# Lisa Whelchel

Lisa Diane Whelchel (born May 29, 1963) is an American actress, singer, songwriter, author, and life coach. She is known for her appearances as a Mouseketeer on The New Mickey Mouse Club and her nine-year role as the preppy and wealthy Blair Warner on The Facts of Life. In 1984, she was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Inspirational Performance for her contemporary Christian album All Because of You. In 2012, Whelchel participated as a contestant on the CBS competitive reality series Survivor: Philippines and tied for second place. She was also voted fan favorite and was awarded $100,000.

## Early life

Lisa Whelchel was born on May 29, 1963, in Littlefield, Texas. She is the daughter of Virginia "Genny" (née French), a real estate agent, and James "Jimmy" Whelchel Sr., an electrician. Her parents divorced in 1981, and her mother married Roy Coleman in 1983. Lisa is the elder sister of James "Cody" Whelchel Jr., and the elder half-sister of Casey Justice Coleman. She also has a nephew, Chasin (Cody's son). Lisa and Cody were raised for most of their childhood in Fort Worth, Texas, and she was in the class of 1980.

## Acting career
### The New Mickey Mouse Club

At age 13, Whelchel was recruited in Texas by talent scouts who were looking for children interested in working with Disney Studios as a Mouseketeer on The New Mickey Mouse Club. She moved to California the next year and appeared on the show in syndication from 1977 to 1978.

### The Facts of Life

Whelchel is probably best known for being a main cast member of The Facts of Life where she portrayed Blair Warner, an uptight prep student. She also played the character on Diff'rent Strokes, the show from which The 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 by Mindy Cohn. 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 with Charlotte Rae to perform The Facts of Life theme song at the 2nd Annual TV Land Awards at the Hollywood Palladium in Hollywood. In spring 2006, she appeared with two of her Facts of Life co-stars on The Today Show to promote the show's DVD releases of the first and second seasons, admitting to being "really bummed out" that Kim Fields was unable to attend. On February 1, 2007, Whelchel was reunited with Fields on WFAA-TV's Good Morning Texas. Fields was in Dallas to promote her appearance in the production Issues: We've All Got 'Em', when Whelchel was introduced as a surprise guest. On April 10, 2011, Whelchel and the cast of The Facts of Life, including Charlotte Rae, Nancy McKeon, Mindy Cohn, Kim Fields, Geri Jewell, and Cloris Leachman were honored with the Pop Culture Award at the 9th Annual TV Land Awards at the Javits Center in New York City.
In 2021, Whelchel, Fields, and Cohn reunited again on the set of Live in Front of a Studio Audience's reenactment of the show's third season episode "Kids Can Be Cruel". Whelchel also sang the show's theme song that evening.
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.

## Music career

In 1984, Whelchel released a Christian pop album entitled All Because of You. The album reached No. 17 on the Billboard Contemporary Christian music charts. She was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Inspirational Performance and was recognized as the writer of the title song, "All Because of You". 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 on The Facts of Life, she made a cameo appearance in the music video for contemporary Christian music singer-songwriter Steve Taylor's song "Meltdown (at Madame Tussaud's)". The song was the title track from the album Meltdown.

## Speaking

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 and The 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."

## Writing

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 of So You're Thinking About Homeschooling and The Facts of Life (and Other Lessons My Father Taught Me).

## Survivor

On August 20, 2012, Whelchel was announced as a contestant in Survivor: Philippines as a member of the Tandang tribe. She joined retired Major League Baseball star Jeff Kent as one of the season's two "celebrity" contestants. 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 watched The Facts of Life during its original run and thus did not recognize her. Michael Skupin and Jonathan Penner, who were around Whelchel's age, as well as eventual winner Denise Stapley, were the only ones to recognize her as "Blair Warner".
On November 14, 2012, Whelchel announced via her Twitter account that she was suffering from West Nile fever and had been advised by her doctor that recovery would take approximately one year. She did not specify whether she had contracted the arbovirus while in the Philippines shooting Survivor.
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.

## Hosting duties

On January 14, 2013, Whelchel co-hosted several episodes of The Jeff Probst Show with Survivor host, Jeff Probst.
In April 2019, Whelchel hosted a The Facts of Life marathon on the MeTV television network, as a lead-in for a preview of her series Collector's Call that debuted later that year and will be in Season 6 slated to begin in 2025.

## Personal life

On July 9, 1988, Whelchel married Steven Cauble, who was an associate pastor at The Church on the Way in Van Nuys, California, which Whelchel attended at the time. The couple, who have three adult children, divorced in March 2012. In 2019, Whelchel married Pete Harris, who is a psychologist based in Nashville, Tennessee.

## Published works

* Whelchel, Lisa. Creative Correction, Tyndale House Publishers, 320 pages, 2000. ISBN 978-1561799015
* Whelchel, Lisa. The Facts of Life (and Other Lessons My Father Taught Me), Multnomah Books, 192 pages, 2001. ISBN 978-1590521489
* Whelchel, Lisa. So You're Thinking About Homeschooling: Fifteen Families Show How You Can Do It (2nd edition), Multnomah Books, 224 pages, 2005. ISBN 978-1590525111
* Whelchel, Lisa. How to Start Your Own Mom Time
* The ADVENTure of Christmas: Helping Children Find Jesus in Our Holiday Traditions
* Taking Care of the Me in Mommy
* The Busy Mom's Guide to Prayer
* The Busy Mom's Guide to Wisdom
* The Busy Grandma's Guide to Prayer
* Speaking Mom-ese: Moments of Peace & Inspiration in the Mother Tongue from One Mom's Heart to Yours

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1979 | The Double McGuffin | Jody | |
| 1979 | 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 | |

### Television

| 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 |
| 1982 | 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 |
| 2016 | 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 and Diff'rent Strokes" |
| 2022–23 | Toon In with Me | Herself | 2 episodes |

### Music videos

| Year | Title | Artist | Role |
| 1984 | "Meltdown (at Madame Tussaud's)" | Steve Taylor | News reporter |

### Producer

| 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 |

## Discography

| Year | Title | Label | Distributor |
| 1984 | All Because of You | Nissi Records | Sparrow Records |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Association | Category | Work | Result |
| 1982 | Young Artist Awards | Best Young Comedienne - Motion Picture or Television | The Facts of Life | Nominated |
| 1982 | Young Artist Awards | Best Young Actress in a Television Special | Twirl | Nominated |
| 1983 | Young Artist Awards | Best Young Actress in a Comedy Series | The Facts of Life | Nominated |
| 1984 | Young Artist Awards | Best Young Actress in a Comedy Series | The Facts of Life | 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 |