Betsy byars facts of life cast

Seven years after her divorce from Cauble, she wed psychologist Pete Harris in December 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. Inshe competed on season 27 of Dancing with the Stars and was eliminated third.

McKeon has two daughters with husband Marc Andrus. Michele Corriston. People Editorial Guidelines. Related Articles. On January 13,Shout! The various attempts at spin-offs were backdoor pilotswhich were shown as episodes of The Facts of Life. After the re-creation of an episode of the series in a Live in Front of a Studio Audience special, Mindy Cohn said Norman Lear suggested a reboot because the special was so popular.

It created an enormous rift between the group and the deal was pulled. Although Cohn suggested she and the unnamed co-star talk again, she said the reboot is "very dead. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikidata item. American sitcom.

This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article. January The Facts of Life title screen is shown which was used for season 1. A similar shot without students was used for seasons 2—4. Dick Clair Jenna McMahon.

Betsy byars facts of life cast: Betsy Cromer was born on August

Communications Co. Plot [ edit ]. Season 1 [ edit ]. Seasons 2—8 [ edit ]. Final season [ edit ]. Cast [ edit ]. Main article: List of The Facts of Life characters. Main characters [ edit ]. Recurring characters [ edit ]. Production [ edit ]. Development [ edit ]. Theme music [ edit ]. Episodes [ edit ]. See also: List of The Facts of Life episodes.

Television films [ edit ]. The Facts of Life Goes to Paris [ edit ]. The Facts of Life Down Under [ edit ]. The Facts of Life Reunion [ edit ]. Syndication [ edit ].

Betsy byars facts of life cast: Betsy Byars is an author of

International airings [ edit ]. Reception [ edit ]. Ratings [ edit ]. Nielsen Ratings [ edit ]. Awards [ edit ]. Home media [ edit ]. Attempted spin-offs [ edit ]. Reboot [ edit ]. Notes [ edit ]. She was promoted to the main cast beginning with the episode "Something in Common". References [ edit ]. Many times Edna would lash out at the girls when they got careless with her.

She hires them back the next day when the girls promise her that they will be more responsible at their jobs. She also fires George, when he falls behind on his work constructing "Over Our Heads" but they later make up. Garrett is a Democrat. She is also against censorship, such as book banning. Garrett remarried in She and her new husband, Dr.

Bruce Gaines Robert Mandanrejoined the Peace Corps to work in eastern Africa Charlotte Rae's contract had expired and she did not want to continue with the series. However, in the reunion movie that aired inMrs. Garrett reunited with the three girls Blair, Natalie and Tootie at a hotel owned by Blair and which was run by Mrs. Garrett's son Raymond.

It was also revealed that Mrs. Garrett and Tootie were widows. It's revealed that she was in a romantic relationship with a ship captain. Blair Warner was played by Lisa Whelchel. She was 14 in the series' pilot episode; an episode in the — season centered on her 21st birthday. At the series' beginning inBlair was portrayed as a very rich and very rebellious girl from a blue blood background.

She was seen smoking cigarettes, drinking beer and enjoying great popularity with boys; unlike many of her classmates, she was looking to lose her virginity. When the show was retooled inall instances of her rebellion were either dropped or given to the new character of Jo Polniaczekand Blair was rewritten as an extremely wealthy and unashamedly spoiled "daddy's girl" and socialite from Manhattan.

Blair was vain, arrogant, egotistical, and shallow; but, also funny, kind-hearted, generous, and loving to Mrs. Garrett and her friends, especially Jo Polniaczek. Blair's chief foil was Jo. At first, the two made no secret of their mutual dislike: They were both completely different. However, over time, Blair began sticking up for and standing by Jo in her time of need and vice versa.

The two eventually developed a close friendship. Blair was also intelligent, scoring barely below Jo on the Eastland entrance exam.

Betsy byars facts of life cast: Betsy Byars, who drew from

At Eastland, she won most awards and was seen to be a talented artist. Blair's delusions of grandeur were usually played for laughs when Natalie, Tootie or Jo would make sarcastic remarks about her "beauty," "perfect" personality or "naturally blonde hair. Initially, Blair felt she was more important than "regular" people because she was the heiress to her father's multimillion-dollar business, Warner Textile Mills.

However, Blair eventually developed a more down-to-earth attitude, especially after she suffered a car accident after falling asleep at the wheel that left her slightly scarred, spoiling her "perfect" beauty. In the hospital after her accident, she privately tells Jo a story from her childhood to illustrate how her mother had insisted that she be perfect from a young age.

Any crisis at Eastland would usually prompt a suggested solution from Blair, preceded by her catch phrase : "I just had another one of my brilliant ideas! Garrett punish them after Tootie gets drunk on wine that Blair, Jo and Natalie were responsible for instead of going to the headmaster, which would have resulted in all of them being expelled.

In The Four Musketeers, it was her idea to move back into the room and work in the kitchen to pay off the debt incurred when she and the other girls get into a paint fight while painting the room. She also said this on occasion to be sarcastic, particularly with Jo. For example, she said her catchphrase once while Jo was distractedly mopping the cafeteria floor and followed it up with 'if you move your feet around while mopping, we just might be done by lunchtime'.

Blair's parents played by Nicolas Coster and Marj Dusay were divorced on June 14,and although she didn't usually show it, Blair wished that she had a nuclear family like all of her friends. Later in the series, her mother remarried for the fourth time and gave birth to a baby girl Bailey fathered by her most recent ex-husband. Blair had misgivings about her mother's pregnancy but fell in love with baby Bailey as soon as she saw her.

A secret Blair originally kept from her friends was that her cousin Geri played by comedian Geri Jewell had cerebral palsy. She was not embarrassed by her cousin, but rather jealous of her, since Blair was used to being the center of attention. Garrett told Blair not to lash out against Geri because of her jealousy and Blair joined Geri, a successful comedian, onstage at an impromptu comedy show Geri threw at the Eastland Academy.

In other episodes, Blair's former step sister Meg played by Eve Plumb visited Eastland to tell her that she was going to become a nun. Blair attended Eastland and upon graduating inattended nearby Langley College. She worked with Mrs. At one point, she purchases the local community center where Jo is employed as a social worker in order to save the facility.

In the series finale, she purchases the financially troubled Eastland Academy and turns it into a co-educational school. In the episode "Legacy," Blair, initially enthusiastic about a library being built with her family's funds and named after her late maternal grandfather, Judge Carlton Blair, thus immortalizing the name "Blair," was horrified to learn her grandfather had been a member of the Ku Klux Klan.

The revelation devastated Blair and made her question all her assumptions about her supposed "superiority," even though Jo assured her "You're not prejudiced; you're a snob. Garrett's son Raymond; she and Tad have no children. Dorothy "Tootie" Ramsey was played by Kim Fields.

Betsy byars facts of life cast: Betsy Byars (née Cromer; August

She was the youngest of the main characters at the age of 12 until 21 and is the only black girl in the class. She and her family hailed from Washington, D. She attended Eastland Academy for most of the show's run. Tootie's most-remembered attributes were her penchant for rollerskates at first used by Facts of Life producers to mask Fields' short statureher gossipy nature and her braces.

In real life, Fields had to wear braces for three years, finally having them removed inafter the show begins the sixth season. A lot of Tootie's gossip landed her and her friends in trouble. She was notable for her catchphrase"We are in trou-ble! For example, Tootie befriended a boy named Fred who insisted that she only associate with black people, in an attempt to realize "her true roots.

Garrett at the last minute. During a trip to New York, Tootie was almost strong-armed into prostitution before Mrs. Garrett found her and took her home. In another episode, she struggled again with racial issues when her best friend Natalie dated a relative of hers and Tootie intervened, causing conflict between her and Natalie. Tootie's favorite singer is Michael Jackson 's older brother Jermaine Jackson.

Tootie helped Mrs. Garrett with her own bakery, Edna's Edibles, after-school and then worked full-time at the gift shop, called "Over Our Heads" after she graduated from high school in In the The Facts of Life Reunion TV movie, Tootie had attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in the UK city of London to pursue an acting career, was a Hollywood-based talk show host and was the single mother of Tisha, a year-old fathered by her longtime boyfriend and later deceased husband, Jeff Williams.

After her visit, Tootie who now prefers to be called "Dorothy" decided to quit her talk show Waking Up with Dorothy and move to New York to take up the theater, but not until becoming the co-owner of the Peekskill Playhouse. Tisha Williams remained behind to attend Eastland Academy no longer owned by Blair and continue the family tradition. Natalie's best friend was Tootie ; they were close in age.

Natalie's age was 12 at the series' beginning. Natalie's most defining physical attribute was that she was large-figured but she had a healthy self-image, once quoted as saying, "Who wants to be a skinny pencil? I'd rather be a happy Magic Marker! Her faith was featured in several episodes. In one, she celebrated Chanukah while the others celebrated Christmas.

Her heritage was highlighted when her father, Dr. Green, died unexpectedly; Natalie's bottled-up grief was a continuing storyline. Although she wasn't a mold-fitting "traditional beauty," Natalie was involved in many storylines regarding sex. In an early episode, she dated a boy who spread a rumor that Natalie was easy. She joined the cast of The Facts of Life during the show's sophomore season as transfer student Jo Polniaczek.

Cohn played Natalie Green for the show's entire run. Cohn continued acting when the show ended in She also worked as a voice actor in several Scooby-Doo! Before Molly Ringwald became the queen of big-screen teen dramas, she played Molly on the first season of The Facts of Life. Her role was written off, putting her on the path to superstardom. It wasn't long before Ringwald became a teen icon and a member of the infamous Brat Pack.

Cloris Leachman was already a recognized name in Hollywood when she started working on The Facts of Life. She starred on the sitcom from to as Beverly Ann Stickle.