Lisa Whelchel was born in Littlefield, Texas, USA on Wednesday, May 29, 1963. She is the daughter of James "Jimmy" and Virginia "Genny" Whelchel. Her parents divorced in 1981 and her mother married Roy Coleman in 1983. She has a younger brother, James (Cody) Whelchel, and a younger half-brother, Casey Coleman. Raised in Fort Worth, Texas, USA, she is an American actress, singer-songwriter, author, and speaker. She discovered acting at age 8 and performed in musical theater for the next four years. At 10 she became a born-again Christian and devoted her life to her Christian faith. When she was 12 she wrote to the Disney Studios asking for an audition as a Mouseketeer on The New Mickey Mouse Club (1977). She moved to California the next year and appeared in syndication from 1977-1978. In 1979, she began her starring role as wealthy, preppy, private-school girl "Blair Warner" on The Facts of Life (1979). The show lasted nine years and she filmed the last regular episode, Big Apple Blues (1988) televised on Saturday, March 19th, 1988. 6 and 7 weeks later came two larger-cast specials, The Beginning of the End (1988), televised on Saturday, April 30, 1988, and the series finale, The Beginning of the Beginning (1988) televised on Saturday, May 7, 1988. On Saturday, July 9, 1988, she married Steven Cauble, who was an associate pastor at Whelchel's church, "The Church On the Way" in Van Nuys, California. On Saturday, January 17, 1990, she gave birth to son Tucker Stephenson Cauble (aka Tucker Cauble). Her second child and first daughter, Haven Katherine Hill Cauble, was born on Thursday, September 26, 1991, followed by third child and second daughter, Clancy Elizabeth Cauble (aka Clancy Cauble), who was born on Thursday, November 12, 1992. She released a Christian pop album, "All Because of You," in 1984. The next year she was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Inspirational Performance. She has written many books including "Creative Correction", "So You're Thinking About Homeschooling", "The Facts of Life (and Other Lessons My Father Taught Me)", "Friendships for Grown-Ups", "Taking Care of the Me in Mommy", and "Speaking Mom-Ese". In 2001, she reprized her role of "Blair Warner" for the made-for-television movie, The Facts of Life Reunion (2001), on the ABC Network. On Sunday, March 7, 2004, she and Charlotte Rae performed "The Facts of Life" theme song at the 2nd Annual TV Land Awards. On Thursday, April 10, 2011, Whelchel and the cast of The Facts of Life (1979), including Charlotte Rae, Nancy McKeon, Mindy Cohn, Kim Fields, Geri Jewell & Cloris Leachman were honored with the Pop Culture Award at the 9th Annual TV Land Awards at the Javits Center in New York City. She officially divorced her husband, Steven Cauble, on Thursday, March 1, 2012, after 23 years of marriage. She appeared on the 25th season of Survivor (2000), located in the Philippine Islands, as part of the Tandang tribe. The first episode aired on Wednesday, September 19th, 2012. She appeared on the CBS talk show, The Talk (2010), to promote her appearance on "Survivor" on Wednesday, September 19, 2012. Whelchel appeared on "The Jeff Probst Show" (2012) on Monday, October 29, 2012, on the episode, "Teen Star Lisa Whelchel: Surviving 'Survivor' and Divorce". She also appeared on a second episode titled "Survivor Finalists" along with fellow 'Survivor: Philippines' contestants, Abi-Maria Gomes, Michael Skupin, Denise Stapley and Malcolm Freberg for being in the final five. On Wednesday, December 16, 2012, during the 25th Season Reunion Show on CBS, "America's Sweetheart" won the fan-voted Sprint Player of the Season by 0.7% over Malcolm which is the closest margin of victory in Survivor history. The prize money that Lisa Whelchel won was $100,000 U.S. Lisa began to co-host on The Jeff Probst Show (2012) with filming, that started televising in January of 2013.
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Biography from IMDb.
- May 29, 1963 (63)
- Littlefield, Texas, USA
- Actor, also producer
- 14 on MovieCove · 25 credits in all
What are Lisa Whelchel's films like?
Across their 13 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Self.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 1 · Earnest 11
Light 9 · Serious 1 · Dark 2
Grounded 9 · Stylized 3 · Heightened 0
Gentle 8 · Charged 2 · Intense 2
Steady 9 · Shifting 2 · Whiplash 1
Straight-faced 4 · Some laughs 4 · Funny 4
Slow burn 7 · Even-paced 5 · Relentless 0
Casual 10 · Engaged 1 · Full focus 1
Easy watch 9 · Affecting 1 · Heavy 2
Resolved 11 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 1
Roles they play
Usually the Hero: 4 of 7 analyzed roles.
Show the 7 rolesHide the roles
- Threshold guardianas Blair Warner in The Facts of Life (1979)
- Heroas Blair Warner in The Facts of Life Goes to Paris (1982)
- Heroas Blair Warner in The Facts of Life Down Under (1987)
- Allyas Sara Coleman in Where the Red Fern Grows: Part Two (1992)
- Allyas Blair Warner in The Facts of Life Reunion (2001)
- Heroas Wendy in For Better or for Worse (2014)
- Heroas Carly Ashby in Hearts of Spring (2016)
Moods and endings
- Happy9
- Bittersweet3
- Ambiguous1
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Lisa Whelchel's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 9 of their 14 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (4).
Subscription and free streaming for Lisa Whelchel's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
25 credits, 14 with a MovieCove page; 6 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
Roswell Delirium(2023)
Midcredits score: 8th percentile of all films
Collector's Call (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2019)
Falling for Christmas(2016)
Midcredits score: 51st percentile of all films
Hearts of Spring(2016)
Midcredits score: 45th percentile of all films
For Better or for Worse(2014)
Midcredits score: 26th percentile of all films
A Madea Christmas(2013)
Midcredits score: 34th percentile of all filmsThe Jeff Probst Show (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
100 Greatest Kid Stars (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2005)
Midcredits score: 35th percentile of all films
E! True Hollywood Story (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1996)
Midcredits score: 23rd percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 40th percentile of all films
The NBC All Star Hour: Let's All Be There (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1985)
Back to Next Saturday (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1985)
Midcredits score: 13th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 50th percentile of all films
Twirl (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1981)
Skyward (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1980)
The Magician of Lublin(1979)
Midcredits score: 22nd percentile of all films
The Facts of Life(1979)
Midcredits score: 45th percentile of all shows
The Double McGuffin(1979)
Midcredits score: 65th percentile of all films
Shadow of Fear (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1979)
Diff'rent Strokes (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1978)
The Mouseketeers at Walt Disney World (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1977)
The Love Boat(1977)
Midcredits score: 20th percentile of all shows
Career shape
Star power in the 81st percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 25 titles from 1977 to 2025.
Biggest box office
A Madea Christmas (2013)
Highest rated
Falling for Christmas (2016)
Most popular right now
The Facts of Life (1979)
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
How do Lisa Whelchel's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 35th percentile, the median of all 12; across their 12 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 35th percentile for acclaim.
- 50th to 74th3
- 25th to 49th6
- Below 25th5
Shape of the crowd
7 of their 14 titles are Mixed.
- Divisive1
- Cult Classic3
- Crowd Pleaser3
- Mixed7
Reviewers score the acting 60/100 in their films, across 12 reviewed titles; fans 76, detractors 43. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Lisa Whelchel work with?
People who share at least 2 of Lisa Whelchel's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Kim Fields shares the most, 5.
Directors
- Marita GrabiakShared titles: Hearts of Spring (2016), For Better or for Worse (2014)See all 2 shared titles with Marita Grabiak
Writers
- Barbara KymlickaShared titles: Falling for Christmas (2016), Hearts of Spring (2016), For Better or for Worse (2014)See all 3 shared titles with Barbara Kymlicka
- Dick ClairShared titles: The Facts of Life Reunion (2001), The Facts of Life Goes to Paris (1982)See all 2 shared titles with Dick Clair
- Jenna McMahonShared titles: The Facts of Life Reunion (2001), The Facts of Life Goes to Paris (1982)See all 2 shared titles with Jenna McMahon
- Jerry MayerShared titles: The Facts of Life Reunion (2001), The Facts of Life Goes to Paris (1982)See all 2 shared titles with Jerry Mayer
Actors
- Kim FieldsShared titles: For Better or for Worse (2014), The Facts of Life Reunion (2001), The Facts of Life Down Under (1987), The Facts of Life Goes to Paris (1982), The Facts of Life (1979)See all 5 shared titles with Kim Fields
- Mindy CohnShared titles: The Facts of Life Reunion (2001), The Facts of Life Down Under (1987), The Facts of Life Goes to Paris (1982), The Facts of Life (1979)See all 4 shared titles with Mindy Cohn
- Charlotte RaeShared titles: The Facts of Life Reunion (2001), The Facts of Life Goes to Paris (1982), The Facts of Life (1979)See all 3 shared titles with Charlotte Rae
- Nancy McKeonShared titles: The Facts of Life Down Under (1987), The Facts of Life Goes to Paris (1982), The Facts of Life (1979)See all 3 shared titles with Nancy McKeon
Composers and cinematographers
- Anthony C. MetchieShared titles: Falling for Christmas (2016), Hearts of Spring (2016)See all 2 shared titles with Anthony C. Metchie
- Russ Howard IIIShared titles: Hearts of Spring (2016), For Better or for Worse (2014)See all 2 shared titles with Russ Howard III
Producers
- Navid SoofiShared titles: Falling for Christmas (2016), Hearts of Spring (2016), For Better or for Worse (2014)See all 3 shared titles with Navid Soofi
- Oliver De CaignyShared titles: Falling for Christmas (2016), Hearts of Spring (2016), For Better or for Worse (2014)See all 3 shared titles with Oliver De Caigny
- Timothy O. JohnsonShared titles: Falling for Christmas (2016), Hearts of Spring (2016), For Better or for Worse (2014)See all 3 shared titles with Timothy O. Johnson
