' If I'm going to my car, they walk me to my car, I always keep autographed pictures to hand out, too." - (Source: St. Petersburg Times.com)

Marla when Norman Lear liked to turned The Jeffersons stereotype on its ear: "I was a maid, but I wasn't Hattie McDaniel. I was a black maid to a black family. George Jefferson had worked his way out of the ghetto and into New York's East Side, although his prejudices hadn't caught up with him. The last few seasons, we banned all 'honkey' jokes completely." - (Source: The Toronto Star.com)

Marla: "I whip their butts. Oh, mighty!" - (Source: TorontoStar.com)

Marla of her on- and off-screen chemistry with Sherman Hemsley, who played George Jefferson: "Sherman is hilarious. As a matter of fact, he is so creative, our tipples and our rhythms are so much alike that when he says something, sometimes he would say to me, 'You know, Marla, I forgot my lines.' I said, 'I don't know my lines.' He said, 'Yes, you do!' I said, 'Your mind took a picture of them the first time we did.' So stop saying you don't know it, and I said, 'Anyway, you just say something and when your lips stop moving, I'll answer them.' So, once we come out, I was chewing gum and I'm chewing gum, and I'm looking at him, when he was looking at me, he forgot his lines, so I kept on chewing gum and looking at him and he kept looking at me, and the audience went hysterical. They laughed about 2 minutes, and in that time, he thought of his lines." - (Source: The Bill Kerwin Show)


Marla who said in 1988: “When you're busy doing, you don't have time to talk. You don't have time to say, 'I can't.' You've got to answer the next phone call!” (Source: Daily News of Los Angeles.com)

Marla of her Florence Johnston character: "Florence was the person who was not going to take no bull from anybody, no matter how little money she made. Just because you don't have a lot of money does not mean you have to let people walk over you." - (Source: TV.com)

Marla as to how hard it was for black actresses to find meaningful roles in Hollywood, who honestly revealed the kind of roles that she like to play: "The kind of roles I would be playing now would be such as Shirley MacLaine in Terms of Endearment. Challenging reaches and stretches where you come out of one character into another." - (Source: EbonyJet.com)

Marla: "'Put it in the universe,' was her favorite saying, which I say [means] God said if you make one step, He'll make two. Its the same thing. First, you have to put the idea and the thought of what you want in the universe, then you have to act on it and you have to act on it in faith." - (Source: EbonyJet.com)

Marla of whom she stressed the importance of jazz in the United States: "Jazz, of course, is our heritage. Jazz is a culture, it's not a fad. It's up to us to see to it that it stays alive." - (Source: EbonyJet.com)

Marla when she wasn't looking forward to retirement at the time: "As soon as I finish one thing, there's always something else on the horizon I want to do. I don't have any intention of retiring from anything." - (Source: EbonyJet.com)

Marla on becoming a producer in her own right, prior to becoming an actress: "My role is being part of the decisions made. They feel that I have the focus and that I know what project is. I am part of all the note sessions. But we all have input - not just me." - (Source: EbonyJet.com)

Marla who said of Regina King: "Regina knows when we're on the set that I'm her mama. If she does something wrong, I'm going to slap her one." - (Source: People.com)

Marla: "They stopped issuing unlimited passes to the employees. Now you have to go space available and you get bumped, honey. When I get on a plane these days, I go first class." - (Source: People.com)

Marla: "Florence represents the masses and represents what working people feel in subservient roles ... Just because a person is working doesn't make him less of a person. I say what they would like to say to their bosses." - (Source: EbonyJet.com)

Marla of her mother’s, Ophelia Kemp’s 1967 death: "She lives through me, I mean, if cans can be recycled, why not spirits? She's much more available now than when she was on earth and I couldn't get her on the damn phone. Sometimes I look in the mirror and I see her and start talking to her." - (Source: People.com)

Marla of her father, Bradley Kemp: "He was just wonderful, but it wasn't the same without a mother. I grew up weird—very sensitive and highly inhibited. I felt like I was born in the wrong time zone to the wrong people at the wrong place." - (Source: People.com)

Marla who said blacks must take the initiative in the neighborhood's further development: "When someone else comes in, it's going to be redeveloped for their purposes, not for yours, because it's their money." - (Source: New York Times.com)
Marla on the death of "The Jeffersons" (1975), series' lead, Isabel Sanford, in 2004: “Isabel was our queen and that's what we called her on the show. She would come in and just light up the room and start telling stories and having everybody in stitches.” -  (Source: NewYorkPost.com)
Marla on the death of "227" (1985), co-star, Alaina Reed-Hall in 2009: “She was just a wonderful friend. She will be sorely missed; she fought the good fight.” - (Source: KDVR.com)
Marla who said in 2009 about her real-life best friend's/co-star's, Alaina Reed-Hall's ex-husband, Kevin Peter Hall, who guest starred on "227" (1985): “It was a wonderful segment because we had [guest star] Luther Vandross, who was also a friend of Alaina's, sing; and we had the same minister who performed the actual wedding.” - (Source: KDVR.com)
Marla who said of her 2006 stroke and aneurysm: “I had a small aneurysm and a stroke as a result of the surgery. Fortunately I can walk and talk and do all those things. God has been really good to me.” (Source: Essence.com)

Marla who said in 2008: “I never thought I was a great mom. I always worked. I fell in love with my children as they got older. When they were teenagers, I was the mom for the neighborhood. I realize now I should've been holding them. I didn't feel like they needed me. I felt anybody who gave them a bottle or changed their diapers was fine. But as they got older, I related to them more and they related to me. Then I became the mom who baked the cookies.” (Source: Essence.com)

Marla who said in 2009: “That massage was one of the best parts of the trip.” (Source: Boston.com)

Marla: “When I saw people looting. I, like everybody else, said, 'It's like a bunch of mad dogs.'” (Source: People.com)

Marla who said in 1992: "I said, 'Don't let your child see you stealing.' And she said, 'I have enough dignity left to appreciate what you're saying, but I ain't got no food. We ain't got nothing.' I had to stop and think about that." - (Source: People.com)

Marla who said in 2010: "You can't ad-lib, because the camera needs to know what you're going to say, so that they can be there, you'll be talking and you'll be on-camera." (Source: MSNBC.com)

Marla if she and the rest of her 227 (1985) would like to see their own characters differently: "On the show, we like to see done differently, and some we're just fine. But then, it's always something." (Source: MSNBC.com)

Filmography


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Charlotte Rae's Biography!









Charlotte Rae Lubotsky, known professionally as: Charlotte Rae (born April 22, 1926) is an American prolific  character actress of stage,  comedienne, singer and dancer, who in her six decades of television is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Edna Garrett in the sitcoms Diff'rent Strokes and The Facts of Life (in which she starred from 1979 to 1986). She received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy in 1982. She also appeared in two Facts of Life television movies: The Facts of Life Goes to Paris in 1982 and The Facts of Life Reunion in 2001. She also provided the voice of Nanny in the cartoon 101 Dalmatians: The Series.


Early life

She was born Charlotte Rae Lubotsky in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Russian Jewish immigrants Esther (née Ottenstein), who was a childhood friend of Golda Meir, and Meyer Lubotsky, a retail tire business owner.[1][2] She had two sisters (Miriam, a pianist, writer, and composer, and Beverly, an opera singer), and graduated from Shorewood High School in 1944.[3] At the same high school where Charlotte attended, she had a best friend simply called "Natalie," (whom she created the character for future co-star, Mindy Cohn, to play on The Facts of Life). For the first ten years of her life, Rae's family lived in Milwaukee, after which they moved to Shorewood, Wisconsin, not that far from where she was born. In a 2002 interview, Charlotte said she was interested in acting as a little girl. She did a lot of radio work and was with the Wauwatosa Children's Theatre. At 16, she was an apprentice with the Port Players, a professional theater company that came for the summer to Milwaukee, with several established actors such as Morton DaCosta, who was the director of The Music Man on Broadway. She said that she had great teachers at her high school, which also had a beautiful campus. Rae attended but did not complete her studies at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where she met Cloris Leachman, who would not become best friends for life, but roommates, who in turn replaced Rae on The Facts of Life, for the last 2 seasons.[4] She also did some stock before she became an actress. At the same college, she also met several unknown stars and producers such as: Agnes Nixon, Charlton Heston, Paul Lynde, and songwriter, Sheldon Harnick. Rae sang to honour Harnick at a benefit, years after her days in college. Each summer, while attending college, she also appeared its annual student theatrical extravaganza, the Waa-Mu Show. She also did some stock before she became an actress.

When a radio personality told her that her last name wouldn't do, she dropped it, becoming simply Charlotte Rae. She moved to New York City in 1948, where she performed a lot of stage and theater, and lived there until 1974, moving to Los Angeles. Before she was a successful actress, around the same time she began residing in New York, Charlotte also worked at various nightclubs, where they were booming. In addition to working at the Village Vanguard, where she worked with up-and-coming talents such as singer Richard Dyer-Bennett, she also worked at the posh Blue Angel, home to budding talents such as: Barbra Streisand, Mike Nichols and his ex-partner Elaine May. She was absolutely perfect in comedy at the clubs, all of which led her to be a comedienne.[5]


Popular stage actress and singer

A stage actress since the 1950s, she appeared in Three Wishes for Jamie, The Threepenny Opera with Bea Arthur, Li'l Abner, and Pickwick. In 1955 she released her first (and only) solo album, Songs I Taught My Mother, which featured "silly, sinful, and satirical" songs by (among others) Sheldon Harnick, Vernon Duke, John La Touche, Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hart, and Marc Blitzstein (who wrote the song "Modest Maid" especially for Rae). The album was issued on CD in 2006 by PS Classics. Also in the 1950s, Rae made several acclaimed appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show.


She appeared in Ben Bagley's revue The Littlest Revue (and on its cast album) in 1956, appearing alongside the likes of Joel Grey and Tammy Grimes and singing songs by Sheldon Harnick ("The Shape of Things"), Vernon Duke ("Summer is a-Comin' In"), and Charles Strouse & Lee Adams ("Spring Doth Let Her Colours Fly," a parody of opera singer Helen Traubel's Las Vegas night club act), among others. Rae also later appeared on Bagley's studio recording Rodgers & Hart Revisited with Dorothy Loudon, Cy Young, and Arthur Siegel, singing "Everybody Loves You (When You're Asleep)" and in several other duets and ensembles.

Rae received 2 Tony Award nominations during her Broadway career. The first in 1966 for Best Featured Actress in a Musical in 'Pickwick' (losing to Bea Arthur from 'Mame'). The second came in 1969 for Best Actress in a play for 'Morning, Noon and Night'(losing to Julie Harris in 'Forty Carats').


Popular character actress

In 1954, Rae on her way to becoming a top-notch character actress, made her TV debut on an episode of Look Up and Live. This led to roles on other shows such as The United States Steel Hour, Armstrong Circle Theatre, Kraft Television Theatre, NBC Television Opera Theatre, The Philco Television Playhouse, The Colgate Comedy Hour (where she first became friends with a unknown producer Norman Lear), The DuPont Show of the Week, The Phil Silvers Show, Way Out, The Defenders, Temperatures Rising, The Love Boat, The Partridge Family, Love, American Style, McMillan & Wife, Barney Miller, 227, Murder, She Wrote, St. Elsewhere, Diagnosis: Murder, among many others. She also guest-starred on Norman Lear's All in the Family and Good Times.


TV roles

Her first significant success was on the sitcom Car 54, Where Are You? (1961–1963), in which she played Sylvia Schnauser, the wife of Officer Leo Schnauser (played by Al Lewis). She was nominated for an Emmy Award for her supporting role in the 1975 drama Queen of the Stardust Ballroom. In January 1975, Rae became a cast member on the ABC television comedy Hot l Baltimore, wherein she played Mrs. Bellotti, whose dysfunctional adult son Moose, who was never actually seen, lived at the hotel. Mrs. Bellotti, who was a bit odd herself, would visit Moose and then laugh about all the odd situations that Moose would get into with the others living at the hotel. Rae also appeared in early seasons of Sesame Street as Molly the Mail Lady. In 1960, she appeared in a commercial for the National Oil Fuel Institute in which, while taking a shower, she explained how wonderful oil heat was. At the end of the commercial, the announcer asked her if she knew she was on television, to which she responded, in her usual "trying to be sexy" voice, "Yes, I know!" and then giggled softly afterward.[5]


Diff'rent Strokes & The Facts of Life

In 1978, NBC was losing to both CBS and ABC in sitcom ratings, and Fred Silverman, future producer and former head of CBS, ABC, and NBC, insisted that Norman Lear produce Diff'rent Strokes. Knowing that Rae was one of Lear's favorite actresses, he hired her immediately for the role of housemother Edna Garrett, and she co-starred with Conrad Bain in all 24 episodes of the first season. Her character proved to be so popular that producers decided to do an episode that could lead to a spinoff. That episode (called "The Girls School") was about girls attending Eastland, the school attended by Kimberly (played by the late Dana Plato). In July 1979, Rae proposed the idea for the new spinoff to the heads of NBC. They greenlighted the show, and thus The Facts of Life was born. The program, which focused on a housemother residing with four young ladies in a prestigious private school, dealt with many of the major issues facing teenage girls in the 1980s, including weight loss, depression, AIDS, drugs, alcohol, autism, cerebral palsy, dating, and marriage. The show wasn't an immediate hit, but thanks to a new time slot the show became a ratings winner between 1980 and 1986. Midway throughout both the 1984-85 and 1985-86 seasons, she missed several episodes, all because she was planning on leaving the show, while at the same time, the storylines focused more on the girls, in lieu of Mrs. Garrett. At the beginning of the eighth season, Rae left the show despite all the fame she had gained, owing to a health problem. (She later returned to the stage, displeasing the show's producers.) At the beginning of the 1986-1987 season, her character was written out as having gotten remarried and joined the Peace Corps. Cloris Leachman was then brought in as Mrs. Garrett's sister, Beverly Ann Stickle, for the show's last two years. In 1988, after 209 episodes, The Facts of Life was canceled.

Also starring on Facts were a lot of unfamiliar actresses/actors who were only on the first season before being fired, including Felice Schachter as Nancy Olson, Julie Piekarski as Sue Ann Weaver, Julie Ann Haddock as Cindy Webster, Molly Ringwald as Molly Parker, and John Lawlor as Steven Bradley. In addition, the show cast more unfamiliar actresses who also appeared on the spinoff show, Diff'rent Strokes, consisting of former Mouseketeer Lisa Whelchel as rich spoiled brat Blair Warner and Kim Fields as resident gossip Dorothy "Tootie" Ramsey. Rae approached a 13-year-old unknown Mindy Cohn at Westlake School in Los Angeles, California and suggested that she take the role of smart Natalie Green. The second season introduced another unfamiliar star, Nancy McKeon as the tomboy Jo, who stayed on for the entire run. During the show's seventh season, two new stars, George Clooney and Mackenzie Astin, joined the cast. During the show's first season, the entire cast didn't get along with Rae, by the time the second season was renewed after 5 actors were fired, when Nancy was brought in as the only replacement girl, the entire cast actually had a lot of fun, esp. Cohn.

During the show's eight season run, while Rae was playing her role for 7 of 9 seasons, she was nominated only once for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1982, but didn't win.

Mindy Cohn said in a 2011 interview with E! Online as to how her TV housemother/mentor and confidant is celebrating really big, after her run as Mrs. Garrett was, "More than anything else, my heart just is open to celebrating Charlotte Rae, and the amazing career that she has had, which gratefully included 9 years of 'The Facts of Life.'" This was a month after she was interviewed on BlogTalkRadio’s, The Neverhood Show with Ethan Tudor W., about her first meeting with Charlotte in a what would be a "well-written" sitcom, "I just had my Bar Mitzvah, when I was 13, I had no desire to be an actress that wasn't kind of my career treachery; it was really a chance to go talk to the lady that I recognized from Diff'rent Strokes, Mrs. Garrett [Charlotte Rae]. Charlotte discovered me and we have been great friends ever since." Cohn also said in a 2010 interview with DJ Nocturna, when she was approached by producer Norman Lear and upcoming series' lead, Charlotte Rae, about the reservations of playing the character after meeting her in an all-girls private school, "I was discovered by Charlotte Rae and the producer at the time, Norman Lear, came to the school that I was attending, Westlake School For Girls, to try and authenticate the scripts and try to get a feel of what it was like to be - in an all-girls school, and Charlotte was really wanted to make sure that 'Mrs. Garrett,' there was a reason for 'Mrs. Garrett' to leave 'Diff'rent Strokes,' which was the show she started on, and go to this all-girls school, for a reason. So, they were trying to figure that out, so I was one of the students they talked to and she and I hit it off ... I guess, extremely well, as a 13-year-old. I don't really know what that means to hit it off with someone," Mindy also said about the character Charlotte once created for Mindy upon her (Charlotte's) days in high school, "And literally, the next day, I got asked into the headmasters' office, and said, 'Charlotte Rae is going to write a part for you in her new show.' The character's name is: Natalie, because that was Charlotte Rae's best friend name, when she was in high school. That's how we got her name. I don't know where Green came from, somebody was bored, somebody was uninspired. Something oh-good, I want something fantastic. She (Charlotte) was a wonderful lady!" Mindy said about being hired to playing Natalie, “The next day, I get a call from the Headmasters’ office and saying, ‘These people want to talk to you,’ and Charlotte said, ‘I’m falling madly in love with you, I want to create a role for you on the show. We’re going to call you [Natalie], and do you want to do this?’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know! I mean 8th grade lady, what do I know? Is this going to mess up with my tennis team schedule, you know?’” The last thing she responded as to why Charlotte Rae really wanting to leave the show was, "One of the reasons she left was because this show is really started to focused on the girls, the pull of the show started to be different of her, she sorta felt like ‘I’m done!’" Rae and Cohn are currently close friends with the other cast. Beverly Ann's (Charlotte's real-life sister, who named Cloris Leachman's character on The Facts of Life, after her) death in 1998, obviously drew the relationship real closer between Rae, Cohn, amongst other cast members, this was years before John's (Charlotte's real-life ex-husband) death in 2011, which also drew the relationship real-closer, a second time. In 2001, Cohn, Rae, and other cast members were reunited in a TV Movie, The Facts of Life Reunion. In 2007, the entire cast was invited to attend the TV Land Awards where several members of the cast, including Rae, sang the show's theme song. On April 19, 2011, the entire cast (esp. Cohn) were reunited - a second time, to attend the TV Land Awards, where the show was Nominated and won the Award for Pop Culture Icon. That same day, both Nancy McKeon & Kim Fields (who played Jo & Tootie respectively) also gave out a speech in honor of her 85th Birthday. The cast was did the same on ABC's Good Morning America, where at the end of the segment, reporter, Cynthia McFadden wished Charlotte a very Happy 85th Birthday. In honor of her big birthday, the entire cast sang the show's theme song.


Other roles

In 1979, she played the Lady in Pink in the musical movie Hair. Other appearances on screen have included roles in The Worst Witch television movie and on the series Sisters, 101 Dalmatians: The Series, The King of Queens, and ER.

In 1993, she was the voice of Aunt Christine Figg in Tom and Jerry: The Movie. She also 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, Rae has a role as an older 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 of Life.

On January 31st, 2011, she starred as the woman who made mysterious beaded bracelets on "Pretty Little Liars" episode 1.15.


Personal life

She was married to composer John Strauss on November 4, 1951, with whom she had two sons, and was divorced in 1976. She has three grandchildren. One of her sons is autistic. In 1998, Rae's oldest sister, Beverly, an opera singer, died of pancreatic cancer. In 2011, ex-husband, John Strauss, had died after a long battle of Parkinson's Disease.[6]

In 1982, Rae went to the hospital for the doctors to place a pacemaker in her heart.

In 2009, Rae was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, a disease that ran in her family. All of her relatives, especially her mother had died from the same disease, when fortunately for Rae, the prognosis was good, she had no flu-symptoms, her cancer was detected early and was needed to be contained, therefore, she became cancer-free, in 2011.[7]


Hobbies

Her hobbies also included: golfing, dancing, dining, spending time with her family, watching movies, taking care of people (especially her son) with disabilities and sewing. She also did a lot of singing, esp. to the theme song on the 1st season of The Facts of Life.


Honors

On June 12, 2008, Rae attended the James Stewart Centennial Tribute at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California, which was hosted by Robert Wagner. Among the attendees were Ann Rutherford, Shirley Jones, Cora Sue Collins, and Stewart's daughter, Kelly Stewart. Carroll Baker was also supposed to have attended the tribute, but if she did, she is nowhere to be found in the Academy's photos.


Rae received 2 Tony Award nominations during her Broadway career. The first in 1966 for Best Featured Actress in a Musical in 'Pickwick'. The second came in 1969 for Best Actress in a play for 'Morning, Noon and Night'. She also received two Emmy Nominations for her work on TV. The first in 1975 for Best Supporting Actress in a TV movie for he performance in 'The Queen of the Stardust Ballroom'. She also received a nomination for her work on The Facts of Life, Best Actress in a Comedy Series, in 1982.


On April 19, 2011, Rae & the rest of her surviving Facts of Life cast (Mindy Cohn, Lisa Whelchel and Kim Fields) had won the TV Land Award where The Facts of Life was nominated for Pop Culture Icon, this was done before the entire cast threw Rae an 85th Birthday Party.


Personal Quotes

Charlotte: "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." (Source: TVGuide.com)


Charlotte: "You can take wonderfully talented actors, wonderfully talented writers and producers, and, uh, do a wonderful show!... but if it doesn't hit with the public in two minutes, it's bye-bye." (Source: http://home.hiwaay.net//)


Charlotte who said 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." (Source: TV Guide.com)


Charlotte 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." (Source: TVGuide.com)


Charlotte who said of 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." (Source: TV Guide.com)


Charlotte 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." (Source: TV Guide.com)


Charlotte: "Because of the power of television, I was visible to everybody all over the world. But there are many things in the theater that are more fulfilling and that I look forward to doing more. But really, I love it all: theater, film, television." (Source: TVGuide.com)


Charlotte who said in 2006: "I wanted to be a serious actress. I am a serious actress. I've done lots of good stuff." (Source: http://www.theage.com.au//)


Charlotte who said in 1982 when she headed to New York, when she dropped her last name: "My father was heartbroken when I didn't use Lubotsky. Today actors keep their real names and I could use it." (Source: Youngstown Vindicator.com)


Charlotte who said in 1985 about being a serious actress, rather than being a funny comedienne: "A good actress should be able to play comedy as well as drama. I was doing a lot of drama until I took the comedy role in the series Car 54, Where Are You?, and I've been tagged as a comedian ever since." (Source: Beaver County Times.com)


Charlotte about The Facts of Life along with her Edna Garrett character: "I want to bring in as much humanity as possible, as well as the humor. I've tried to make her a human being with dimensions. The way they write her now is with a great deal of sensitivity and understanding. But I don't want her to be Polly Perfect, because she must have human failings and make mistakes. She's also a surrogate mother to the girls. I told them I wanted to be firm with the girls because I know it's important. Parents must lay down ground rules for their children to help them to grow up and to learn responsibility for their actions. They must learn to stand on their own two feet." (Source: Youngstown Vindicator.com)


Charlotte as to how she was hired by Norman Lear to play Edna Garrett: "I got involved with Diff'rent Strokes, because of Norman Lear. When I was in New York [originally], I did a lot of things and one of the things was The Colgate Comedy Hour, and he was one of the producers and writers of it. So, when I came out to California [after many years in New York with my family], they were very, very wonderful, because I would do little guest shots, guest appearances on all of his sitcoms, and then I was doing something called 'The Eddie Capra Murder Mysteries,' and I was at Universal in costume, and they called and asked me to come meet with the producers, and everything. I was wearing an old schweppy thing that I wore for the character for the murder mysteries, and I sat down and I expected to read. They didn't have me read, we just talked, and they asked me about how I felt this housekeeper should be with these two boys and with Mr. Drummond, and I told him the way I felt, and the next thing I knew I had the part." (Source: Different StrokesDVD.com)


Charlotte: "Joan Collins is a bitch! There's no doubt about it, everyone says she an extremely difficult person." (Source: TheInsider.com)


Charlotte on the death of Gary Coleman: "Coleman was filled with joy which he spread around to millions of people all over the world." (Source: http://www.kwtx.com//)


Charlotte who said in 1988: "My former husband wanted to move to California. He is a music editor and music coordinator. He coordinated the music for the film version of Amadeus. So many people have moved there from New York, and I felt at home." (Source: Milwaukee Journal.com)
Charlotte who said in 1989: "I'm in a rage, if you really want to know about it." (Source: TheDailyNews.com)

Charlotte: “For the first ten years of my life I lived at 1232 N. 12th St. It's a freeway now. My father owned a tire store. There were three girls in my family, and I was the middle one. All three of us were very talented. My older sister, Beverly, settled in Milwaukee and she died a few years ago. She was an opera singer who sang with the symphony and a group called the Saturday Arts' Club. My younger sister, Mimi, is an accomplished musician and composer. She wrote a children's album that I recorded for her, called "Wally Koala" and she's written a couple of musicals as well.” (Source: OnlineMilwaukee.com)

Charlotte who said of Gary Coleman's death in 2010: "I said a prayer for him this morning after hearing about his condition. Gary was so loving, so charming. He was the big star of the show." (Source: Blog.al.com)

Charlotte on her popularity while playing the fifty-something Edna Garrett on The Facts of Life: "There have been lots of changes in my life these past few months. Not only am I thinner, but Mrs. Garrett is, too. It'll be a fun season." (Source: Telegraph.com)

Charlotte who said in 1980 about an episode which she wasn't inspired to lose weight: "Yes, in that show, I was on a crash diet. But I had plans long before that to sensibly lose weight. I've dropped from a size 14 dress to a svelte 8; it's terrific." (Source: The Telegraph.com)


Charlotte who responded in 1984 as to why she enjoys series television: "In TV, you have to compromise. But when strangers put their arms around you and tell you how much they love you it somehow makes it all worthwhile." (Source: http://home.hiwaay.net)


Charlotte who said of Joan Collins: “You want to know what happened? They played it for her and she said, 'Who's that Old Cow?' And I really felt badly because I've had a long siege of the flu, and it was my first night out. I did write a note to her and had him slip it under her dressing room door and I said, 'I apologized, you were excellent in the play, signed, sincerely, 'The Old Cow.'” (Source: An interview with Michael Stever)


Charlotte: “I have to keep reminding people that I am not Mrs. Garrett. Mrs. Garrett is more together. She is much more organized. Not I ...” (Source: http://home.hiwaay.net)


Charlotte who said of Mindy Cohn: “I kept going back to this little girl, Mindy Cohn, cause she was so adorable and she had that adorable little voice, and I asked her a question, and she go, 'Well, I don't know, it seems to me that,' and she's so cute and funny and I said, 'She'd be a great compliment to the other girls.'” (Source: Cast Confessions @ A&Ebiography.com)


Charlotte on her departure of The Facts of Life, at the end of the seventh season: “They wanted me to stay a couple more years, they offered me millions.” (Source: Cast Confessions @ A&Ebiography.com)
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