Charlotte Rae.
(Image credit: Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, FILE)

Charlotte Rae, the Tony and Emmy–nominated actress best known for playing Mrs. Garrett on The Facts of Life, died Sunday at her home in Los Angeles. She was 92.

In April 2017, Rae announced that she had been diagnosed with bone cancer, seven years after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. In a statement, Rae said she needed to "make up my mind. I'm not in any pain right now. I'm feeling so terrific and so glad to be above ground. Now I have to figure out whether I want to go have treatment again or opt for life. I love life." At 91, she added, "every day is a birthday," and she urged people 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."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.