The Facts of Life was one of the biggest breakout sitcoms of the 1980s.
The NBC comedy, which was a spinoff of Diff’rent Strokes, starred Charlotte Rae as Mrs. Edna Garrett, the beloved house mother at the all-girls boarding school, Eastland. As the show played out, it introduced several younger cast members — including Mindy Cohn as Natalie Green, Kim Fields as Dorothy “Tootie” Ramsey, Lisa Whelchel as Blair Warner and Nancy McKeon as Joanna Marie “Jo” Polniaczek.
The Facts of Life went on to be one of the most-watched series of the 1980s and cemented itself as a classic teen staple. The success of the series carried on to three spinoff television movies: The Facts of Life Goes to Paris, The Facts of Life Down Under and The Facts of Life Reunion.
Rae sadly died in 2018 after being diagnosed with bone cancer. Meanwhile, several of the show’s younger stars continued acting and have appeared in various television shows and movies.
Here’s everything to know about where The Facts of Life cast is now.
Charlotte Rae as Edna Garrett
NBC/Everett Collection; David Livingston/Getty
Rae played housemother Edna (the character who tied the spinoff to Diff’rent Strokes) on The Facts of Life until season 8, when Cloris Leachman was cast as her character’s sister.
Mrs. G mentored the girls and worked as the school’s dietician. In 1982, Rae earned an Emmy nomination for outstanding lead actress for her role on the series.
In addition to starring in a slew of TV movies and voicing characters in video games after The Facts of Life concluded, Rae also starred on the big screen in Nowhere (1997), You Don’t Mess with the Zohan (2008), Love Sick Love (2012) and Ricki and the Flash (2015).
Her final regular gig was voicing “Nanny” on the animated 101 Dalmations: The Series, which aired from 1997 to 1998. She also appeared on several episodes of ER in 2008. Rae published her autobiography, The Facts of My Life, in 2015.
The actress died from bone cancer in 2018 at the age of 92, a little over a year after revealing her diagnosis in April 2017. After her death, several of her past costars paid tribute to her on social media.
Mindy Cohn as Natalie Green
Embassy Pictures/Everett Collection; Amanda Edwards/WireImage
As student Natalie Green, Cohn was an early role model for body positivity. Today, she’s an LGBTQ+ rights advocate and is recognized by a whole new generation for voicing Velma in the Scooby-Doo cartoons.
But Cohn stepped away from show business for health reasons: In October 2017, she revealed exclusively to PEOPLE that she secretly had breast cancer for five years.
“I was frustrated and enraged. I couldn’t control any of this. I couldn’t fix it,” she said.
Cohn also added that she was ready to return to the spotlight, telling PEOPLE, “I think I’m a good actress, and I have a lot to offer. I’m excited to see what I get to do next!”
What was next were the films Holiday Dirt (2017), You Light Up My Christmas (2019), A Nice Girl Like You (2020) and the short Kill Cat Oakland (2021).
Kim Fields as Dorothy “Tootie” Ramsey
Embassy Pictures/Everett Collection; Astrid Stawiarz/Getty
Playing Tootie, Fields made braces cool — and got into plenty of trou-ble with her penchant for gossip.
From 1993 to 1998, the actress appeared on Fox’s Living Single and gave reality TV a try during season 8 of The Real Housewives of Atlanta. She also competed on Dancing with the Stars in 2016 and starred on the Netflix sitcom The Upshaws.
Fields is also known for her work behind the camera, directing episodes of Nickelodeon’s Taina and Kenan and Kel, as well as Meet the Browns, All the Queen’s Men, House of Payne, Haus of Vicious and The Upshaws.
Fields shares two sons — Sebastian and Quincy — with husband Christopher Morgan. Her sister, Alexis, is also an actress, most known for Moesha, Sister, Sister and All American.
Lisa Whelchel as Blair Warner
Everett Collection; Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty
Whelchel first appeared on two episodes of Diff’rent Strokes as the preppy and snobby Blair Warner and later reprised the role on The Facts of Life from 1979 to 1988.
In 1984, Whelchel was nominated for a Grammy for her Christian music album, All Because of You. She also came in second place on Survivor: Philippines in 2012 and works as a motivational speaker.
The child star returned to acting in 2013, starring in Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas (2013). Whelchel has since appeared in rom-coms such as For Better or for Worse (2014), Hearts of Spring (2016), Falling for Christmas (2016) and You Light Up My Christmas (2019).
Whelchel has three children with her ex-husband and pastor Steven Cauble. Seven years after her divorce from Cauble, she wed psychologist Pete Harris in December 2019.
Nancy McKeon as Joanna Marie “Jo” Polniaczek
Everett Collection; JB Lacroix/WireImage
A season 2 addition, Joanna Marie “Jo” Polniaczek made an unforgettable entrance aboard a motorcycle and immediately clashed with Blair — but she became an irreplaceable part of the group.
After The Facts of Life wrapped in 1988, McKeon starred on the series Can’t Hurry Love, Style & Substance, The Division and Panic. Disney Channel fans will also recognize McKeon as Demi Lovato’s character’s mom, Connie Munroe, from Sonny with a Chance.
Beyond her TV credits, McKeon appeared in the 2019 holiday film You Light Up My Christmas with Facts of Life costars Fields, Cohn and Whelchel.
In 2018, she competed on season 27 of Dancing with the Stars and was eliminated third.
McKeon has two daughters with husband Marc Andrus.
