arts & life

b ooks

The Facts Of

My Life

I

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

Broadway: Threepenny Opera,
Li’l Abner, The Beauty Part,
Pickwick Papers (Tony nomina-
tion) and Morning, Noon and
Night (Tony nomination).
Television: Car 54, Where Are
You?, Hot L Baltimore, Diff’rent
Strokes, The Facts of Life, Queen
of the Stardust Ballroom and epi-
sodes of All in the Family; Murder,
She Wrote; The Love Boat; Sesame
Street (Molly the Mail Lady); ER.
Film: Hello Down There; Bananas;
Hair; You Don’t Mess with the
Zohan; and Ricki and the Flash.

44 April 21 • 2016

n her recent memoir,
as head diva, followed
The Facts of My Life,
closely by Charlotte, and
actress Charlotte Rae,
then my mom. The rest
who played the wise Mrs.
of us were in the chorus
Garrett on the popular
or had minor roles in the
1980s sitcom The Facts
parodies or musicals we
of Life — and who also
did at family simchahs.
happens to be my aunt — Keri Guten Cohen
No wonder I became
tells all.
Story Development a writer. There wasn’t
In a narrative that
much competition —
Editor
sounds as if she’s speaking
except for my cousin
directly to you, she talks
Larry Strauss, a longtime
with candor of the challenges and teacher who co-wrote the memoir,
joys of her son, Andy, born with
plus many novels and screenplays.
autism, and of the struggles as a
Larry was the impetus for The
young woman and mother work-
Facts of My Life (what a perfect
ing to get traction with her acting
title) nearly three years ago. His
career.
mom was 87, and it was time
She writes just as openly of
for a memoir. He told her they’d
her alcoholism and her longtime
work on it together.
sobriety through Alcoholics
After tiring of transcribing
Anonymous. And she pulls no
recordings his mom would make
punches when she describes her
of her life stories, he turned to
shock when she learns her hus-
asking questions and taking
band and the father of her two
notes. The notes, plus his first-
sons is bisexual.
hand knowledge, became a nar-
Rae also discusses growing up
rative and then a draft.
in a Jewish home in Milwaukee
She treated the draft as a
with an overbearing older sister,
script, Larry told me. She’d read
Beverly, and an adorable little
it out loud to him, correcting
sister, Miriam, and parents born
facts and improvising as she went
in Russia who gave their three
along. “As an actress, she was
daughters every educational and
creating her character, which was
cultural advantage possible.
actually her,” he said. “The hard
Beverly became an opera
part was the details; what really
singer; Charlotte became a singer, came through was the emotion,
comedienne and actress; and
desire and fear.”
Mimi, my mother, is a composer
Yes, there’s a lot of that, but
and classically trained pianist.
what also comes through is fierce
Growing up in this family led to determination driven by love to
many productions, with Beverly
find what was best for her autistic

son at a time when little care exist-
ed — and later courage in facing
Andy’s early death by heart attack.
A similar bravery is shown in deal-
ing with her own alcoholism.
Kindness and gratitude are
continuous themes, and loyalty is
evident in the way she remained
supportive of her ex-husband,
John Strauss, until his death. And
her devotion to family and others
comes out in her willingness as
a pancreatic cancer survivor to
publicly raise awareness of the
disease that killed her mother
and older sister.
These things make her more
than a celebrity. They make her a
human being.
So, in The Facts of My Life, you
will read about Charlotte Rae’s
celebrity friends, her early guest
appearances on The Ed Sullivan
Show; her roles on Broadway, tele-
vision and movies. But truly you’ll
be reading the story of a girl from
Milwaukee whose talent, drive
and powerful work ethic helped
her gain notoriety and have kept
her successful career going for
more than seven decades.
Even as she turns 90 on Friday
(April 22), she’s learning lines for a
production of Beckett’s End Game
in Los Angeles, where she lives, as
does Larry, his wife, Eleanor, and
their two children, Carly and Sean.
Another grandchild, Nora, and her
wife, Katrina, in Boston, recently
gave Rae her first great-grandchild,
Louisa.

TOP: Facts of Life cast: Edna Garrett
(Charlotte Rae), center, with Jo
(Nancy McKeon), Tootie (Kim
Fields), Natalie (Mindy Cohn) and
Blair (Lisa Whelchel). Rae remains
in touch with her co-stars. George
Clooney and Leonardo DiCaprio
also had small roles in the 1980s
sitcom.

BOTTOM LEFT: Beverly, Miriam
and Charlotte Lubotsky of
Milwaukee grew up to become
an opera singer; a composer and
pianist; and an actress, singer
and comedienne, respectively.
CENTER: A young Rae gets a visit
at camp from her parents, Meyer
and Esther Lubotsky. RIGHT:
Charlotte Rae and Al Lewis in
the early 1960s sitcom Car 54,
Where are You? Co-stars included
Fred Gwynne, Joe E. Ross, Nipsey
Russell and Ossie Davis.

My Aunt Charlotte came into
many of your lives as Mrs. Garrett.
I loved the show, too. But, for me,
she’s my sensitive, loving aunt who
sang the wedding song my mother
wrote for me and my husband,
Don, nearly 30 years ago.
Happy birthday, Auntie Char! I
hope there are many more. I love
you.

*

The Facts of My Life (BearManor Media) is
available at amazon.com. To see some of
Rae’s early work, go to YouTube.com and
type in Charlotte Rae.