Happy 88th Birthday to Charlotte Rae!
You take the good, you take the bad, you take the housekeeper on Diff’rent Strokes and give her her own spin-off, and you’ve got a hit 80s sitcom called The Facts of Life. Charlotte Rae played the housemother of Eastland, Mrs. Garrett. And although Father Time has turned her hair a fetching shade of white…
most of us remember her all beehivey, redheaded and giddy:
You older folks may remember her as Sylvia Schnauzer on the sitcom Car 54, Where Are You?, but she will always be Mrs. Garrett to me.
Like The Nanny‘s Fran Drescher, who was married to a gay man for 21 years, Rae stayed with her husband for an astonishing 25 years until he came out of the closet.
I guess she took the good and took the bad.
Other than the movie about the pig and the spider, as well as an alternative music hit that I used to watch on MTV’s 120 Minutes called “Charlotte Anne,” I have no association with the name. Not all English degree majors have an affection for Charlotte Bronte with two dots above the e.
But the name is winning favor amongst modern day mommies-to-be. Don’t call it a comeback. Okay, call it a comeback. Back in 1999, the name Charlotte was ranked #308 in U.S. Popularity. By 2012, it had zoomed to #19. The most recent information from May 2013 shows the listings as such:
- 1. Sophia
- 2. Emma
- 3. Isabella
- 4. Olivia
- 5. Ava
- 6. Emily
- 7. Abigail
- 8. Mia
- 9. Madison
- 10. Elizabeth
- 11. Chloe
- 12. Ella
- 13. Avery
- 14. Addison
- 15. Aubrey
- 16. Lily
- 17. Natalie
- 18. Sofia
- 19. Charlotte
- 20. Zoey
- 21. Grace
- 22. Hannah
- 23. Amelia
- 24. Harper
- 25. Lillian
I know, old people’s names, right? Well, history repeats itself. Although I wouldn’t get too excited about seeing Maude up there any time soon.
I Don't Get It 