Facts of Life: Jo and Blair
The Facts of Life is
an American sitcom that originally ran on the NBC television network from
August 24, 1979, to May 7, 1988. A spin-off of the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes,
the series' premise focused on Edna Garrett (Charlotte Rae) as she becomes a
housemother (and after the second season, dietitian as well) at the fictional
Eastland School, an all-female boarding school in Peekskill, New York.
Main article: List
of The Facts of Life characters
Charlotte Rae ... Mrs. Edna Garrett
(1979–1986)
Lisa Whelchel ... Blair Warner
Nancy McKeon ... Joanna Marie
"Jo" Polniaczek (1980–1988)
Mindy Cohn ... Natalie Green
Kim Fields ... Dorothy "Tootie"
Ramsey
Cloris Leachman ... Beverly Ann Stickle
(1986–1988)
Mackenzie Astin ... Andy Moffett
(1985–1988)
George Clooney ... George Burnett[2] (cast
member 1985–1986, recurring 1986–1987)
Pamela Segall ... Kelly Affinado
(1983–1984)
Jenny O'Hara ... Miss Emily Mahoney (1979)
Molly Ringwald ... Molly Parker (1979–1980)
Todd Hallowell ... Jeff Williams
(occasional, 1984–1988)
Alex Rocco ... Charlie Polniaczek
(occasional, 1981–1988)
Woody Brown ... Cliff (occasional,
1983–1984)
John Lawlor ... Steven Bradley (1979–1980)
Julie Anne Haddock ... Cindy Webster (cast
member 1979–1980, recurring 1980–1987)
Geri Jewell ... Geri Tyler (occasional,
1981–1984)
Felice Schacter ... Nancy Olsen (cast
member 1979–1980, recurring 1980–1987)
Sherrie Krenn ... Pippa McKenna (1987–1988)
Julie Piekarski ... Sue Ann Weaver (cast
member 1979–1980, recurring 1980–1987)
Roger Perry ... Mr. Charles Parker
(1981–1983)
Recurring characters
A key recurring
character was Geri Tyler (Geri Jewell), Blair's cousin who has cerebral palsy.
Other recurring characters included the judgment-impaired Miko Wakamatsu
(Lauren Tom), the snobbish Boots St. Clair (Jami Gertz), and the royal princess
Alexandra (Heather McAdam). Shoplifter Kelly (Pamela Segall) was billed as a
regular during the fifth season. Other guest roles included the boyfriends of
the girls; Jo's parents, played by Alex Rocco and Claire Malis; Blair's
parents, played by Nicolas Coster and Marj Dusay (Blair's mother was played by
Pam Huntington in one episode during the first season); Tootie's parents,
played by Kim Fields' real-life mother, actress Chip Fields, and Robert Hooks;
and Natalie's parents, played by Norman Burton and Mitzi Hoag. (Natalie's
grandmother was played by Molly Picon, and appeared in two episodes). A 1984
episode was built around Natalie coming to terms with the sudden death of her
father. Characters from Diff'rent Strokes also appeared in some episodes of
both season one and season two. -Wikipedia
