Lisa Whelchel’s “Facts of Life” character Blair Warner probably doesn’t let anything go about it. However, Blair’s counterpart has had some challenging moments in the spotlight.
Whelchel is best known for playing the cocky Blair for nearly a decade on “Facts of Life,” the 1980s sitcom about an all-girl boarding school and the infidelity that comes along with growing up with your best friends through thick and thin.
Blair grew up on sitcoms; viewers watch the rich queen bee navigate the constant realization that life isn’t always served on a silver platter to a self-confident woman who’s thrilled to leave plenty of room in her heart for her best friend.
For Whelchel, however, growing up in front of the camera wasn’t always exciting; the actor reflected life in the spotlight during a period ruled by images and excess.
The woman who played one of TV’s most memorable big-hearted villains shares the lessons she’s learned in hindsight.
‘Facts Of Life’ Finale Was ‘A Lifetime Ago,’ But Whelchel Still Remembers Darker Moments
Whelchel spoke to Yahoo! about the final year of “Facts of Life”; the show was originally a spin-off from “Diff’rent Strokes” and ran from 1979 to May 1988.
He told the outlet, “It’s hard to believe it’s been 35 years since it ended. That also means it’s been 44 years since it started. Both numbers feel fair—it’s more than a lifetime ago.”
Although it has been more than three decades since his last series, Whelchel still remembers the pressures of growing up in Hollywood and expected to acquire a specific image as a teen star.
The outlet revealed the young actors in the cast, including “Living Single” stars Kim Fields, Mindy Cohen, and Nancy McKeon, have weighed in behind the scenes; Whelchel was also subject to several trips to “fat camp” during the offseason.
Whelchel revealed he feels “grateful” for the cultural conversation that has developed and the lessons we have learned.
“We’re in a different time,” he said. “We learned a lot. We are more body positive now, which I am thankful for. I mean, it’s still an issue.”
He offers more perspective, including his teenage understanding of the inner workings of Hollywood and the culture’s obsession with image.
“But of course as a teenager, [that] is a lot,” Whelchel said. “Even then, I understood it was a business. They hired me to play a certain character that looked a certain way,” he continued. “And it’s also really hard because I’m going through puberty, and my parents are going through a divorce, and I live in California, and they’re in Texas, so emotional eating is involved,” Whelchel admits.
Whelchel Finally Escapes the Common Hollywood Trap
The “emotional diet” the “Facts of Life” star endured to cope with growing up in the spotlight was not “atypical of a teenage girl,” Whelchel felt. “But I think everyone did their best then. And as Maya Angelou said, ‘When you know better, you do better.’”
Another element that might prevent Whelchel from embarking on the same path as many childhood actors past and present? She revealed her preference for looking after herself played a big part in her experience navigating fame in the eighties.
“I’m shy too,” Whelchel said. “My mother put me in an acting class when I was eight to see if it would help me overcome my shyness – and it never went away. So I don’t live the Hollywood life. That’s not interesting to me. It is quite worrying. So as a big star in the 80s, I was a bit of a loner.”
The outlet revealed Whelchel also gives a lot of credit to the men upstairs for keeping him going. Fun fact: Whelchel released a gospel album in 1984!
Today, Whelchel has been one of the hosts of “Collector’s Call” for the past four years; the show airs on MeTV.
According to his Instagram, Whelchel is also a life coach when he’s not reprising the roles that made him famous. He and the surviving “Facts Of Life” cast members are the subject of ABC’s retrospective series, “Live in Front Of a Studio Audience,” in 2021!
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
