Remember 'The Facts of Life'? Here's What The Cast Looks Like Now

#1

Can you believe it's been more than 35 years since Mrs. Garrett, Blair, Jo, Natalie, and Tootie first stole our hearts on The Facts of Life? We sure can't! The show started in 1979 on the NBC network and ran for nine seasons. Although it began as a spin-off from 'Diff'rent Strokes' and featured Mrs. Garrett, played by Charlotte Rae, as the caretaker of a group of several girls attending Eastlands School For Girls, over time it evolved and the cast shrank to the four main girls and followed them as they grew older and finally graduated.

#2 Kim Fields

She played Dorothy "Tootie" Ramsey and was only 10 years old when she started playing the role on the series. Through most of the entire first season, she was seen on roller skates, mainly to hide the fact that she was so much shorter than all of the other girls. Now a grown mom of two, but as a mischievous preteen, Tootie Ramsey often uttered the catchphrase 'We're in trou-ble.'

It took Kim Fields a few years to land on her roller-skate-wearing feet after "The Facts of Life" ended. Or so it seemed. In reality, she was off getting a degree at Pepperdine University. When she returned to acting, she got the role of Regine Hunter on "Living Single" alongside Queen Latifah and Kim Coles.

Since "Living Single" ended, Fields has done guest spots on numerous shows like "The Division", "Comeback," and "The Cleaner." She's acted in some made-for-TV movies including "A Cross to Bear" and "Hidden Blessings." She's even hosted a reality show called "Lens on Talent," BET's search for up-and-coming black filmmakers. But mostly our little girl Tootie has taken a seat behind the camera, directing for shows like "Tyler Perry's House of Payne" and "Meet the Browns."

#3 Lisa Welchel

Lisa played the role of snobbish Blair Warner. After the show ended, she all but left the spotlight. Despite a Grammy-nominated inspirational pop album, she released in 1984 called "All Because of You," she didn't pursue a career in music either. Her only other public appearances have pretty much been "Facts" related - a 2001 made-for-TV movie, a mini-reunion on the "Today" show in 2006, and a couple of TV Land award show appearances.

Whelchel is a devout Christian who became an inspirational speaker and has written a series of books about parenting, friendship, and homeschooling. She recently came out of her retirement and did a run on the series Survivor and is now starring in her own cable series on the Hallmark Channel.

#4 Nancy McKeon

When Joanne "Jo" Polniaczek arrived at Eastland Academy, she brought an edge that none of the elite school's girls had before. She was prissy Blair's nemesis and someone from a different class echelon.

"Facts" wasn't McKeon's first foray on TV. She and her older brother Philip, who played Tommy on "Alice," had been doing commercials and TV movies before landing the coveted role. Still, when the show came to an end in 1988, McKeon couldn't seem to find a suitable new home. She did almost have another major TV hit. When producers were casting the part of Monica Geller on "Friends," it came down to McKeon and Courteney Cox. Everyone knows how that worked out.

Her own follow-up shows were far less successful.. the short-lived sitcoms "Can't Hurry Love," which she also produced, and "Style & Substance." Ultimately, McKeon turned to drama for her next small-screen achievement, playing Inspector Jinny Exstead on "The Division" and directing a couple of episodes. After the action show ended, she took a turn as Connie Munroe on "Sonny With a Chance." The part felt like a full-circle moment with the former teen star playing a mom to the new generation's it-girl Demi Lovato.

#5 Mindy Cohn

Cohn played Natalie, a role created specifically for her by the producers, who found her in a real girl's school and fell in love with her. Known as the chubby girl at Eastland, Natalie was bold, confident, and proud of her curvy figure. After "Facts," Cohn made numerous appearances on TV shows like "Dream On", "Suddenly Susan," and "Hot in Cleveland." She was also a regular on two short-lived series, "The Second Half" (1993) and "The Help" (2004).

It is in the voice-over world where Cohn really hit her stride. Starting with a guest spot on "The Kids From Room 402" in 1999, she has parlayed her recognizable nasally voice into an Emmy-nominated career. She has done turns on "Kim Possible", "Dexter's Laboratory," and "Family Guy." Since 2004, she's been the voice of Velma in the Scooby-Doo franchise, working on dozens of TV series and video games.

Cohn has also graced the small screen, playing Dylan's mom on "The Secret Life of the American Teenager," once again teaming up with her "Facts of Life" co-star Molly Ringwald. Cohn has also not shied away from reality TV, opening herself up to reliving scary experiences on "Celebrity Ghost Stories," being torn apart by fashion divas on "What Not to Wear," and also contributing her interior decorating expertise on a very special episode of "HGTV Design Star All-Stars."

#6 Charlotte Rae

The loveable housemother on the show and the reason for its creation, she played the role she made famous on Diff'rent Strokes, Edna Garrett.

Rae was clearly the veteran actor on "The Facts of Life." As the show's young stars skyrocketed to success, everyone's favorite house matron had to take a back seat to these popular young actresses. Even a primetime Emmy nomination couldn't keep the Edna in Edna's Edibles. As Season 8 began, Rae made a graceful exit, handing the mother-figure reigns over to Cloris Leachman.

After "Facts," Rae never signed on to a live-action series for the long haul again, but she did voice the Nanny in 43 episodes of "101 Dalmatians: The Series." Instead, she went on to a string of guest spots on shows like "Diagnosis Murder", "The King of Queens," and "ER." She's also dabbled in theater and in films, most famously playing Adam Sandler's fling in "You Don't Mess With the Zohan." She recently celebrated her 90th birthday and she returned to the silver screen in the feature film Ricki and the Flash, with Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, and Rick Springfield.

#7 George Clooney

By the time George Clooney joined the cast of "The Facts of Life" in Season 7, he had already been around the Hollywood backlot once or twice. His first big break was on a sitcom named, coincidentally, "E/R," but it was short-lived. Despite guest appearances on "Riptide" and "Hotel," Clooney just couldn't seem to catch a break.

But when he landed the role of hunky handyman George Burnett, the young actor's luck seemed to change. After two seasons, Clooney left "Facts" and nabbed regular gigs on "Roseanne" and "Sisters." His career changed forever when he signed on to play Dr. Doug Ross on "ER."

After five seasons, a turn as Batman, and a couple of Emmy nods, the writing was on the wall. Clooney was a full-blown movie star, and it was time to leave the small screen behind. Named the Hottest Man Alive by People magazine didn't hurt his career either. He's since gone on to act in countless films, such as "From Dusk Till Dawn", "Up in the Air," and the "Ocean's" franchise. He earned an honor that probably no one thought would be associated with a "Facts" alum: an Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for "Syriana."

Plus, he's insured his career longevity by going behind the camera to produce and direct. To top it all off, he's a humanitarian and owns a lavish villa in Italy where he frequently frolics with his new wife. It seems like George just took the good and left the bad behind.

#8 Cloris Leachman

Partway through "The Facts of Life," Charlotte Rae moved on from the series, leaving the girls without a den mother. In came Cloris Leachman to the rescue. At the beginning of Season 8, Mrs. Garrett left her sister Beverly Ann to care for the girls when she went off to Africa. Beverly Ann ran the local malt shop and adopted a young boy in the ultimate "Facts" jump-the-shark storyline.

And while many fans didn't accept her replacing the beloved Mrs. Garrett, it didn't seem to affect Leachman's now six-decade long career all that much. Since the series ended, she has had regular roles in six other series, including "The Nutt House", "The Ellen Show," and "Malcolm in the Middle", and "Raising Hope". Leachman has been nominated for 10 Emmys since "The Facts of Life" ended and has won three of them. In all, since the start of her career, Leachman has won eight Emmy Awards, more than any other actress. She has also co-starred in several motion pictures since the show ended and has been doing voice work on animated series like American Dad, King Of The Hill, and Family Guy. She competed on Dancing with the Stars at the age of 82 in 2008.

#9 Molly Ringwald

Yes, that Molly Ringwald. We include her here because she was one of the first seasons cast members that got the boot, yet managed to go on and have a spectacular career. Things were rather crowded at Eastland School during the first 13 episodes, with Felice Schachter, Julie Anne Haddock, Julie Piekarski, and Molly Ringwald in the mix with the others. After the initial run, the producers stripped the cast down, without telling anyone, and hired Nancy McKeon instead.

11-year-old Molly Ringwald, whose first TV gig was on the sitcom "Diff'rent Stokes" reprised the role of Molly in the spin-off "Facts of Life." Just four years later, she rose to fame as Samantha Baker in "Sixteen Candles," followed by "The Breakfast Club" and "Pretty in Pink." After her John Hughes teen movie streak came to an end, Ringwald starred in "The Pick-Up Artist", "For Keeps," and "Betsy's Wedding." She's been active ever since, and one of the most famous of the shows alumni.

#10 The Original Cast Of The Show

NBC was struggling in the late 1970s. Of the top 30 network shows of the 1977 to 1978 season, 15 were on ABC, 11 were on CBS, and only four were on NBC (Little House on the Prairie, Project U.F.O., and the Sunday and Monday night movies). So when Diff'rent Strokes premiered in the fall of 1978 and became a hitit placed 27th for the seasonNBC moved quickly to capitalize on its success.

The season finale of Diff'rent Strokes' first season, "The Girls School," had housekeeper Mrs. Garrett helping out at the private school Kimberly attended, and ended with her being offered a job as housemother. The Facts of Life premiered three months later, in August of 1979, for a four-episode trial run, then returned permanently in March of 1980. Mrs. Garrett continued to appear on season two of Diff'rent Strokes in the meantime before leaving the Drummonds for good. The first season saw very bad ratings but the network stuck with it in hopes it would pay off. They changed several cast members and some of the writing staff and gave the go-ahead for season two, which did fairly well in the ratings.

#11 The Final Cast Of The Series

When the series ended in 1988 it was NBC's longest-running sitcom in the history of the network. Nine seasons and 201 episodes were enough to set the record at the time. (Yep, it even outlasted Diff'rent Strokes, the show from which it was spun off.) It has since been surpassed in NBC's record books by Cheers, Frasier, and Friends. The show tried to launch six different spin-off shows, but none were ever added to the networks schedule.

The show made lot's of history, never being a top hit, it managed to keep enough ratings share to stay alive longer than most of its competition. It also featured the first disabled series regular in Geri Jewell who played Blairs cousin Geri. She was a comedian with cerebral palsy whom producer Norman Lear had seen perform at the Media Access Awards in 1980.

While it's a widely known bit of trivia that Clooney played a handyman in 17 episodes sprinkled throughout seasons seven and eight. Other not-yet-famous guest stars who appeared on the show include Helen Hunt, Juliette Lewis, Mayim Bialik, Seth Green, Richard Dean Anderson, Richard Grieco, Dennis Haysbert, Crispin Glover, David Spade, and Bridesmaids director Paul Feig.