Facts of Life Star Reveals Her Husband Was Gay

Charlotte Rae, known for her role as Mrs. Garrett on both The Facts of Life and Diff’rent Strokes, is shopping a memoir titled The Facts of My Life and along with stories of “the strange experience” of working on the popular ’80s sitcoms, she also tells how she discovered that her husband of 25 years—Grammy Award-winning composer of Amadeus John Strauss—was gay. After the couple, who married in 1950 and had two sons, moved to L.A. in 1975 Strauss came out to Rae and confessed that he’d been on the down low all those years. Rae writes:

First came the shock of what he had done behind my back, then the sting of being deceived for years. All I could feel was the betrayal and, worse than that, my shame.…John’s secret confirmed my feelings of inferiority…That I was less than a woman…That I didn’t deserve to be loved and valued.

Strauss passed away in 2011 after a long battle with Parkinson’s. Rae, 86, has yet to find a publisher for her book.

And while all of that sounds dramatic enough, we’re hoping that her book covers the feud of the 21st century: Rae vs. Collins. Back in 2007, Rae was walking the red carpet at the premiere of Joan Collins’ new play, when, completely unprovoked, she told The Insider‘s cameras that Collins “is a bitch,” adding, “There’s no doubt about it that she’s an extremely difficult person and it’s a miracle that anyone still wants to work with her.”

Naturally, The Insider played the footage privately for Collins, who gasped and shrieked, “Who is this old cow?”

My husband of 25 years was gay’: The Facts of Life star Charlotte Rae, 86, reveals her secret heartache [Daily Mail]