Charlotte Rae

Known for ActingBorn 1926-04-22Died 2018-08-05Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

Charlotte Rae Lubotsky (April 22, 1926 – August 5, 2018) was an American actress and singer. On screen, Rae was best known for her portrayal of Edna Garrett in the sitcoms Diff'rent Strokes and its spin-off, The Facts of Life. She was born to Russian Jewish immigrants Esther (née Ottenstein), who was a childhood friend of Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, and Meyer Lubotsky, a retail tire business owner. She was one of three sisters, along with Miriam and the late Beverly (December 21, 1921 – June 2, 1998). She graduated from Shorewood High School in 1944. For the first ten years or so of her life, Rae's family lived in Milwaukee, then moved to Shorewood, Wisconsin. She did 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 would eventually direct The Music Man on Broadway. Rae attended Northwestern University, although she did not complete her studies, where she met Cloris Leachman, who many years later succeeded Rae on The Facts of Life for the show's last two seasons. At Northwestern she met several unknown stars and producers, including Agnes Nixon, Charlton Heston, Paul Lynde, Gerald Freedman, Claude Akins and songwriter Sheldon Harnick. When a radio personality told her that her last name wouldn't do, she dropped it, to her father's chagrin. She moved to New York City in 1948, where she performed in the theater and nightclubs. During her early years in New York, she worked at the Village Vanguard (alongside up-and-coming talents such as singer Richard Dyer-Bennet) and at the posh Blue Angel, home to budding talents Barbra Streisand, Mike Nichols and Elaine May. She moved to Los Angeles in 1974.Read more

Movies & web series

Beane's of Boston

Sidewinder 1

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

Our Town

The Facts of Life Reunion

The Huffless, Puffless, Dragon

The World of Sholom Aleichem

The Brothers Flub

Girl Meets World

Hallmark Hall of Fame

E! True Hollywood Story

Pretty Little Liars

Al Lewis: Forever Grandpa

Night of 100 Stars II

ER

Life

Good Times

The Secret World of Alex Mack

Play of the Week

All in the Family

Strong Medicine

All's Fair

Murder, She Wrote

Temperatures Rising

Appointment with Adventure

Noah's Ark

Barney Miller

The King of Queens

Sisters

Tonight Starring Jack Paar

Hair

The Triangle Factory Fire Scandal

Diagnosis: Murder

Family

Baby Talk

The Facts of Life

Diff'rent Strokes

Words by Heart

The Tangerine Bear: Home in Time for Christmas!

Szysznyk

The Rich Little Show

Nowhere

The Wonderful World of Disney

McMillan & Wife

The Journey of the Fifth Horse

227

Way Out

The DuPont Show of the Week