She cut her teeth on the stage, performing in Broadway plays like The Threepenny Opera and Lil Abner, later picking up two Tony nominations in 1966 (for best featured actress in a musical in Pickwick) and 1969 (best actress in a play in Morning, Noon and Night). In 1998, Coleman was charged with assault after he punched a woman demanding an autograph while working as a security guard at a shopping mall. She was 92 years old. Edna: Mr. Drummond, can't you see, the boys were just tryin' to protect you. She knew it was time for her to step down and to let the girls spread their wings and reach new heights on their own. Shes been the voice of Velma in animated Scooby Doo projects since 2004. Hes appeared in episodes of Lost (as Kates childhood friend), Justice, and most recently NBCs My Name Is Earl. I really like that actress! "His agents recognized what they had, and got a lot of money," "Diff'rent Strokes" writer Ben Starr told the Television Academy Foundation. racism. Stickle took over Garretts duties at Over Our Heads. After the man's true nature became known, Arnold escaped to look for help and the man nearly raped Kimberly before the police arrived to arrest him. As Arnold, Coleman won the hearts of millions with his mugging and infectious "Whatchu talkin' 'bout, Willis?" [39] Season 7 was released on February 27, 2018. Charlotte Rae, the actress who became known to millions of TV viewers as the tough but admirable Mrs. Garrett on Diffrent Strokes and The Facts of Life, has died. Antenna TV's One-of-a-Kind, One Day at a Time Mother's Day Marathon; And Just Like That Gets S2 Premiere Date . She married key grip Marc Andrus in 2003 and they have two children. Trivia 04/25 - Cheers - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) 05/23 - Kate & Allie - The Complete Series You never know when your next job is going to come along.. She appeared with Whelchel to sing part of the Facts of Life theme song and also took part in a Sex and the City spoof at the 2004 TV Land Awards. Cloris Leachman, almost 82, had a very impressive film and television career prior to joining Facts as Beverly Anne in 1986. She re-married in 1986 to Bruce Gaines and later rejoined the Peace Corps to work in Eastern Africa. In 1984, she married the father of her child, musician Lanny Lambert, but the couple divorced in 1990. is not provided by William Daniels, who voices K.I.T.T. Lear discovered child actor Gary Coleman when he saw him in a McDonald's commercial (according to "Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of 'Diff'rent Strokes'") and cast him in a proposed made-for-TV reboot of "The Little Rascals." She is still very active in movies and television and has three films currently in the works. I personally would have liked to see her in the episode where Blair has the accident. Factory had acquired the rights to the series; they subsequently released the third season on DVD on July 17, 2012. Sometimes its just time to move on, Rae told the Sentinel. Nedra Volz (Adelaide Brubaker) Nedra Volzs (June 18, 1908 January 20, 2003) character, Adelaide Brubaker, replaced Mrs Garrett. First Lady Nancy Reagan launched the "Just Say No" campaign in 1986 (per History), formalizing the anti-drug abuse platform she'd worked on since early in the presidential administration of her husband, Ronald Reagan. Diff'rent Strokes was initially devised to serve as a vehicle for both Conrad Bain and Gary Coleman. Cast overview, first billed only: Dana Plato Jill Martin Bentley Mitchum Jack Sanders Landon Hall Jill David Millbern Rick Gabriella Hall Alicia. After a performance, she has an epileptic seizure and Sam thinks she's dying. "We thought her presence at the studio all day would make her role more meaningful," Reagan's press secretary Sheila Tate said. Following the cancellation of Diff'rent Strokes in 1986, Coleman, Bridges and Plato encountered difficulty in finding other acting jobs. After the series, she earned a degree in cultural anthropology from Loyola Marymount University. The second housekeeper, Adelaide Brubaker, was played by Nedra Volz. The third housekeeper, Pearl Gallagher, was played by Mary Jo Catlett, first appearing as a recurring character, later becoming a main cast member. She carried on the role until 1984, going between that show and The Facts of Life. While family issues, race relations, and economic disparity were part of the DNA of "Diff'rent Strokes," what made it popular was that it was a fun and funny sitcom, thanks in large part to wildly charismatic, preternaturally-talented child actor Gary Coleman. The show follows the Drummonds' former housekeeper, Mrs. Garrett . After seven seasons, Rae decided not to renew her contract and NBC brought in Leachman. I have a production company, and I have a writer doing a script treatment on a book that I think would make a wonderful feature film, Leachman continued. Charlotte Rae dead: Mrs. Garrett on Facts of Life, Diff'rent Strokes Rae left the show in 1986 for health reasons, and though Cloris Leachman stepped in as Mrs. Garretts sister, the show was canceled two years later. The latter's Tandem Productions brought "Diff'rent Strokes" to TV in the 1970s, so it was a candidate for a revival via the show's format of high-profile actors re-creating an old episode, then broadcast live. Why did Mrs. Garrett leave diff'rent strokes? In that series, Garrett leaves the house to go care for several teenage girls who attend a private school. The one where EW follows up with the cast. Producer Al Burton had spotted Dana Plato as part of a cheerleading team auditioning on The Gong Show and felt she had a spark about her, and recommended her for the role of Drummond's daughter Kimberly. Making a splash: A deep dive into the live-action. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Copyright 2023 Endgame360 Inc. All Rights Reserved. All the names of these shows are so similar, Leachman told the Times. Adelaide Cartographer. 02/21 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Nine / The Complete Season Ten Several past characters attended the wedding ceremony, including Aunt Sophia, Adelaide, and Mrs. Garrett. She doesnt like it when I say I discovered her, but its true. The pilot was not picked up for a series, and was the only time the characters and setting appeared in Diff'rent Strokes. On the 1982 "Silver Spoons" episode "The Great Computer Caper," privileged Ricky met the also-wealthy Arnold Jackson (Gary Coleman). Due to financial difficulties and her growing addiction to drugs and alcohol, Plato relinquished custody of her son, Tyler, to Lambert. In the season, Bridges continued as a main cast member, but was absent in several episodes. Miss Chung (Rosalind Chao) was Arnold's teacher. [24] In 1998, she appeared in a softcore pornographic film entitled Different Strokes: The Story of Jack and Jilland Jill, which was intended to capitalize on her Diff'rent Strokes fame. Charlotte Rae, Mrs. Garrett on 'Facts of Life' and 'Diff'rent Strokes', Dies at 92 After Cancer Battle. The sudden, drastic change in Maggie's appearance was not acknowledged on the show, nor was the confusing fact that Mobley had already appeared on "Diff'rent Strokes." Factory? Co-created by seasoned sitcom and variety TV writers Jeff Harris and Bernie Kukoff, the series was originally pitched under the name "45 Minutes From Harlem," reflecting the physical and metaphorical distance for the central character, an African-American child adopted by the wealthy, white employer of his deceased housekeeper mother. Well guess what happens next. The Facts of Life (19791988) is a spin-off of Diff'rent Strokes featuring Drummond's former housekeeper, Mrs. Garrett, who had accepted a job as the housemother for a dormitory at Eastland, an all-girls private school that Kimberly was attending. Kimberly was written out of the show with the explanation that she moved to Paris to study for a couple of years, but returned as a guest star for the season finale "A Special Friend", after Plato gave birth. "There will just be a new Maggie," star Conrad Bain said, referring to how producers opted to recast the character of Maggie, bringing in actor Mary Ann Mobley. In terms of keeping touch with her girls, Rae recently said, Im very close with Lisa [Whelchel] and her husband and children and Nancy McKeon and her husband, and she has two little ones. See the Live in Front of a Studio Audience cast next to the original Rae has never been shy about describing the difficulty of being an actor in those days: Being an actor is not like any other job. She could have added a whole new dimension that Beverly Ann couldn't. The stars tell all about their relationship off-camera and on in an excerpt from the rich new oral history. [25] Plato died of a drug overdose in 1999 at age 34. Rae delved into her struggles with Andy, as well as her marriage and struggles with alcohol addiction, in her 2015 memoir, The Facts of My Life, which was co-written with Larry. Later this year, catch her acting with Peter OToole and Marcia Gay Harden in Christmas Cottage. Bridges was offered the role without needing an audition. After six months of chemotherapy, I was cancer-free. Although billed on the opening credits of each episode, Plato appeared only semi-regularly for much of the first season. Sherrie Austin (formerly Krenn), 37, got her big start in music at the age of 14 when she opened for Johnny Cash in Australia. [37] Season 5 was released on April 4, 2017. She fell into drug addiction and died of an overdose in 1999. The Facts of Life began with Mrs. Garrett becoming the housemother of a girls school. While co-starring on "Diff'rent Strokes," Plato reportedly began drinking and tried marijuana and cocaine, and endured a drug overdose in the late 1970s. Shes been married to minister Steven Cauble since 1988 and their family live in Whelchels birth state of Texas. Decades after it went off the air, "Diff'rent Strokes" was able to further its position among the pantheon of treasured TV favorites from decades past as it was scheduled to be revisited for network television with a whole new cast albeit, as a one-night only live event presentation. Diffrent Strokes The Peacemaker (TV Episode 1982) Andrew Dice Clay as Crazy Larry IMDb. Kimberly didn't live with the Drummonds full-time in Manhattan; she was a student at an upstate New York boarding school, serving as a link for the spinoff "The Facts of Life," in which Rae took her "Diff'rent Strokes" character to the academy to serve on the staff. When presented with confusing or unfortunate information from his older brother, Arnold would frown and loudly and speedily quip, "Whatchu talkin' 'bout, Willis?" Kim Fields, 38, appeared on Good Times prior to landing her role on Facts, as did her mother. At the outset of the series, the role of housemaid is filled by Rae as Mrs. Garrett; when Rae departed for spin-off series The Facts of Life during the second season, she was replaced by Adelaide Brubaker (Volz), who in turn, was replaced by Pearl Gallagher (Catlett) from the fifth season until the end of the run. The second episode of the fifth season, "In The Swim", introduced Mary Jo Catlett as the rotund, ever-cheerful Pearl Gallagher, the last of the Drummond household's three maids. Since leaving her Jo persona behind, McKeon has kept very busy with TV movies, guest-starring on shows like Touched by an Angel, and starring on a crime drama series called The Division. In this final season Jason Hervey joined the semi-regular cast as Charlie, another of Arnold's school friends. According to Richard Irvin's "Spinning Laughter," the proposed series was written by three "Diff'rent Strokes" staff writers and concerned Catherine Armstrong (portrayed by Maureen McNamara), an inexperienced teacher who takes a job helping a group of first-generation immigrants from around the world prepare for their American citizenship test. Her death was confirmed by her manager, Paul Hilepo. Post navigation. The premise: After his African-American housekeeper dies, wealthy white businessman Philip Drummond (Conrad Bain) takes in her two boys, Arnold and Willis Jackson (Todd Bridges), and raises them as his own in a fancy Manhattan apartment, expanding the family that consists of just him and his teenage daughter, Kimberly (Dana Plato). Whatchoo Talkin' 'Bout, Shout! The boys then feel uncomfortable around her and when they begin making jokes about her seizures, they find out that housekeeper Pearl herself has epilepsy but, unlike Karen, controls her seizures with medication. Debbie Reynolds during her high-school years, in the late 1940s. It began when Mrs. Edna Garrett was assigned the task of cleaning the soiled underwear of Willis and Arnold Jackson in the first episode of the series. She was the Drummonds housekeeper. But the idea was dropped, both due to producers not wanting to water down the character's appeal in the main series, and deciding that the additional workload would be too much for Coleman. They live in a penthouse with Drummond, his daughter Kimberly (Plato), and their housemaid. Mrs. Garrett opened Ednas Edibles. "That was it. That night, her Facts of Life costars Kim Fields and Nancy McKeon gave speeches in her honor. However, its her television work that made her a household name. The title of the sitcom "Diff'rent Strokes," with a little creative spelling and punctuation to speed up the pronunciation of the first word in a casual, colloquial fashion, is an abbreviation of and reference to the common phrase "different strokes for different folks."