Lisa Whelchel Biography

Lisa Diane Whelchel (born May 29, 1963) is an American actress, singer, songwriter, author, and public speaker. 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. Since 2009, she has been a regular speaker with Women of Faith Christian conferences. In 2012, Whelchel participated as a contestant in Survivor: Philippines, the 25th season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor, reaching the finale and tying with Michael Skupin for second place.

Personal Background

Lisa Whelchel was born on May 29, 1963, in Littlefield, Texas. She is the daughter of James Senior "Jimmy" and Virginia "Genny" (née French) Whelchel. Her parents divorced in 1981, and her mother married Roy Coleman in 1983. Lisa is the elder sister of James Junior "Cody" Whelchel, 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.

When Whelchel was ten years old, she became a born-again Christian and has devoted her life to her Christian faith. 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.

Professional background

Acting

The New Mickey Mouse Club

When Whelchel was 12 years old, she was recruited in Texas, by talents 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

As a cast member of The Facts of Life, Whelchel once refused a storyline that would have made her character the first among the four young women in the show to lose her virginity in that episode. Having become a Christian when she was 10, Whelchel refused because of her Christian convictions, and the storyline was rewritten for the character of "Natalie", portrayed by Mindy Cohn. Whelchel appeared in every episode except that one. In 1988, The Facts of Life went off the air.

In 2001, Whelchel reprised her role as Blair Warner for the made-for-television movie, The Facts of Life Reunion.

TV Land Awards

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 "bummed out" that Kim Fields was unable to attend. On February 1, 2007, Whelchel was reunited with Kim 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.

Survivor: Philippines

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 the season's two "celebrity" contestants. She elected to keep her true identity as a former television star 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. However, this fact was revealed by fellow contestant Jonathan Penner to the jury at the final tribal council.

On November 14, 2012, Whelchel announced via her Twitter account that she is suffering from West Nile Virus 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 finale, receiving one jury vote from RC Saint-Amour and tying with returning contestant Michael Skupin for runner-up. She was also voted the Sprint Player of the Season, winning $100,000 by a margin of about .07 percent against Malcolm Freberg.

Hosting Duties

On January 14, 2013, Whelchel co-hosted several episodes of The Jeff Probst Show with Probst.

Singing

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.

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).

While Whelchel has been honored as a Gold Medallion nominee for her book on child discipline, entitled Creative Correction, she has received negative press and criticism by both Christian and non-Christian parenting groups for her views. In an 2005 interview with talk show host Drew Marshall, Whelchel spoke about her books on motherhood and shared her ideas on child discipline presented in the book.

Speaking

Whelchel has been a regular inspirational speaker at churches and conferences nationwide since 2004. In 2000, she founded Momtime Ministries, a religious network of mothers' groups who meet weekly to "equip and refresh and encourage" each other. In 2009, she began touring with the Women of Faith conferences, speaking on various issues including motherhood, child discipline, and friendship.

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 and television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1977	The New Mickey Mouse Club	Herself
	The Mouseketeers at Walt Disney World	Herself	Television special
1978	Family	Cathy Connelly	Episode: "All for Love"
1979	The Double McGuffin	Jody
	The Magician of Lublin	Halina
	Disney's Wonderful World	Robin Lapp	Episode: "Shadow of Fear (Parts 1&2)
1979, 1981	Diff'rent Strokes	Blair Warner	Episodes: "The Girls School", "The Older Man"
1979-88	The Facts of Life	Blair Warner	200 episodes
1980	Skyward	Lisa Ward	NBC pilot movie
1981	Twirl	Jill Moore	NBC movie
1982	The Facts of Life Goes to Paris	Blair Warner	NBC movie
	The Wild Women of Chastity Gulch	Amy Cole	ABC movie
1983, 1985	The Love Boat	Caroline / Keley Barrett	Episodes: "Captain and the Kid..." (Parts 1&2) "German Cruise - The Villa..." (Parts 1&2)
1987	The Facts of Life Down Under	Blair Warner	NBC movie
1992	Where the Red Fern Grows: Part Two	Sara Coleman	Direct-to-video release
2001	The Facts of Life Reunion	Blair Warner	ABC movie
2012	Survivor: Philippines	Contestant	Runner-up
2013	The Jeff Probst Show	Herself	Co-hosting duties
2013	A Madea Christmas

Honors and awards

Young Artist Awards

• 1982: Nominated, "Best Young Comedienne in a Motion Picture or Television" - The Facts of Life
• 1982: Nominated, "Best Young Actress in a Television Special" - Twirl
• 1983: Nominated, "Best Young Actress in a Comedy Series" - The Facts of Life
• 1984: Nominated, "Best Young Actress in a Comedy Series" - The Facts of Life