Cast & creator

Charlotte Rae

1926-04-22 (died at 92) Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USAIMDb

Best known for Diagnosis: Murder, The Love Boat, The Love Boat

Charlotte Rae Lubotsky (April 22, 1926 – August 5, 2018) was an American actress and singer. On screen, Rae was best known for her portrayal of Edna Garrett in the sitcoms Diff'rent Strokes and its spin-off, The Facts of Life. She was born to Russian Jewish immigrants Esther (née Ottenstein), who was a childhood friend of Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, and Meyer Lubotsky, a retail tire business owner. She was one of three sisters, along with Miriam and the late Beverly (December 21, 1921 – June 2, 1998). She graduated from Shorewood High School in 1944. For the first ten years or so of her life, Rae's family lived in Milwaukee, then moved to Shorewood, Wisconsin. She did radio work and was with the Wauwatosa Children's Theatre. At 16, she was an apprentice with the Port Players, a professional theater company that came for the summer to Milwaukee, with several established actors such as Morton DaCosta, who would eventually direct The Music Man on Broadway. Rae attended Northwestern University, although she did not complete her studies, where she met Cloris Leachman, who many years later succeeded Rae on The Facts of Life for the show's last two seasons. At Northwestern she met several unknown stars and producers, including Agnes Nixon, Charlton Heston, Paul Lynde, Gerald Freedman, Claude Akins and songwriter Sheldon Harnick. When a radio personality told her that her last name wouldn't do, she dropped it, to her father's chagrin. She moved to New York City in 1948, where she performed in the theater and nightclubs. During her early years in New York, she worked at the Village Vanguard (alongside up-and-coming talents such as singer Richard Dyer-Bennet) and at the posh Blue Angel, home to budding talents Barbra Streisand, Mike Nichols and Elaine May. She moved to Los Angeles in 1974.

Also known as: Charlotte Rae Lubotsky

Movies

film credits

Series

television credits

Career

1948–2015 · acting roles

Credit score

6.8

average across scored titles

Signature credits

Known for

Ordered by popularity

★ 7.1

Diagnosis: Murder

Estelle · 1993

★ 6.3

The Love Boat

Acting · 1977

★ 6.3

The Love Boat

Ellen van Bowe · 1977

★ 7.8

ER

Roxanne Gaines · 1994

★ 6.1

Great Performances

Madame Aigreville · 1971

Across film & television

Filmography (97)

Showing 97 of 97 credits

Charlotte Rae

Known for

Diagnosis: Murder

The Love Boat

The Love Boat

ER

Great Performances

Filmography (97)

Diagnosis: Murder

The Love Boat

The Love Boat

ER

Great Performances

Pretty Little Liars

Murder, She Wrote

The King of Queens

Strong Medicine

Love, American Style

St. Elsewhere

Barney Miller

Intimate Portrait

Tonight Starring Jack Paar

The Facts of Life

The Philco Television Playhouse

The Defenders

All in the Family

The Bob Hope Show

The Ed Sullivan Show

101 Dalmatians: The Series

101 Dalmatians: The Series

Girl Meets World

The Partridge Family

Life

The Wonderful World of Disney

Good Times

Family

227

McMillan & Wife

The United States Steel Hour

Temperatures Rising

NET Playhouse

The Secret World of Alex Mack

You Don't Mess with the Zohan

The Brothers Flub

Play of the Week

Flying High

Can't Hurry Love

Hello, Larry

The Paul Lynde Show

Thunder in Paradise

Ricki and the Flash

Tom and Jerry: The Movie

Hallmark Hall of Fame

The Great Debate

WonderWorks

Appointment with Adventure

The DuPont Show of the Week

All's Fair

E! True Hollywood Story

Hair

The Hot Rock

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

Nowhere

The Worst Witch

Diff'rent Strokes

Hot l Baltimore

Szysznyk

Night of 100 Stars

Night of 100 Stars II

Bananas

The Rich Little Show

Way Out

Christmas Cottage

In Fashion

The Tangerine Bear: Home in Time for Christmas!

The NBC All Star Hour: Let's All Be There

Sidewinder 1

Another Woman's Husband

Pinocchio

The Facts of Life Reunion