The Facts of Life

The Facts of Life was a spinoff of the popular NBC sitcom Diff'rent Strokes. This American TV sitcom starred Charlotte Rae as Edna Garrett, a house mother (and, later, dietician) at a private boarding school for girls, and the confidant of four of its students: wealthy, spoiled Blair Warner (played by Lisa Whelchel), nosy Tootie (played by Kim Fields), chubby, fun-loving Natalie (played by Mindy Cohn) and, after 1980, street-wise Jo (played by Nancy McKeon). The series premiered in 1979 and ran until 1988. It was produced by Norman Lear's Embassy Television.