Charlotte Rae

In her two-hour interview, Charlotte Rae (1926-2018) talks about her early life, including majoring in drama in Northwestern, and appearing on Broadway in The Threepenny Opera. She recalls early television roles, including on The Phil Silvers Show, and her role as “Sylvia Schanuser” on Car 54, Where Are You?, the classic comedy series created by Nat Hiken and co-starring Al Lewis. She speaks of guest-starring roles on All in the Family, a semi-regular role on Hot L Baltimore, and landing the role of “Mrs. Garrett," the maid for the Drummond family, on Diff’rent Strokes. She details spinning off her Diff’rent Stokes character (now known as “Edna Garrett”) for the long running series The Facts of Life. Rae describes her seven-year run on that show, including her co-stars, the development of her character over the years, and her Emmy nomination. She concludes by talking about how roles for women on television have changed over the years, her mentors, and how she’d like to be remembered. Nancy Harrington conducted the interview on November 10, 2016 in Westwood, CA.