SPIN-OFF SUCCESS What: "The Facts of Life" When: Weeklong marathon: 8:30 p.m. My family and I are going to take a year off and go on the road with the kids to see America.īenny Lee Smith can be reached at or call 582-4511, Ext. Is there anything else you would like to add? Yes. After my children got older, I just felt that they were told old for spankings so I came up with some creative ways to discipline them. I have a son who required me to be very creative in the disciplinary area. What is your latest project? I just wrote a book, "Creative Corrections" which is about creative child disciplinary ideas beyond time out and spanking. I picked that word because I have been a Christian since the age of 10 and my whole life is centered around serving the Lord whether it be as a mother or as an actress. If you had to select one word to describe you what would that be? It would be the word Christian. But I would have to say my favorite episode was the one when Jo and Blair were handcuffed together and had to do a newscast. What was your favorite episode on the show? All of the episodes where we got the girls together to be larger than life dressing up in costumes and things were fun. But for me, I had built-in friendships every day on the set. You can miss out on a lot including friendships. So many times child actors grow up in a different world. What was it like growing up on the set as a teen-ager with the other girls? It was really nice. My mother is not mean like Blair, but at times she can have some real sharp edges. I just started drawing on the personality of my mother. It scared me just a little bit playing her role because it was real easy for me to play her character. How much is your personality like Blair's? Hopefully not a whole lot. I read the line in a really sarcastically way tearing down the other girls. But it was one line that made them change Blair's character. They thought of me because I had auditioned for them before. What was the audition for the part of Blair like? Originally, the character of Blair was supposed to be a fast-talking girl from Texas. Talk with Blair The following are a few questions Whelchel responded to about her character and her life now. Bradley (John Lawlor), the school's headmaster Original Cast The original cast included: *Blair Warner (Lisa Whelchel), the beautiful, rich and spoiled city girl *Tootie Ramsey (Kim Fields), the youngest of the girls *Natalie Green (Mindy Cohn), a naive girl *Nancy Olson (Felice Schacter), a hopeful model who's boy-crazy *Sue Ann Weaver (Julie Piekarski), a beautiful girl who's obsessed with her weight *Cindy Webster (Julie Anne Haddock), a beautiful tomboy *Molly Parker (Molly Ringwald), a free spirit fond of strumming her guitar *Miss Emily Mahoney (Jenny O'Hara), the teacher *Edna Garrett (Charlotte Rae), the housemother *Mr. Special guests "The Facts of Life" special guests included: John Astin, Eva Gabor, Helen Hunt, Eve Plumb, David Spade, Moon Unit Zappa, El DeBarge, Juliette Lewis and the cast of Diff'rent Strokes' Conrad Bain, Todd Bridges, the late Dana Plato and Gary Coleman. New characters included Andy the errand boy (Mackenzie Astin) and carpenter George Burnett (George Clooney). Garrett opened her own store where all the girls worked part-time after school. While Blair and Jo graduated Eastland and enrolled at the nearby Langley College, Mrs. Other changes occurred as the girls grew older and began to go down different paths. It evolved as years passed with a base cast of Blair, Tootie and Natalie living under Edna Garrett's supervision plus one new girl, Jo Polniaszek played by Nancy McKeon. ![]() The first season included a collection of girls who were very different from each other giving viewers the opportunity to relate to at least one of the characters. ![]() The show continued through September 1988. "The Facts of Life" began as a four-episode spin-off from the already successful sitcom, Diff'rent Strokes in August 1979. "I think when they see me on television they will think mommy has made it," Whelchel said during a recent telephone interview. Whelchel said her children were too young to remember the show when it first aired in the 1980s, but now they have a chance to get acquainted with the girls at Eastland Academy just like America did back then. The marathon continues today through Friday. ![]() Nick at Nite is running a "Facts of Life" marathon of a variety of episodes all this week from 8:30 p.m. Lisa Whelchel, who played Blair on the hit TV comedy, is watching episodes of her hit TV show with her husband and three children - ages 8, 9, and 10. Nick at Nite's "The Facts of Life" marathon this week is bringing back special memories for one child actress.
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