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PEOPLE & ARTSTuesday 27 October 2015
Actress Charlotte Rae tells ‘The Facts of My Life’ in memoir
LYNN ELBER
AP Television Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — In
“The Facts of Life,” Char-
lotte Rae played the un-
flappable Mrs. Garrett, a
girls’ school housemother
who smoothly guided her
charges through crises and
comedy.
Rae says she implored the
TV show’s producers to let
her character “lose her
temper, yell at the kids. Let beautiful.”
her be a human being.”
They declined. But as Rae,
89, recounts in her new au-
tobiography, her own life
bore little resemblance to
the sitcom-grade serenity
of Edna Garrett’s, instead
marked by challenges that
included son Andy’s autism
and her husband’s late-in-
life disclosure that he was
bisexual and wanted an
open marriage.
“The Facts of My Life”
paints Rae as a woman
determined to face the
world with grace and hu-
mor, come what may, and
one dedicated to her fam-
ily, friends and a career
that stretched from 1950s
TV to Broadway.
That’s partly why she de-
cided to do the book,
to bolster others tackling
their own difficulties and
dreams, Rae said in an in-
terview.
And because her other
son, Larry Strauss, a writ-
er and teacher, said she
should.
Jon Stewart opening animal Jimmy Fallon falls
sanctuary in New Jersey again, hurts fingers
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The
former host of “The Daily
Show” and his wife are
transforming their New Jer-
sey farm into a sanctuary
for neglected animals.
Jon and Tracey Stewart
announced their plan Sat-
urday while being honored
by the animal advocacy
group Farm Sanctuary.
The property in Middle-
town,
New Jersey, will be the
fourth sanctuary affiliated
with Farm Sanctuary. The
organization’s other out-
posts are in Los Angeles;
Orland, California; and
In this Sept. 15, 2014, file photo, Charlotte Rae arrives at the 2014 PALEYFEST Fall TV Previews - time. It didn’t happen,”
“The Facts Of Life” Reunion in Beverly Hills, Calif. Rae said. “There were peo-
ple I had little flings with
Associated Press that were lovely, but no-
body I wanted to marry.”
“He said, ‘Ma, I think it’s Andy’s diagnosis of autism urged by his AA sponsor to Son Larry, his family and
time we did your memoir. had been long in coming be honest with himself and others keep her busy and
You talk to me and I’ll do at a time when there was his wife about his sexuality. content, she said.
it,’” she recalled. “He was far less understanding of or “I felt there was something “I have wonderful friends.
very sensitive to what I was attention to the disorder, wrong with me and took it I’m not just a lonely old
talking about and won- Rae said. Her son, who had personally,” Rae said. “But lady,” said Rae, a Wiscon-
derful (writing about) his other conditions including I gradually realized what sin native who splits her
brother, very sensitive and epilepsy, died in his mid-40s he was going through. My time between Los Angeles
of a heart attack. God, the poor guy, hiding it and New York.
The book, to be published She saw his illness as the and being ashamed.” Her career has been di-
by BearManor Media on “most devastating thing” in The pair divorced, and vided between screen,
Nov. 1, opens with what’s her life, said Rae, who has John Strauss died in 2011. stage and cabaret ap-
described as a “nightmare also faced alcoholism and He had found a long-time pearances (fans may re-
come true,” then 16-year- heart problems. Then her partner (the nice Jewish call Mrs. Garrett singing “O
old Andy Strauss locked in husband of 25 years, com- man of his dreams, Rae Holy Night” on a holiday
the juvenile ward at New poser and sound editor said) but she has remained episode). Her extensive TV
York’s Bellevue Hospital be- John Strauss, who like Rae single. work ranged from “The Phil
cause he’d been deemed had turned to Alcoholics “Between the children and Silvers Show” in the 1950s to
dangerous. Anonymous for help, was my career, I just didn’t have “Car 54, Where Are You?”
in the 1960s to “Girl Meets
World” in 2014.
After introducing Mrs. Gar-
rett on “Diff’rent Strokes,”
Rae carried her over to
“The Facts of Life” spin-off
in 1979. The long-running
series brought her an Emmy
nomination, financial secu-
rity and lasting friendships
with co-stars Nancy McKe-
on, Lisa Whelchel, Kim
Fields and Mindy Cohn.
(She recalls, with delight,
visiting McKeon and her
husband at their ranch
near Austin, Texas, and
having a “jammie party”
with their daughters.)
Rae also appeared in
movies, with her latest
role this year in the Meryl
on other hand
In this Feb. 28, 2015 file photo, Jon Stewart appears onstage at In this Aug. 25, 2014, file BOSTON (AP) — Jimmy Fal-
Comedy Central’s “Night of Too Many Stars: America Comes To- photo, Jimmy Fallon presents lon should probably be
gether for Autism Programs” at the Beacon Theatre in New York. an award at the 66th Annual more careful.
Primetime Emmy Awards in Four months after the “To-
Associated Press Los Angeles. night Show” host needed
emergency surgery to
Watkins Glen, New York. tory farming and encour- Associated Press save one of his fingers after
a fall, Fallon hurt his other
Farm Sanctuary was found- age awareness about farm hand in a spill at a party in
his honor on Saturday.
ed in 1986 to combat fac- animals.q Fallon tweeted a picture
Sunday of his hand with a
couple small bandages
on his fingers, writing that it
was “nothing a few band
aids couldn’t fix.”q