Lisa
Whelchel
|
|
Some guys go nuts for blonds simply because they are blond. I do indeed like (and love, as often as they will let me) blonds too, but not all blonds are equal in my eye. I have to admit, I was never a big Lisa Whelchel fan. There was just something about her that didn't click with me. During The Facts of Life years I was much more interested (as a male of the species) in Kim Fields, Nancy McKeon, and even Charlotte Rae. Lisa just didn't do it for me. I know that it sacrilege for me to say that. Lisa Whelchel was voted as one of the cutest child stars of all time, boys (and some girls) all over the world loved her and loved the character of Blair, and she still has devoted fans from the show to this very day. I am not one of those fans and never was. For me the Blair character was not believable with Lisa Whelchel in the role. In the 1980's the most popular girls in school might or might not have been rich, they might or might not have been blond, but they were almost never heavy of waist and thick of thigh. That's the cruel truth of it. |
Look, it wasn't me who began calling the show "The Fats of Life".
That cruelty aside, the facts of life is that Lisa Whelchel was not an exceptional actress. She wasn't terrible, or even bad, it was just that she was a standard sit-com actor in the days when sit-com actors didn't really have to be that talented. It's like John Ritter, who was a very personable and likable guy, funny too, but a great and legendary actor he was not. We liked him, we liked seeing him, and that was always enough for us.
We didn't like Lisa Whelchel anywhere near that much. Truth be told, we liked Tootie and Joe much much more. That is evident by the career of each after "The Facts" went off of the air. Nancy McKeon still works in the business, as does Mindy Cohn and Kim Fields. When you look for Lisa Whelchel you'll probably find her at home raising her kids, writing a book on how to raise your kids, how to not beat your kids, or something along those lines. You'll see that she is strong in her faith, but that her faith isn't booking her any gigs in Hollywood.
Some people claim that Lisa couldn't find work in Hollywood because of her Christianity, while others will say that she left acting to raise a family. I say that she left acting because she couldn't really act. The reality is probably a combination of all of those things. I am quite sure that Lisa left acting in part because she wanted to raise a family, and that her faith hindered her in some ways, but I also believe that if she was a working and successful actress at the time she decided to grow a family she would not have left acting so completely or for so long.
No matter what I write I know that I am probably going to get hate mail for writing this commentary, but I get hate mail for even making the most innocuous remarks about an actor that someone out there loves. I've received near death-threats in the past for saying that one actress was perfect and flawless in every way except that I personally wished her hairstyle was a little different. People can be really defensive when it comes to their favorite actors.
*sigh*
Lisa grew up, got thicker and thinner, and thicker again, and then thinner again, as a lot of people (including myself) do over the years. She got prettier as she got older, she dyed her hair, she stopped dying her hair, she was blond then not blond, and time passed. She wrote books on how to raise kids, wrote books on faith, wrote commentary about her daily life, and made money doing all the things ex-actors always do to make money. Lisa Whelchel lived and lives a life.
Where is she now: (02/04/2009)
Lisa Whelchel is alive and well and doing just fine. She continues to write, continues to raise a family, shows up at conventions from time to time, and remains a celebrity in both memory and in actuality. In my eye she is prettier now than she was when she was younger. I really like her with her naturally not-blond hair. For my money, finally, she is now truly no longer Blair Warner - she is Lisa Whelchel.
You can find Lisa Whelchel and her books on-line at her official website: http://www.lisawhelchel.com/