Charlotte Rae

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Charlotte Rae
Rae at the 1988 Emmy Awards
Born	Charlotte Rae Lubotsky April 22, 1926 (1926-04-22) (age 82) Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Charlotte Rae (born April 22, 1926) is an American actress and singer known for her portrayal of Edna Garrett in the sitcoms Diff'rent Strokes and The Facts of Life, in which she appeared from 1979 until 1986. She received a Best Actress Emmy Nomination in a comedy in 1982. She also appeared in two Facts of Life television movies: one in 1982, The Facts of Life Goes to Paris, and the second one, The Facts of Life Reunion, in 2001.

1 Biography
- 1.1 Personal life
- 1.2 Career
2 References
3 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Personal life

Rae was born Charlotte Rae Lubotsky in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants Esther (née Ottenstein), who was a childhood friend of Golda Meir, and Meyer Lubotsky, a retail tire business owner.^[1]^[2] She had two sisters (one older and one younger), and graduated from Shorewood High School there.^[3] Rae attended but did not complete her studies at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

She was married to composer John Strauss, with whom she had two sons, and was divorced in 1976. She has three grandchildren.

[edit] Career

A stage actress since the 1950s, she appeared in Three Wishes for Jamie, The Threepenny Opera, Li'l Abner, and Pickwick. In 1955 she released her first (and only) solo album, Songs I Taught My Mother, which featured "silly, sinful, and satirical" songs by (among others) Sheldon Harnick, Vernon Duke, John La Touche, Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hart, and Marc Blitzstein (who wrote the song "Modest Maid" especially for Rae). The album was issued on CD in 2006 by PS Classics. Also in the 1950s, Rae made several acclaimed appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show.

Her first significant success was in the sitcom Car 54, Where Are You? (1961 – 1963) as Sylvia Schnauser, the wife of Officer Leo Schnauser (played by Al Lewis). She was nominated for an Emmy Award for her supporting role in the 1975 drama Queen of the Stardust Ballroom. Rae appeared in early seasons of Sesame Street as Molly the Mail Lady. In 1964, she appeared in a commercial for Oil Heat. In the commercial, she was taking a shower, while telling people how wonderful Oil Heat was. At the end of the commercial, the announcer asked her if she knew she was on television, and she responded in her usual "trying to be sexy" voice, "Yes, I know!", then giggling softly afterward.

Other appearances on screen have included roles in The Worst Witch television movie and on the series Sisters, 101 Dalmatians: The Series, and The King of Queens, "E.R."

In 1993, she was the voice of Aunt Prestine Figg in Tom and Jerry: The Movie. In 2000, she starred as Berthe in the Paper Mill Playhouse production of Pippin (musical). In 2007, she appeared in a cabaret show at the Plush Room in San Francisco for several performances. In the 2008 movie You Don't Mess with the Zohan, Rae has a role as an older woman who has a fling with Adam Sandler's character.