Lisa Whelchel

I know of Lisa Whelchel because of the 80’s sitcom The Facts of Life. I saw her on The Talk a few weeks back and she impressed me. She is nothing like her Facts of Life character, Blair Warner. (Thank goodness.) Whelchel appears to be a very outgoing and groovy person.

Lisa Diane Whelchel was born in Littlefield, Texas on May 29, 1963. She was raised mainly in Fort Worth, Texas but did move to California in the mid to late 70’s. She was recruited by Disney people when she was only 12 to appear on The New Mickey Mouse Club. That was her first gig before Facts of Life.

The Facts of Life ran from 1979 to 1988 and was one of my favorite shows. Whelchel’s character, Blair Warner, was originally supposed to be a sweet charming Texas girl. During the audition, Whelchel read some of the lines sarcastically (I love her!) which the producers enjoyed. The character was then re-written as a more sarcastic rich snob.

Blair/Facts of Life Trivia

• Blair was originally supposed to be the bad girl of the series. After Nancy McKeon joined in the second season as Jo Polniaczek, Blair’s character took on a more spoiled image.
• Blair and another cast member (Natalie, played by Mindy Cohn) had to tape down their chests in some of the early seasons as they were developing a bit too fast. Boobies.
• Whelchel was sent to a fat farm a few times during the show. She was considered the pretty one and I guess pretty girls can’t be fat. Nice message. They thought the actress was gaining a bit of weight so they shipped her off. Not cool.
• There was a scale on the set of The Facts of Life and all the girls had to weigh in every week. I weigh in twice a day. I never like the number I see.
• The actress who replaced Eve Plumb on some of the Brady Bunch spin offs (Geri Reischl) was originally cast as Blair. The real Jan Brady (Eve Plumb) appeared as Blair’s sister on a couple of shows. That’s kind of like a bizarre six degrees of Kevin Bacon thing.

Lisa Whelchel Trivia

• Whelchel is a trained ventriloquist. She talked about this when she was on The Talk. She learned ventriloquism because she was painfully shy. Maybe I should take that up.
• Married to Steven Cauble from 1988 to 2012.
• Stated that she would consider replacing Lori Loughlin on Fuller House if Loughlin ends up in prison. I think Whelchel would make a wonderful Aunt Becky.
• Is a certified CoActive Life Coach.
• Remains good friends with Nancy McKeon, her co-star on The Facts of Life.
• Whelchel has three children with her ex-husband. She home schooled all three kids.
• Released a Grammy nominated gospel album in 1984.
• Is a published author with more than a dozen books.
• Was on the reality show Survivor (Season 25) and kicked butt. She finished second and was also awarded Player of the Season.

 

Whelchel has done a few Hallmark movies here and there but is currently filming a new show called Collector’s Call. Collector’s Call is MeTV’s first original series. My cable provider (Comcast) took away my MeTV. Bastards! Anyway, Lisa visits people who collect pop culture memorabilia. I know people who have a Brady Bunch room (not me). One person collects memorabilia from The Wizard of Oz. She visits people like that. Hey, Lisa! I have over 50,000 pinups and magazines. Come visit me. We can hang out.

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