Charlotte Rae Biography
Charlotte Lubotsky Rae was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on April 22, 1926. She claims to have wanted to be a star so she could feel like she fit in. So she moved to New York where she met many people such as Paul Lynde and Cloris Leachman. While in NYC Cloris was her roomate at one time, kind of ironic that she would eventually replace her on The Facts of Life. But one very important person she met would be John Strauss, a composer that she would later marry. Some of Charlotte's early work include regular roles on Car 54, Where Are You?, and Sesame Street as Molly the Mail Lady. But her most well known and recognizable role would be the character, Edna Garrett who first appeared on Diff'rent Strokes as the Drummond's housekeeper. But after about one season she got her own spinoff series, The Facts of Life where she was now a housemother to girls at the Eastland School for girls in Peekskill NY. More recent television appearances include a guest appearance on Michael Hayes in 1998, the 1999 TV movie Crime In Connecticut: The Story of Alex Kelly, and the 2000 tv movie Another Woman's Husband. But her most recent role was in the musical Pippen at the New Jersey Paper Mill Playhouse. Nowadays Charlotte lives in New York City half the time, performing her one woman show and sometimes Broadway plays. In 1976 Charlotte and her husband divorced. She has two sons Larry who is 36 and Andy who has/had autism and may have passed away. She has a grandson and a 14 year old grandaughter named Carly