Growing up, Charlotte Rae claims she wanted to be a star just so she would feel like she fit in. To that end she
moved to New York City where she met and eventually married composer John Strauss. During her early years
she rubbed elbows with other young actors such as Paul Lynde, Uncle Arthur from Bewitched, and Cloris
Leachman, her one-time NYC roommate who would later replace her on The Facts of Life.
Rae's early work includes regular roles as Silvia Schnauser on Car 54, Where Are You? and Molly the Mail
Lady on Sesame Street. She also co-starred in the Emmy-winning TV movie Queen of the Stardust Ballroom.
But her most famous role was as Edna Garrett, originally introduced as the Drummonds' housekeeper in
Diff'rent Strokes, and then the Eastland School housemother/nutritionist in the spinoff The Facts of Life.
In March of 1998, she had a guest appearance on the CBS series 'Michael Hayes'. She was in the 1999 tv
movie Crime in Connecticut: The Story of Alex Kelly and was in the 2000 tv movie Another Woman's Husband.
Most recently she was in the 2000 revival of the musical Pippin at the New Jersey Paper Mill Playhouse which
has recently completed its' run.
Charlote is living half the time in New York City, which she absolutely loves. She is busy performing her
one-woman show and the occasional Broadway play.
Charlotte divorced her husband in 1976, composer John Strauss, before starting the Diff'rent Strokes tv
series. She has two children - Larry, 36, is a writer and teaches school in south central Los Angeles and Andy,
who had/has autism, and may have passed away.
She has a brand-new grandson and a fourteen-year-old granddaughter named Carly.