Found some fascinating "facts" about FOL...
Did you know that Charlotte Rae really has a sister named Beverly Ann, a son named Andy and a best friend named Natalie? Since she helped develop FOL,she was always giving the writers ideas for character names and plotlines. (love the fact that she was never given a producer or development credit on the show -- she doesn't have a huge ego like many stars)
Also, did you know that Florence Henderson and Shirley Jones were both considered for the role of Beverly Ann? So glad they chose Cloris. She's a genius and doing the show was good therapy for her while she was recovering from the death of her son of a drug overdose.

There are 6 actor who have appeared on both Facts of Life and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Can you name them?
(and the character they played?)









Answer: Cloris Leachman as Phyllis/Beverly Ann; Alex Rocco as Ben Selwin/Charlie Polniazek; Joyce Bullifant as Marie Slaughter/grade school teacher when Jo teaches; Irene Tedrow as Congresswoman Margaret Gettys/retiring teacher in same ep;
Helen Hunt as Emily Barstow/daughter Slaughter; Barbara Sharma as Doreen/auditioning actress in Stacy Q ep.

There may even be one or 2 more, but those are all the ones I could think of. :-)

Also, did you know that Florence Henderson and Shirley Jones were both considered for the role of Beverly Ann?

...and at one point they actually announced that Marion Ross would be taking the role. The announcement turned out to be a bit premature, as we all now know.

Wow -- that I didnt know. She would have been terrible. Cloris fit that part like a glove.

I thought of one more FOL/MTM actor -- Jack Reilly played Mr Crocker in the FOL pilot and also played Barry Barlow on the MTM show!

Okay, guess this one. Name 2 Facts of Life stars to have or will star in both the sci-fi/horror and disaster genres. Easy stuff. One was a main star, the other one was a recurring guest star.

Ok, I'll take a stab at it, but I'm afraid I might be thinking of different people than you:

Sci-fi: Felice Schacter in "Zapped"

Disaster: George Clooney in "A Perfect Storm" ???

I forgot about Felice Thatcher. Make that 3 stars then, 1 main star throuout the series, 1 season 1 star, and a recurring guest star. Sorry! Thats 3 stars.

Jami Gertz in "Twister"
Mindy Cohn in "The Boy Who Could Fly"


???

Did you know...Charlotte Rae and Cloris Leachman are both left-handed, both attended Northwest University, and both love singing and playing piano?

What an interesting thread. I did not know any of that.
Other Brady connections Eve Plumb (Jan) guest stared on The Facts of Life. Also in The USA marathon years ago Lisa Whelchel said it would be great if people feel about The Facts of Life like she felt about the Brady Bunch.

Originally posted by maryfan5
Found some fascinating "facts" about FOL...
Did you know that Charlotte Rae really has a sister named Beverly Ann, a son named Andy and a best friend named Natalie? Since she helped develop FOL,she was always giving the writers ideas for character names and plotlines. (love the fact that she was never given a producer or development credit on the show -- she doesn't have a huge ego like many stars)
Also, did you know that Florence Henderson and Shirley Jones were both considered for the role of Beverly Ann? So glad they chose Cloris. She's a genius and doing the show was good therapy for her while she was recovering from the death of her son of a drug overdose. Thanks for the interesting info. Where'd you hear this from? Just wondering. ;)

Thanks for posting!! I didn't know any of that!

Glad to! I've been into the facts of life for 25 years now and I've read almost everything there is to about it and have spoken to writers and producers from the show, and some of its stars. I also have a friend who was an extra on 3 episodes. :)

My hope is the one day write a book about the show, but I am a terrible procrastinator! I read a great quote somewhere:
"Procrastination is the thief of time."

I wish you would write a book. I've been a FOL fan since it was first on NBC. But, I don't really know all the trivia, etc. And, it's been so long since it's been on anywhere that I can hardly remember all the exceptional moments.

Does anyone know if they are releasing it on DVD Ever???