I have not thought about Geri Jewell in a long time. If you are not of a certain age, then you probably do not remember the show Facts Of Life. The show, a spin off of Different Strokes was really big back in the day. Take my word for it. It also marked the debut of a guy named George Clooney. It is hard to believe, but back in the day no one who was disabled was ever on a show more than once. Geri Jewell knocked down that barrier when she appeared on the show as a regular character. Geri suffers from cerebral palsy and was hilarious on the show. She has a new book that just came out and in the book she talks about her career as an actress and comedienne. She talks about a broken marriage, tax problems and drug addiction. She also comes out as a lesbian. I have only had time to read a few excerpts, but it is a powerful book from an amazing woman and a great story.
Well, as they say.. it takes a lot to get um' right.. when you're learning the Facts of Life. :)
ReplyDeleteI remember her - LOVE, LOVE, LOVE her! She's a hysterical comedienne and did a great job on Facts of Life. Good for her and I wish her all the best!
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this. I was wondering what ever happened to her.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great picture of her. I was just watching that Biography channel show about the behind-the-scenes stuff that went on in shows and she was talking about how they forced her off (but made her turn down a bad offer rather than fire her) because they felt uncomfortable. :-(
ReplyDeleteOMG I remember her character, she was Blair's cousin.
ReplyDeleteI loved The Facts of Life! I only vaguely remember her character though.
ReplyDeleteDidn't South Park or the Simpsons make fun of her? :( So mean.
I'm 24 and I know exactly what show "The Facts of Life" is becuase I watched it religiously on Nick at Nite! lol. "You take the good, you take the bad, you them both and there you have the Facts of life, The facts of life!" I will say I know who all of the main characters are including Nancy Mckeon, and I even remember George Clooney being on there but I have no idea who this women is.
ReplyDeletewoman*
ReplyDeleteShe was also on Deadwood working in one of the saloons. She was awesome in that roll.
ReplyDeleteI grew up on this show...LOVED IT!!!
ReplyDeleteEllebee - that was her?! She was terrific.
ReplyDeleteAh, I loved Facts of Life. Blair was the original Blair, before Gossip Girl came along :)
I loved her on FOL and Deadwood!
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed that I knew exactly who you were talking about when I saw the headline! But then again, I was obsessed with the Facts of Life. I wanted to grow up to be Jo Polnocek. I liked Geri on FOL too; she didn't take Blair's crap.
ReplyDeleteShe really is funny.
ReplyDeleteShe really is funny.
ReplyDeleteOnly a few excerpts read does not mean you can call it a powerful book.
ReplyDeleteI watched FOL religiously. And I remember Geri on it. She was really good. I realized that it was stunt casting at the time, but she did a good job of making her character real, without being too preachy about CP. I had no idea she was "fired" from the show though!
ReplyDeleteShe was outstanding in Deadwood. It was very refreshing to see scripting in which the character's disability was just incidental to the role. I would love to see her work more. She's an excellent dramatic actress.
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