‘Facts of Life' star Geri Jewell reveals her closest co-star — and what remark shocked Norman Lear

New York Post

26-05-2025

Forty-five years later, Geri Jewell knows for a fact which episode was her favorite.
The actress, 68, starred as Blair Warner's cousin, Geri Tyler, on the iconic 80s sitcom 'Facts of Life,' and she still looks back at her time on the show with the fondest of memories.
'Out of all the episodes I did, my favorite one was the first one,' Jewell exclusively told The Post during the Jonathan Foundation Fundraiser last Saturday.
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12 Geri Jewell attends the Jonathan Foundation's 11th annual Spring Fundraiser at Sheraton Universal Hotel on May 17, 2025 in Universal City, California.
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'The very first one that I did,' expressed the comedian, whose first episode was Season 2 Episode 5, titled 'Cousin Geri.'
'It was written for me. It was tailored for me.'
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Jewell, who has cerebral palsy, a condition that affects movement and posture, brought awareness to those with disabilities by being the first disabled actress to have a recurring role on a primetime television show.
The actress, who starred in the hit TV series alongside Lisa Whelchel, Mindy Cohn, Kim Fields, Nancy McKeon and Charlotte Rae, landed the role thanks to one of the show's executive producer's, Norman Lear.
12 Geri Jewell talks with Alexandra Bellusci of the New York Post at the Jonathan Foundation's 11th annual Spring Fundraiser.
12 Geri Jewell during The Jonathan Foundation's 11th Annual Spring Fundraiser.
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'Norman Lear had seen me perform, and he came up to me after the show to introduce himself. In fact, Charlotte Rae was in the audience that night,' she recounted to The Post. 'And he introduced himself and said, 'You know, you're really funny, kid, but you're way before your time.' And I said, 'So? So wait a couple months!' He couldn't believe my response, and two months later, he asked me on 'Facts.''
She appeared on 'Facts of Life' for twelve episodes from 1980 until 1984.
'I have been blessed with so many people who have been there for me and guided me,' Jewell gushed. 'Norman Lear, David Milch. How lucky can you get?'
12 Geri Jewell during Season 3 of 'The Facts of Life.'
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12 Geri Jewell on 'The Facts of Life' in 1982.
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While her 'Facts of Life' days are behind her, she's still tight with one cast member.
The stand-up comic revealed she's still in touch with Whelchel, 61, who played Blair Warner in the series, adding that they are 'very close.'
'I meet people all the time, and they say, 'I saw you on 'Facts of Life,' and you really changed my life,' Jewell recalled. 'I think I created a sensitivity about people with disabilities that wasn't quite there before — and humor. That was very rare back then. And now there are so many comedians with cerebral palsy!'
Jewell has had to adjust how she takes care of her body, explaining she smoothes herself through 'pain management.'
12 Geri Jewell on 'The Facts of Life.'
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12 'The Sounds of Silence' – Season 4 of 'The Facts of Life.'
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'And I get two vials of Botox injected in my neck, shoulders and back every three months for chronic pain,' Jewell added. 'I've been on Botox since '99. I have the neck of a 12-year-old!'
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Jewell has gotten candid in the past about her titanium neck, sharing on Steve Kmetko's 'Still Here Hollywood' podcast that she deals with the challenges by having 'a sense of humor.'
'It's challenging because now I have other issues with aging. Walking isn't as easy as it used to be,' Jewell detailed in March. 'I've had a certain gait, but my balance is not near as good. My hearing is impaired even more, and I get very, very frustrated.'
12 Norman Lear introduces Geri Jewell and 'The Mitch O'Farrell Leadership Award.'
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12 Donelle Dadigan, Norman Lear, Geri Jewell and Mitch O'Farrell.
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She broke her neck in 1999, which required emergency surgery.
'My neck is now 45% titanium, and it's pretty strong. But this cerebral palsy still wants to move my head all over the place,' the trailblazer confessed, 'and my neck is going, 'No. I can't do that.''
'I have dystonia, which I always had, but I never realized it,' Jewell said about the muscle disorder — which creates involuntary contractions.
It also causes her 'neck [to be] pulled to one side.'
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'I have a titanium neck. I know when the Botox is wearing off because it's pulling even farther,' said Jewell. 'So I have a lot of issues, but so does everybody else when they age.'
12 Steven Williams, Geri Jewell in '21 Jump Street.'
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Despite the hurdles, the Hollywood vet noted: 'I'm very blessed.'
'All the challenges that I've had — that everybody has in life — it's a sense of humor that's gonna get us through it,' she continued. 'Because if I couldn't laugh once a while I'd be in a loony bin. I have to laugh. You have to.'
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'Facts of Life' followed a group of girls at the prestigious Eastland School for Young Women and was one of NBC's highest-rated shows in the 1980s.
Despite rumors of a reboot swirling in the decades since, Cohn, 59, alleged last year that any plans they had fell through due to a 'greedy bitch.'
'We were all very, very disappointed that it didn't work,' Whelchel confessed to Closer Weekly in April.
12 Geri Jewell, Robby Benson in 'Two of a kind' in 1982.
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Although the person in question has remained unnamed, the 'Collector's Call' alum added, 'We'd been trying to find a way to work together in some capacity for probably the last 10 years.'
'So, when it looked like this was going to happen, we were all really excited. The contracts were signed and then the writers' strike happened, the actors' strike happened, and then, unfortunately, Pa [Charlotte Rae] and Norman Lear passed. After that, it just kind of dissolved.'
Whelchel pressed, 'We were all quite disappointed.'
Rae, who starred as housemother Mrs. Garrett, died at age 92 in 2018, five years before Lear passed away in 2023 at 101.
In 2001, the actresses came together in 'The Facts of Life Reunion,' which saw their characters reunite in Peekskill, New York for Thanksgiving with Mrs. Garrett.
12 'The Facts of Life.'
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Even though a reboot might never come to fruition, the actors still manage to stay close in real life. Last summer, Jewell and Whelchel posed together for a sweet shot on social media.
'We aren't technically family but since we played one on TV (Cousin Geri) and we've known each other for almost a half a century, it sure feels like it!' Whelchel captioned the Instagram photo. 'So good to catch up with the funny and wise and deep and talented, Geri Jewell!'