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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Charlotte Rae, who played a wise and patient housemother to a brood of teenage girls on the long-running sitcom “The Facts of Life” during a career that encompassed many other TV roles as well as stage and film appearances, has died. She was 92.
Rae died at her Los Angeles home Sunday with her family at her side, said her publicist, Harlan Boll. A cause of death was not immediately available, but Rae was diagnosed last year with bone cancer after beating pancreatic cancer, Boll said.
She originated the character of Mrs. Garrett in 1978 during the first season of NBC’s comedy “Diff’rent Strokes,” then took Mrs. Garrett with her for the spinoff “Facts,” which premiered the following season.
Initially set at a girls’ boarding school, that NBC series ran for nine seasons. Rae left after its seventh year, however, explaining later, “I needed some time for the rest of my life.”
The “Facts” role came to Rae after years of theater and television performances. She earned an Emmy nomination for the part, and she was a two-time Tony nominee for her work on Broadway.
Her last feature film credit was “Ricki and the Flash” with Meryl Streep in 2015. That same year she released her autobiography “The Facts of My Life,” co-written by her son Larry Strauss.
Mindy Cohn and Kim Fields, who played members of Mrs. Garrett’s brood, recalled her lovingly.
“She was my champion, a teacher, a proud example of the tenacity and perseverance needed to live as a creative, along with your talent and gifts. i love you char,” Cohn, who played Natalie, posted on Instagram.
“Sorry, no words at the moment just love and tears... and yeah, smiles,” tweeted Fields, who portrayed Tootie.
Tony Award-winning actress Audra McDonald tweeted: “She was so sweet, funny, wise, lovely, and brilliant. She will be so missed. Rest In Peace Sweet Charlotte Rae.”
Todd Bridges, who was on “Diff’rent Strokes,” said on Twitter that she was beloved by all her colleagues and that the show “would not have been the same without you.”
Edna Garrett provided kind if sometimes wry counsel to her “Facts of Life” charges (which, besides Cohn and Fields, included Lisa Whelchel, Nancy McKeon and Molly Ringwald) on a series that was praised for dealing with such sensitive issues of teenhood as sex, drug use, eating disorders and peer pressure.
“I wanted to bring in as much humanity as possible, as well as the humor,” Rae told The Associated Press early in the show’s run. “I don’t want her to be Polly Perfect, because she must have human failings and make mistakes.”
Her own life was marked by tragedy, Rae told the AP in a 2015 interview. She said the “most devastating thing” she faced was her son Andy Strauss’ diagnosis of autism at a time when there was far less understanding of or attention to the disorder. Andy died in his mid-40s of a heart attack in 1999.
Born Charlotte Rae Lubotsky in Milwaukee, on April 22, 1926, she had studied drama at Northwestern University, then moved to New York where, despite early plans to be a “serious” actress, she quickly found work doing satirical sketches in Greenwich Village clubs.
It was there that Broadway producers, who frequented such bistros, discovered her, leading to her first Broadway musical, called “Three Wishes for Jamie,” in 1952. A few years later, she originated the role of Mammy Yokum in the Broadway musical “Li’l Abner.”
Rae made numerous TV appearances in 1950s drama anthologies including “The U.S. Steel Hour,” “Playhouse 90” and “Armstrong Circle Theater,” sharing the black-and-white screen with such actors as Zero Mostel, Art Carney and Gertrude Berg.
In 1961 she became a semi-regular on the New York-based cop sitcom “Car 54, Where Are You?” as the wife of the NYPD officer played by future “Munsters” grandpa Al Lewis.
She received Tony nominations in 1966 for “Pickwick” and in 1969 for “Morning, Noon and Night.”
In the early 1970s, Rae moved to Los Angeles with her then-husband, composer and music editor John Strauss, and their sons Andy and Larry. There she was cast in the short-lived Norman Lear sitcom “Hot L Baltimore” and a similarly unsuccessful variety show hosted by Rich Little before scoring “Diff’rent Strokes,” on which Mrs. Garrett was the family’s housekeeper.
Rae stayed busy with film and stage appearances, including 1971’s “Bananas” from Woody Allen and 1979’s “Hair.” Other credits included the 2008 comedy “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan” and the 2012 thriller “Love Sick Love.”
In 2005, at age 79, she appeared in a new comedy, “Leading Ladies,” at Ford’s Theater in Washington.
In 2013, Rae went public with an account of why her marriage to Strauss had ended in the mid-1970s after a quarter-century. She said he disclosed to her he was bisexual and wanted an open marriage. Strauss died in 2011.
In addition to son Larry, she is survived by sister Miriam Guten and three grandchildren.
Services were pending, Boll said.

At least two of the people who were released from prison early under Louisiana’s criminal justice overhaul have been re-arrested and accused of murder, officials acknowledged on Thursday.
“I have to work on the future here and what we are trying to do to avoid those things from happening,” Department of Corrections Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc said at a news conference marking one year since the state began its major undertaking aimed to improving its criminal justice system. “My heart goes out to the victims, and it’s a major issue.”
In both cases, offenders who had been in-and-out of prison on mostly drug-related charges were part of an initial wave of early releases in November. Each was arrested in June on suspicion of murder in separate cases — one in in Ouachita Parish and the other in Bossier Parish. Neither has been convicted.
One man was originally scheduled to be released in April, so he would have been out of prison even without the early release, officials noted. The other was not originally to be released until this October, meaning his arrest came months before he would have been released if not for the new initiative, Department of Corrections records show.
“Those are things that unfortunately happen,” LeBlanc said.
Despite those two cases and several rearrests of released inmates for lesser offenses, state leaders say they believe that there are still successes to be seen in the effort, which was approved with bipartisan support from the Louisiana Legislature and the backing of Gov. John Bel Edwards.
Act 280 allows sentences to be shortened more rapidly for nonviolent, non-sex-crime offenders who receive credit for good behavior — slashing the mandatory time served from 40 percent of their original sentences to 35 percent. The first wave of nearly 2,000 early releases took place on Nov. 1, 2017.
In the months since, the state has saved $12.2 million on incarceration, and 70 percent of that money is going back into programs to reduce recidivism and support crime victims, DOC estimates.
The state has also shed its highest-in-the-world incarceration rate — handing that dubious distinction off to Oklahoma earlier this year.
“We need to continue to move forward,” LeBlanc said. “Our state is going to be better for this.”
But critics point to the two accused of murder and others who have ended up back behind bars after early release as possible indicators that the state should be cautious as it continues to shed inmates.
District attorneys — some of the most vocal skeptics of the criminal justice efforts — have been tracking the initial cohort of about 1,900 inmates that were released on Nov. 1, 2017, as part of the first wave of early releases through the new criminal justice overhaul.
Many were released 30 to 90 days ahead of schedule. Some who were “released” had outstanding warrants and were transferred to other jurisdictions, so they never technically made it out.
District attorneys throughout the state placed each into a system and have received notifications each time one is rebooked, East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore explained. Based on that, which doesn’t account for those turned over to other jurisdictions or calculate for whether someone offends during the window between their early release and their original release date, Moore estimates that about 22 percent have shown up back in the system.
“I’m not sure where the DAs are getting their information from,” LeBlanc said. “Our numbers are not anywhere close to what they are saying.”
According to the Department of Corrections’ figures, 120 of those released early are back behind bars because they violated the terms of parole or committed new crimes. About 70 percent of the offenders who are back in custody are there because of offenses committed after their original release dates, meaning they would have been out of prison either way.
Another 112 who were previously released are being detained while they await adjudication. DOC argues that until they are convicted, they should not be considered as part of the “recidivism” rate. But if all were convicted, the recidivism rate from the early release program would be about 11.8 percent, according to DOC’s calculations.
According to DOC, two of the offenders are back behind bars have been accused of murder. Moore’s system puts the figure at five.
Richard McLendon, 54, who had previously served time for simple burglary and drug possession, was arrested in June for the murder of a Shreveport man. He’s currently being held in Bossier Parish. He was released about a year ahead of his scheduled release date, according to Department of Corrections records.
Paul Jackson, 35, was released on his drug-related sentence about five months ahead of his originally scheduled release date. He was back behind bars in June on charges of second degree murder and criminal conspiracy to commit murder.
“What we are doing today is going to take time,” LeBlanc said. “Give this some time to work. It is going to work.”
Moore said he agrees. He hopes to work to improve the release program to better prepare inmates for release and prevent them from returning to prison.
“We’re trying to see if there is some way we can intervene and make a difference,” Moore said. “We don’t want them to be re-arrested.”

Submitted Photo
A back to school night for parents was held recently at Central Catholic Elementary School. Principal Amanda Talbot welcomed parents in the Yvonne Anne Adams Life Center.  Parents then participated in informative classroom sessions with teachers, where they learned about the 2018-2019 school year. Pictured is Principal Amanda Talbot introducing teachers and staff members to parents.