"Facts of Life" star Charlotte Rae revealed this week she has been diagnosed with bone cancer, People magazine reported.
The 91-year-old actress, who played matronly Edna Garrett on “The Facts of Life” and “Diff’rent Strokes,” battled pancreatic cancer seven years ago.
“Last Monday, I found out I have bone cancer,” Rae told People. “About seven years ago, I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer — which is a miracle that they found it because usually it’s too late. My mother, sister and my uncle died of pancreatic cancer. After six months of chemotherapy, I was cancer-free. I lost my hair, but I had beautiful wigs. Nobody even knew.”
Rae, who turned 91 on April 22, said she decided to cancel bone cancer treatment, which was to begin Thursday, People reported.
“I wanted to think about it first,” she told the magazine. “I think I’m going to go for it. The side effects were not too bad when I did it originally. I’ve had a great life, but I have so many wonderful things happening. I’d like to choose life. I’m grateful for the life I’ve already had.”
Rae’s philosophy echoes the theme song for “Facts of Life,” which aired on NBC from Aug. 24, 1979, to May 7, 1988: “You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and then you have the facts of life.”
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