Charlotte Rae

Acting

Charlotte Rae

Born 1926-04-22 · Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

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.

Acting credits

You Don't Mess with the Zohan poster
5.7

An Israeli counterterrorism soldier with a secretly fabulous ambition to become a Manhattan hairstylist. Zohan's desire runs so deep that he'll do anything -- including faking his own death and going head-to-head with an Arab cab driver -- to make his dreams come true.

You Don't Mess with the Zohan

2008

Tom and Jerry: The Movie poster
6.3

The popular cartoon cat and mouse are thrown into a feature film. The story has the twosome trying to help an orphan girl who is being berated and exploited by a greedy guardian.

Tom and Jerry: The Movie

1992

Nowhere poster
6.7

In Los Angeles, a colorful assortment of bohemians try to make sense of their intersecting lives. The moody Dark Smith, his bisexual girlfriend, her lesbian lover and their shy gay friend plan on attending the wildest party of the year. But they'll only make it if they can survive the drug trips, suicides, trysts, mutilations and alien abductions that occur as one surreal day unfolds.

Nowhere

1997

The Facts of Life Reunion poster
7.0

After receiving two separate marriage proposals, Natalie asks the gang to reunite in Peekskill, NY.

The Facts of Life Reunion

2001

The Worst Witch poster
6.1

Mildred is one of the young girls at a prestigious witch academy. She can't seem to do anything right and is picked on by classmates and teachers. The headmistress of the school, Miss Cackle, has an evil twin sister who plans to destroy the school. Can Mildred foil the plan before the Grand Wizard comes to the Academy for a Halloween celebration you'll never forget?!!

The Worst Witch

1986

Ricki and the Flash poster
5.8

Meryl Streep stars as Ricki Rendazzo, a guitar heroine who made a world of mistakes as she followed her dreams of rock-and-roll stardom. Returning home, Ricki gets a shot at redemption and a chance to make things right as she faces the music with her family.

Ricki and the Flash

2015

Hair poster
7.3

Upon receiving his draft notice and leaving his family ranch in Oklahoma, Claude heads to New York and befriends a tribe of long-haired hippies on his way to boot camp.

Hair

1979

Bananas poster
6.7

When a bumbling New Yorker is dumped by his activist girlfriend, he travels to a tiny Latin American nation and becomes involved in its latest rebellion.

Bananas

1971

Night of 100 Stars II poster
6.8

This special is the second "Night of 100 Stars" to benefit The Actors Fund of America. Edited from a seven-hour live entertainment marathon that was taped February 17, 1985, at New York's Radio City Music Hall, this sequel to the 1982 "Night of 100 Stars" special features 288 celebrities.

Night of 100 Stars II

1985

Christmas Cottage poster
6.3

Inspired by the picturesque paintings of Thomas Kinkade, The Christmas Cottage tells the semi-autobiographical tale of how a young boy is propelled to launch a career as an artist after he learns that his mother is in danger of losing the family home.

Christmas Cottage

2008

The Hot Rock poster
6.5

Dortmunder and his pals plan to steal a huge diamond from a museum. But this turns out to be only the first time they have to steal it...

The Hot Rock

1972

The Tangerine Bear: Home in Time for Christmas! poster
6.7

When Tangie, a teddy bear goes into the Smile-erator on his head, his smile is put on upside down, causing him to end up on the bargain bin on Christmas Eve with other misfit toys, then onto Winkle's Emporium, a discount store. There, Tangie does his level best over the coming year to become a part of some family. He spends his time in Winkle's front window with Jack, a Jack-in-the-box with claustrophobia and Bird, a cuckoo clock bird with agorophobia.

The Tangerine Bear: Home in Time for Christmas!

2000

101 Dalmatians Christmas poster
6.0

In Disney's fourth adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Cruella de Vil appears in the role of Scrooge, Jasper and Horace as Marley, Cadpig as the ghost of Christmas Past, Rolly as the ghost of Christmas Present, and Spot as the ghost of Christmas Yet To Come.

101 Dalmatians Christmas

1998

Night of 100 Stars poster
5.8

The most glittering, expensive, and exhausting videotaping session in television history took place Friday February 19, 1982 at New York's Radio City Music Hall. The event, for which ticket-buyers paid up to $1,000 a seat (tax-deductible as a contribution to the Actors' Fund) was billed as "The Night of 100 Stars" but, actually, around 230 stars took part. And most of the audience of 5,800 had no idea in advance that they were paying to see a TV taping, complete with long waits for set and costume changes, tape rewinding, and the like. Executive producer Alexander Cohen estimated that the 5,800 Radio City Music Hall seats sold out at prices ranging from $25 to $1,000. The show itself cost about $4 million to produce and was expected to yield around $2 million for the new addition to the Actors Fund retirement home in Englewood, N. J. ABC is reputed to have paid more than $5 million for the television rights.

Night of 100 Stars

1982

Beane's of Boston poster
NR

To keep from being fired by his father, Franklin Beane has a bright idea for a theme week for the Mens and Ladies Wear department of Beane's of Boston department store. Pilot episode for a US remake of "Are You Being Served?"

Beane's of Boston

1979

Hello Down There poster
5.9

Given the chance to live in a simulated underwater home for a month, a scientist convinces his family to take advantage of the offer. Once the family agrees to move in, underwater mayhem occurs!

Hello Down There

1969

In Fashion poster
NR

This charming musical comedy, set in turn-of-the-century Paris and based on George Feydeau's classic romp, "Tailleur Pour Dames," turns on a case of mistaken identity, chance meetings and deceptions big and small. Starring Charlotte Rae and Max Wright, this performance was taped in front of a live audience in New York, and was originally broadcast in 1974 as part of the Broadway Theater Archive's efforts to bring stage productions to television.

In Fashion

1974

Sidewinder 1 poster
10.0

An ageing motocross champ agrees to help design and endorse a new motorcycle.

Sidewinder 1

1977

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

The NBC All Star Hour (1985) was a one-hour primetime television special that brought together stars from NBC’s biggest shows of the mid-1980s, blending comedy, music, and variety performances into a network showcase.

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

1985

Thunder in Paradise poster
5.8

Terry "Hulk" Hogan stars as R. J. "Hurricane" Spencer who is an ex-Navy S. E. A. L. and confirmed bachelor struggling to make ends meet. In order to save his superboat THUNDER (and ultimately, his business) Spencer is forced into a marriage of convenience with the snobby Megan Whitaker. When Megan gets kidnapped it's up to Spencer and his partner Bru to save the day or risk losing everything.

Thunder in Paradise

1993

Noah's Ark poster
7.3

The story of the Prophet Noah. Violence and corruption fill the earth. To punish this wickedness, God vows to send a cleansing flood. Only one man - Noah - and his family will be spared because they alone honor God's law. God commands him to build an ark and fill it with two of every animal. Once building is under way, Noah and his sons face scorn and sabotage from their sinful neighbors - but they persevere. Noah's faith is vindicated when the heavens erupt with a rainy torrent for 40 days. But God's test of Noah's courage and commitment is just beginning.

Noah's Ark

1986

The Triangle Factory Fire Scandal poster
7.2

The story of a fire in the Triangle Shirt Mfg. Co. building in New York City in 1911 that resulted in the deaths of 146 employees, mostly young women. The ensuing investigation revealed the company's almost total disregard for its workers' safety in pursuit of increased production and profits, and resulted, among other things, in the passage of new worker safety laws and the formation of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union.

The Triangle Factory Fire Scandal

1979

The Love Song of Barney Kempinski poster
NR

On his wedding day, in the few remaining hours of his bachelorhood, Barney Kempinski goes off to tour the city and sing his song to life, love and the city of New York.

The Love Song of Barney Kempinski

1968

Words by Heart poster
7.0

The only black family living in a small midwestern town at the turn of the century confront prejudice, as seen through the eyes of the young daughter.

Words by Heart

1985