RIP Charlotte Rae
August 5, 2018 9:24 PM   Subscribe

The great Charlotte Rae who will always be remembered as Mrs. Garrett from Diff'rent Strokes and the Facts of Life has passed away at 92. I "reconnected" with her recently after spotting her in the first season of Sesame Street, as the postwoman. A quick search brought me to this wonderful long-form interview with her on the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation's website (which has hundreds of in-depth interviews with TV legends).
posted by thirdring (39 comments total) 14 users marked this as a favorite
 
Wow, I only knew her as Mrs. Garrett, but she had one hell of a career.

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posted by Frayed Knot at 9:31 PM on August 5, 2018 [2 favorites]


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posted by Chrysostom at 9:36 PM on August 5, 2018


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One of the great character actresses (with a distinctive voice) who was seemingly everywhere until she was cemented into the Mrs. Garrett role (IMDB shows her playing Mrs. G. on several sitcom crossovers, including the short-lived Hello Larry).
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:05 PM on August 5, 2018 [1 favorite]


She was Molly the Mail Lady on Sesame Street? I watched her from my earliest days, then. Farewell to a fellow Milwaukeean.


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posted by droplet at 10:34 PM on August 5, 2018 [1 favorite]


I was first introduced to her as Mrs. Peachum on the 1954 cast album of The Threepenny Opera, which was also my first encounter with Ed Asner, Bea Arthur, John Astin, and Jerry Orbach, not to mention the impeccable Lotte Lenya as Jenny.

A good, long, well-lived life, with a career anybody could envy.


posted by tzikeh at 10:36 PM on August 5, 2018 [5 favorites]


Don't forget her dancing on the table in Hair!
posted by chapps at 10:49 PM on August 5, 2018 [6 favorites]


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posted by mikelieman at 10:59 PM on August 5, 2018


Beauty crowd me till I die
Beauty mercy have on me
But if I expire today
Let it be in sight of thee

posted by Sys Rq at 11:56 PM on August 5, 2018 [1 favorite]


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posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs at 12:00 AM on August 6, 2018


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posted by ZeusHumms at 12:56 AM on August 6, 2018


I took a glass of chardonnay,
And I toasted it to Charlotte Rae.
She was my favorite Jackson maid,
Superior to Adelaide.
And I say a prayer to the heavens above
I cry, "Oh God, my God, why take the one I love?"

-- Lorenzo Music Philharmonic
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 2:04 AM on August 6, 2018 [5 favorites]


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posted by jzb at 2:47 AM on August 6, 2018


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posted by filtergik at 3:01 AM on August 6, 2018


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posted by Secret Sparrow at 4:24 AM on August 6, 2018


I knew her from Diff'rent Strokes and the Facts of Life. She was always a friendly face and her laugh-singing is something I'll always remember.

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posted by Fizz at 4:26 AM on August 6, 2018



posted by MovableBookLady at 4:40 AM on August 6, 2018


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posted by bjgeiger at 4:56 AM on August 6, 2018


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When I was 10, I wanted to hang out with Tootie.
At 45, I'd really loved to have hung out with Mrs. G.
posted by DigDoug at 5:01 AM on August 6, 2018 [12 favorites]


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posted by solotoro at 5:03 AM on August 6, 2018


For me she'll always be Miss Cackle!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 5:25 AM on August 6, 2018 [2 favorites]


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posted by Melismata at 5:44 AM on August 6, 2018


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posted by Elly Vortex at 6:10 AM on August 6, 2018


With legal cannibis on the rise in the US, Edna’s Edibiles would be the hippest place in town in the new Facts of Life series.


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posted by dr_dank at 6:48 AM on August 6, 2018 [7 favorites]


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She reminded me a little of an opera version of my grandmother. RIP, lady.
posted by desuetude at 6:49 AM on August 6, 2018


Miss Cackle AND her own evil twin! RIP, both of you.
posted by Stacey at 7:28 AM on August 6, 2018 [1 favorite]


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posted by cass at 7:31 AM on August 6, 2018


Oh, this is sad. “You take the good, you take the bad...”

RIP, Charlotte.
posted by corey flood at 7:59 AM on August 6, 2018 [1 favorite]


I don't think I realized until this morning, reflecting on Ms. Rae's passing, how much of an influence Mrs. Garrett had on young-me. Like so many children of the 70s & 80s, I watched a fair bit of TV growing up, but always assumed that I must not have really paid attention or been very engrossed because I really can't remember much specific about any of the shows I know that I watched all the time (really, the only way that I know I watched a show a lot is that I can still sing the theme song, lyrics and all).

But reading through the obituary linked in the FPP, and getting some sense of what a delightful person she clearly was, I'm remembering more and more of her character on Facts of Life, and realizing that Charlotte Rae's portrayal of Mrs. Garrett as a consistently strong, good and decent mentor and friend to the girls on Facts of Life planted a pretty strong aspirational seed in my young mind, one that grew into part of my own personal expectations of what a caring adult is, how they can positively impact kids' lives, and as a teacher, this is important for me.

Thanks for that, Charlotte Rae, and for spending part of your time here doing work that made our world a bit better. I hope you are resting peacefully.

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posted by LooseFilter at 8:27 AM on August 6, 2018 [5 favorites]


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posted by Annabelle74 at 8:40 AM on August 6, 2018


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posted by condour75 at 9:58 AM on August 6, 2018


I was a bit old for Different Strokes and Facts of Life (first season with more girls is the one I best remember), but I always enjoyed Ms. Rae. When I found out from Mark Evanier's blog that she was the original Mammy Yokum in Li'l Abner on Broadway, my respect went way up. Like Mr. Evanier, I am a big fan of that show. Here's a link to a still that clearly shows that it's Rae as Mammy (pluse Edie Adams as Daisy Mae, because, well, Edie Adams).
posted by jkosmicki at 11:00 AM on August 6, 2018


One of the girls from the first season was a young Molly Ringwald.
posted by Chrysostom at 11:09 AM on August 6, 2018


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posted by camyram at 3:24 PM on August 6, 2018


"Be a good cook," mother said, "you'll get a man."
What did I get? 25 years with my head in a dirty oven, scraping, scrubbing.

Charlotte Rae is absolutely burned into my memory from childhood.
posted by chococat at 10:16 PM on August 6, 2018 [1 favorite]


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posted by LobsterMitten at 7:22 AM on August 7, 2018


Heartbreaking Tweet from Todd Bridges: "RIP IN PEACE ALL OF MY CAST MATES. I MISS YOU ALL."
posted by dhens at 5:40 PM on August 7, 2018 [1 favorite]


Wow, total slam on Danny Cooksey, who is still alive.

(he was the white kid from the last couple of seasons)
posted by Chrysostom at 5:48 PM on August 7, 2018


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posted by gusandrews at 4:24 PM on August 8, 2018


With legal cannibis on the rise in the US, Edna’s Edibiles would be the hippest place in town in the new Facts of Life series.

Heh, Charlotte Rae was on E.R. once as a very Mrs. Garrett-like character who'd kindly baked some brownies for the E.R. staff, only to realize too late (i.e., after all the interns had gotten wasted) that she'd mistakenly given them a batch of pot brownies intended for a friend of hers who'd developed a taste for pot brownies during a bout with cancer.

I always wondered if Charlotte Rae might be a distant relative of mine, given that Rae is my surname, but it turns out that her full legal name was actually Charlotte Rae Lubotsky.
posted by orange swan at 6:06 PM on August 10, 2018 [1 favorite]


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