Lisa Whelchel | |
|---|---|
 Lisa Whelchel interviewed on radio in February 2015 | |
| Born | Lisa Diane Whelchel (1963-05-29)May 29, 1963 (age 61) Littlefield, Texas, U.S. |
| Other names | Lisa Cauble |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, singer, songwriter, author, public speaker, housewife, life coach , ventriloquist |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Organization | Women of Faith |
| Notable work | The Facts of Life The New Mickey Mouse Club All Because of You Survivor: Philippines |
| Style | Contemporary Christian |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 3 |
| Website | lisawhelchel |
Lisa Diane Whelchel (born May 29, 1963) is an American actress, singer, songwriter,author, and life coach. She is known for her appearances as aMouseketeer onThe New Mickey Mouse Club and her nine-year role as the preppy and wealthyBlair Warner onThe Facts of Life. In 1984, she was nominated for aGrammy Award for Best Inspirational Performance for her contemporaryChristian albumAll Because of You. In 2012, Whelchel participated as a contestant on theCBS competitive reality seriesSurvivor: Philippines and tied for second place.[1] She was also voted fan favorite and was awarded $100,000.[2]
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Lisa Whelchel was born on May 29, 1963, inLittlefield, Texas. She is thedaughter of Virginia "Genny" (née French), a real estate agent, and James "Jimmy" Whelchel Sr., an electrician.[3] Her parents divorced in 1981, and her mother married Roy Coleman in 1983. Lisa is the eldersister of James "Cody" Whelchel Jr., and the elder half-sister of Casey Justice Coleman. She also has anephew, Chasin (Cody's son). Lisa and Cody were raised for most of their childhood inFort Worth, Texas, and she was in the class of 1980.
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At age 13, Whelchel was recruited inTexas by talent scouts who were looking forchildren interested in working withDisney Studios as aMouseketeer onThe New Mickey Mouse Club. She moved to California the nextyear and appeared on the show in syndication from 1977 to 1978.
Whelchel is probably best known for being a main cast member ofThe Facts of Life where she portrayedBlair Warner, an uptight prepstudent. She also played the character onDiff'rent Strokes, the show from whichThe Facts of Life spun off. Whelchel once refused a storyline that would have made her character the first among the four main young women on the show to lose her virginity. Having become a Christian when she was ten years old, Whelchel declined due to her religious beliefs, and the storyline was rewritten for the character of Natalie, portrayed byMindy Cohn.[4] This was the only episode of the series in which Whelchel did not appear.
In 2001, Whelchel reprised her role as Blair Warner for the made-for-television movie,The Facts of Life Reunion.
On March 7, 2004, Whelchel was reunited withCharlotte Rae to performThe Facts of Life themesong at the 2nd AnnualTV Land Awards at theHollywood Palladium in Hollywood. In spring 2006, she appeared with two of herFacts of Life co-stars onThe Today Show to promote the show's DVD releases of the first and second seasons, admitting to being "really bummed out" thatKim Fields was unable to attend. On February 1, 2007, Whelchel was reunited with Fields onWFAA-TV'sGood Morning Texas. Fields was inDallas to promote her appearance in the productionIssues: We've All Got 'Em', when Whelchel was introduced as a surprise guest. On April 10, 2011, Whelchel and the cast ofThe Facts of Life, including Charlotte Rae,Nancy McKeon, Mindy Cohn, Kim Fields,Geri Jewell, andCloris Leachman were honored with the Pop Culture Award at the 9th AnnualTV Land Awards at theJavits Center in New York City.
In 2021, Whelchel, Fields, and Cohn reunited again on the set ofLive in Front of a Studio Audience's reenactment of the show's third seasonepisode "Kids Can Be Cruel". Whelchel also sang the show's theme song that evening.[5]
Cohn has said that before his death, Norman Lear thought about a reboot of the series, however "one of the girls" went behind the others' backs and tried to work out a separate deal for a spinoff of her character. Rumors indicate it was Whelchel.
In 1984, Whelchel released a Christian pop album entitledAll Because of You. The album reached No. 17 on theBillboardContemporary Christian music charts. She was nominated for aGrammy Award for Best Inspirational Performance and was recognized as the writer of the title song, "All Because of You".[6][7] Among the songs featured on the album were "All Because of You", "Just Obey", "Cover Me Lord", and "Good Girl". She did not record a second album. While she was appearing onThe Facts of Life, she made a cameo appearance in themusic video forcontemporary Christian music singer-songwriterSteve Taylor's song "Meltdown (at Madame Tussaud's)". The song was the title track from the albumMeltdown.
For years, Whelchel was a regular inspirational speaker at churches and conferences nationwide. In 2000, she founded Momtime Ministries, a religious network of mothers' groups who met weekly to "equip and refresh and encourage" each other.
In 2021, Whelchel appeared on friend andThe Facts of Life co-star Mindy Cohn’s podcast,Mondays with Mindy, on which she talked about how her faith has changed and evolved over time. She explained that her speaking commitments have shifted over the years, as she no longer operates from a "fear-based, punishment-based" mentality. She explained, "Jesus came, ultimately, to bring grace. I can speak that message in any situation, but a lot of churches — when they find out that I believe that there are many ways to experience God, not just Jesus, then the invitations kind of dry up."[8][9]
Whelchel has written ten books on motherhood, child discipline, adult friendships, homeschooling, and finding Jesus through the development of holiday traditions. Additional topics from a spiritual point of view include prayer and wisdom. She is the bestselling author ofSo You're Thinking About Homeschooling andThe Facts of Life (and Other Lessons My Father Taught Me).
On August 20, 2012, Whelchel was announced as a contestant inSurvivor: Philippines as a member of the Tandang tribe. She joined retiredMajor League Baseball starJeff Kent as one of the season's two "celebrity" contestants.[10] A former television star, she elected to keep her true identity a secret from the other contestants, many of whom were too young to have watchedThe Facts of Life during its original run and thus did not recognize her.Michael Skupin andJonathan Penner, who were around Whelchel's age, as well as eventual winnerDenise Stapley, were the only ones to recognize her as "Blair Warner".[11]
On November 14, 2012, Whelchel announced via herTwitter account that she was suffering fromWest Nile fever and had been advised by her doctor that recovery would take approximately one year. She did not specify whether she had contracted thearbovirus while in thePhilippines shootingSurvivor.[12]
On December 16, 2012, Whelchel made it to the Final Tribal Council, where fellow contestant and jury member Jonathan Penner revealed to the rest of the jury that she was a former child star. In the end, she received one jury vote from RC Saint-Amour and tied with returning contestant Michael Skupin for runner-up, both losing to eventual winner Denise Stapley. She was also voted the Sprint Player of the Season, winning $100,000 by a margin of about .7 percent against Malcolm Freberg.
On January 14, 2013, Whelchel co-hosted several episodes ofThe Jeff Probst Show withSurvivor host, Jeff Probst.[13]
In April 2019, Whelchel hosted aThe Facts of Life marathon on theMeTV television network,[14] as a lead-in for a preview of her seriesCollector's Call that debuted later that year and will be in Season 6 slated to begin in 2025.[15]
On July 9, 1988, Whelchel married Steven Cauble, who was an associate pastor atThe Church on the Way inVan Nuys, California, which Whelchel attended at the time. The couple, who have three adult children, divorced in March 2012.[16] In 2019, Whelchel married Pete Harris, who is a psychologist based in Nashville, Tennessee.
| This section of abiography of a living persondoes notinclude anyreferences or sources. Please help by addingreliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourcedmust be removed immediately. Find sources: "Lisa Whelchel" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(September 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | The Double McGuffin | Jody | |
| The Magician of Lublin | Halina | ||
| 1992 | Where the Red Fern Grows: Part Two | Sara Coleman | Direct-to-video film |
| 2013 | A Madea Christmas | Nancy Porter | |
| 2014 | For Better or for Worse | Wendy Hampton | |
| 2023 | Roswell Delirium | Mrs. Peltzer |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977–78 | The New Mickey Mouse Club | Mouseketeer/Herself | Main cast (130 episodes) |
| 1977 | The Wonderful World of Disney | Mouseketeer/Herself | Episode: "The Mouseketeers at Walt Disney World" |
| 1978 | Family | Cathy Connelly | Episode: "All for Love" |
| 1979 | The Wonderful World of Disney | Robin Lapp | Episode: "Shadow of Fear" (Parts 1 & 2) |
| 1979 | The Mary Tyler Moore Hour | Gail Connors | Episode #1.6 |
| 1979–81 | Diff'rent Strokes | Blair Warner | 2 episodes |
| 1979–88 | The Facts of Life | Blair Warner | Main cast (200 episodes) |
| 1980 | Skyward | Lisa Ward | Television film |
| 1981 | Twirl | Jill Moore | Television film |
| 1982 | The Facts of Life Goes to Paris | Blair Warner | Television film |
| The Wild Women of Chastity Gulch | Amy Cole | Television film | |
| 1983–85 | The Love Boat | Caroline Shea / Kelly Barrett | 4 episodes |
| 1985 | Back to Next Saturday | Blair Warner | Television film |
| 1987 | The Facts of Life Down Under | Blair Warner | Television film |
| 2001 | The Facts of Life Reunion | Blair Warner | Television film |
| 2012 | Survivor: Philippines | Herself (Contestant) | Co-runner-up |
| 2013 | The Jeff Probst Show | Herself (Co-host) | 16 episodes |
| 2014 | For Better or For Worse | Wendy | Television film |
| 2016 | Hearts of Spring | Carly Ashby | Television film |
| A Snow Capped Christmas | Dale Benson | Television film | |
| 2019–present | Collector's Call | Herself (Host) | 125 episodes |
| 2019 | You Light Up My Christmas | Aurora | Television film |
| 2021 | Live in Front of a Studio Audience | Herself | Episode: "The Facts of Life andDiff'rent Strokes" |
| 2022–23 | Toon In with Me | Herself | 2 episodes |
| Year | Title | Artist | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | "Meltdown (at Madame Tussaud's)" | Steve Taylor | News reporter |
| Year | Title | Credited As | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Lisa Whelchel's Everyday Workout for the Everyday Woman | Executive producer | Also director and host |
| 2016 | Hearts of Spring | Co-executive producer | Also actress |
| Year | Title | Label | Distributor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | All Because of You | Nissi Records | Sparrow Records |
| Year | Association | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Young Artist Awards | Best Young Comedienne - Motion Picture or Television | The Facts of Life | Nominated |
| 1982 | Best Young Actress in a Television Special | Twirl | Nominated | |
| 1983 | Best Young Actress in a Comedy Series | The Facts of Life | Nominated | |
| 1984 | Best Young Actress in a Comedy Series | Nominated | ||
| 1984 | Grammy Awards | Best Inspirational Performance | All Because of You | Nominated |
| 2011 | TV Land Awards | Pop Culture Award(shared with cast) | The Facts of Life | Won |
| Preceded by Sabrina Thompson | Runner-Up ofSurvivor Survivor: Philippines | Succeeded by Dawn Meehan, Sherri Biethman |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
