Life of ‘The Facts of Life’ Stars after 35 Years — While One Divorced a Pastor, Another Fought Cancer Hiding on Farm

• It's been 35 years since "The Facts of Life" went off the air, and its stars have traversed different paths since then.
• One star decided to become a farmer, another fought cancer, and one married a bisexual spouse and tended to her sick son for 45 years.
• Unfortunately, after 35 years, not all stars have remained on Earth, as some have already passed away.

This year marks the 35th anniversary of "The Facts of Life" going off the air and 44 years since its inception. It was one of the longest-running sitcoms of the 1980s and was an ultimate crowd favorite.

The show was set in Eastland Academy for Girls, where a housemother and dietitian named Mrs. Edna Garrett taught and cared for a group of girls with different backgrounds. She helped them deal with their day-to-day encounters and navigate through typical teenage problems.

One of the show's most interesting characters was Blair Warner, played by Lisa Whelchel. Blair was the school's spoiled rich girl who had a knack for getting into trouble.

Through the years, Blair was more sociable than the rest of the girls and was always a boy magnet. As the show progressed, her family background began to unravel, including her parents' complicated marriage which ultimately led to divorce.

Thanks to Whelchel's stellar portrayal of Blair, she was once considered to play Rachel on "Friends." However, because of her Christian beliefs, she decided to turn it down.

Since "The Facts of Life" ended in 1988, Whelchel chose to live a rather quiet life. She was 25 then and left Hollywood to marry a pastor, Steve Cauble, who was 13 years her senior.

Whelchel and Cauble share three children together: Tucker, Haven, and Clancy. Years later, in her 2001 autobiography, the actress revealed that it was her father who encouraged her to marry Cauble, who was a pastor at the church they attended.

They lived in Sherman Oaks, California for many of their early married years before moving to Lantana, Texas in search of a quiet life in 2006. After stepping away from the spotlight, Whelchel wrote several Christian-themed books and focused on homeschooling her children through high school.

In 2012, just shortly after her youngest went to college, Whelchel quietly broke off her 24-year marriage. While she still believed in marriage and considered her husband her best friend, she felt they just couldn't stay married.

Despite filing for divorce, Whelchel and Cauble remain close and prioritize their family over everything else. Speaking about their family dynamic, the "The Facts of Life" standout said:

"We still see each other every day; we go out to dinner and movies. At one point, Clancy said: 'Mom, I think you're going to have to let me know when you get divorced because I won't be able to tell when it happens.'"

Seven years after divorcing Cauble, Welchel found love again through psychologist Pete Harris, whom she married in December 2019. Whelchel and Harris now reside in Nashville, and Whelchel has a new stepson whom she loves and adores like her own child.

Despite having a different spouse, Whelchel still remains a devout Christian. Religion is still the central focus of her life, and it's what grounds her.

Of all the things Whelchel has achieved in her life, it's her children that make her the proudest. She once said there was no greater joy than knowing her children have pure hearts and that they all found spouses who love them dearly.

Mindy Cohn's Challenging Life

Mindy Cohn, who starred as Natalie Green on "The Facts of Life," never dreamt of being an actress. In fact, it wasn't part of her plans at all.

When she was in the 8th grade, a group of TV producers visited her school to authenticate a script they were about to use on a new sitcom. They wanted to interview school girls and offered free donuts in exchange for a couple of minutes.

Cohn was your typical teenager who'd do anything to get out of class. The offer of free donuts made the whole deal more exciting.

She and her friends decided to volunteer, and after the interview, she thought that was it. However, the following day, their headmaster called her into the office.

Charlotte Rae fell in love with Cohn because of the way she reminded her of her childhood best friend Natalie. "I was irrepressible, charming, and hilarious," Cohn said.

Rae asked the producers to create a part for Cohn on the show, and the rest was history. Her dreams of becoming a doctor were replaced with thoughts of pursuing a career in the entertainment industry.

Throughout her stint on "The Facts of Life," Cohn was notorious for her off-screen antics. She was hitting clubs, attending premieres, hanging backstage at concerts, and going from place to place despite being underage.

Despite this, many people wanted to see her succeed. She auditioned for the voice role of Velma on the animated series "Scooby Doo," and it gave her a consistent source of income for 12 years.

"I haven't felt unemployed in 11 years. How many actors can say that?" she once said. She voiced Velma in the "Scooby Doo" TV series, DVD movies, and video games.

In 2012, Cohn's life changed forever. While she was walking around her neighborhood in Los Angeles, she suddenly felt tired and couldn't continue walking. She texted her friend Helen Hunt and said she felt something was wrong with her.

Cohn visited a doctor and did some tests. The next thing she knew, she was being biopsied and was diagnosed with breast cancer. "I kept that secret for a long time," she admitted.

Cohn underwent a double mastectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation in the next five years following her diagnosis. It drained her, and it caused her to seclude herself because she was frustrated and angry.

Throughout the whole ordeal, Cohn kept herself busy at a 60-acre farm owned by her good friends, Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Dr. Brent Ridge, stars of "The Fabulous Beekman Boys."

She cared for 113 goats and remembered all of them individually by name. More than caring for the goats, she also worked at the chicken coop, vegetable garden, and pond.

Ultimately, Cohn credits the farm for healing her. "This was my spot. And I think I was able to heal here because it was away from everything," she said.

Nowadays, Cohn is cancer-free and back to living in Los Angeles. She's looking forward to landing new roles and is more than ready to go back to work.

Cohn has a lot of time on her hands as she's single, has never been married, and has no children. Despite this, the actress admitted she's always wanted a husband and kids.

Whenever she isn't working, she's traveling the world with her good friends, making the most out of her life. She usually plans her trips with Kilmer-Purcell and Ridge, her friends turned family.

Remembering Charlotte Rae

Charlotte Rae was a great actress whose career spanned decades. She played the iconic Mrs. Edna Garrett on "The Facts of Life." She played the eccentric yet kind housemother who cared for her school girls like her own children.

Rae first played the role on "Diff'rent Strokes," until she became so well-loved they decided to give her a spin-off series, which became "The Facts of Life."

Despite finding fame through her sitcoms, she went on to star in several more hit shows like "Pretty Little Liars," "ER," and "The King of Queens." She was also in movies like "Don't Mess with the Zohans," and "Tom and Jerry: The Movie."

In 2015, the actress wrote "The Facts of My Life," a memoir. There, she talked about her husband, John Strauss, who she discovered was bisexual during their marriage, She also opened up about her 44 years of sobriety, and her son Andrew, who had autism and dementia.

It was a complete nightmare for Rae to discover that her son was sick. She detailed in her book all the painful and heartbreaking situations they had to go through.

At one point, Andrew was locked in a juvenile psych ward because he was deemed dangerous to himself and those around him. He had smashed a sink in a fit of rage and threw a glass ashtray out the window which almost hit a maintenance man on the street.

Rae had to care for Andy and juggle work at the same time. Every night, she'd visit him at the ward and was expected to show up at work in "Sesame Street," where she'd deliver mail to the characters and have children sit on her lap. Little did they know Rae was in so much pain the entire time.

To cope with her pain and with her frustrations, Rae turned to alcohol. She couldn't sleep, and alcohol numbed her pain.

The heartbroken mother drank herself to sleep every night and would show up to "Sesame Street" the next morning as if everything was alright. It wasn't easy for Rae, who wondered if she should have quit acting altogether.

After the director wrapped up filming every day, Rae would rush out the exit and travel across town to be with her son. One day, on Andy's 16th birthday, she bought a cake and his favorite cranapple juice before seeing him.

When she arrived, she noticed a mob of angry teenage men circling Andy, who was in another fit of rage. It was a devastating sight, and Rae burst into tears. She thought they were hurting her son.

It turned out that Andy had broken the TV set, and it angered the boys. She cradled her terrified 16-year-old in her arms, realizing he had a long way to go as compared to the other boys in the ward.

While the other boys seemed cognitive and could actually comprehend what was going on, Andy couldn't. She encouraged the boys to do better and to be better, as they actually had a shot at making it to the outside world. She heartbreakingly admitted Andy didn't have that big of a chance to do the same.

Eventually, because she was so stressed about Andy, Rae quit alcohol. She wanted to do everything for him, even if that meant quitting her career.

Ultimately, she and Strauss did everything they could. There were bad times, but they also had good times as a family.

Andy, who was diagnosed with autism, retardation, epilepsy, and childhood schizophrenia, passed away at the age of 45. All his life, Rae tried to be there for him and did everything she possibly could to make his situation better.

When she turned 91 in April 2017, she penned a touching message about life. She said:

"I want to tell everybody to celebrate every day, to savor the day, and be good to yourself, love yourself, and then you can be good to others and be of service to others."

Around that time, Rae discovered she had bone cancer. The diagnosis came seven years after her pancreatic cancer diagnosis, which after six months of chemotherapy, disappeared.

She thought long and hard about undergoing chemotherapy again, acknowledging that while she's lived a good life, she also had many wonderful things happening at the time. She wanted to choose life.

Ultimately, Rae died peacefully in her home in Los Angeles a year later at the age of 92. More than being the stellar actress that she was, Rae is best known for being a devoted mother and wife.