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{{short description|American actress, author, speaker and singer (b. 1963)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2013}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Lisa Whelchel
| image              = LisaWhelchel2015.png
| image_size         = 
| alt                = 
| caption            = Lisa Whelchel interviewed on radio in February 2015
| birth_name         = Lisa Diane Whelchel
| birth_date         = {{Birth date and age|1963|5|29}}
| birth_place        = [[Littlefield, Texas]], U.S.
| other_names        = Lisa Cauble
| occupation         = Actress, singer, songwriter, author, public speaker, housewife, life coach , ventriloquist
| years_active       = 1977–present
| organization       = [[Women of Faith]]
| notable_works      = ''[[The Facts of Life (TV series)|The Facts of Life]]''<br />''[[The New Mickey Mouse Club]]''<br />''[[All Because of You (Lisa Whelchel album)|All Because of You]]''<br />''[[Survivor: Philippines]]''
| style              = [[Contemporary Christian music|Contemporary Christian]]
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Steven Cauble|1988|2012|reason=divorced}}
* {{marriage|Pete Harris|2019}}
}}
| children           = 3
| website            = {{URL|lisawhelchel.com}}
}}

'''Lisa Diane Whelchel''' (born May 29, 1963) is an American actress, singer, songwriter, [[author]], and life coach. She is known for her appearances as a [[The Mickey Mouse Club|Mouseketeer]] on ''[[The New Mickey Mouse Club]]'' and her nine-[[year]] role as the preppy and wealthy [[Blair Warner]] on ''[[The Facts of Life (TV series)|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 (Lisa Whelchel album)|All Because of You]]''. In 2012, Whelchel participated as a contestant on the [[CBS]] competitive reality series ''[[Survivor: Philippines]]'' and tied for second place.<ref>{{cite web|author=Survivor |url=http://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/cast/160003/ |title=Survivor Cast: Lisa |publisher=Cbs.com |access-date=December 18, 2012}}</ref> She was also voted fan favorite and was awarded $100,000.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Snyder|first1=Leslie|title=Flower Mound's Lisa Whelchel voted fan favorite in 'Survivor: Philippines'; gets $100K prize|url=http://popcultureblog.dallasnews.com/2012/12/survivor-fan-favorite-lisa-whelchel.html/|website=Dallas News|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820060756/http://popcultureblog.dallasnews.com/2012/12/survivor-fan-favorite-lisa-whelchel.html/|archive-date=August 20, 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

== Early life ==
{{BLP sources section|date=May 2021}}
Lisa Whelchel was born on May 29, 1963, in [[Littlefield, Texas]]. She is the [[daughter]] of Virginia "Genny" (née French), a real estate agent, and James "Jimmy" Whelchel Sr., an electrician.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/99/Lisa-Whelchel.html |title=Lisa Whelchel Biography (1963–) |publisher=Filmreference.com |access-date=December 18, 2012}}</ref> Her parents divorced in 1981, and her mother married Roy Coleman in 1983. Lisa is the elder [[sister]] of James "Cody" Whelchel Jr., 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]], and she was in the class of 1980.

== Acting career ==
{{BLP sources section|date=May 2021}}

===''The New Mickey Mouse Club''===
At age 13, Whelchel was recruited in [[Texas]] by talent scouts who were looking for [[children]] interested in working with [[Walt Disney Productions|Disney Studios]] as a [[The Mickey Mouse Club|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''===
Whelchel is probably best known for being a main cast member of ''[[The Facts of Life (TV series)|The Facts of Life]]'' where she portrayed [[Blair Warner]], an uptight prep [[student]]. She also played the character on ''[[Diff'rent Strokes]]'', the show from which ''The Facts of Life'' spun off. Whelchel once refused a storyline that would have made her character the first among the four main young women on the show to lose her virginity. Having become a Christian when she was ten years old, Whelchel declined due to her religious beliefs, and the storyline was rewritten for the character of Natalie, portrayed by [[Mindy Cohn]].<ref>Bloom, Ken; Vlastnick, Frank (2007) ''Sitcoms: The 101 Greatest TV Comedies of All Time'' p. 98 Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers</ref> This was the only episode of the series in which Whelchel did not appear.

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

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 ''[[Today (NBC program)|The Today Show]]'' to promote the show's DVD releases of the first and second seasons, admitting to being "really bummed out" that [[Kim Fields]] was unable to attend. On February 1, 2007, Whelchel was reunited with 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.

In 2021, Whelchel, Fields, and Cohn reunited again on the set of ''[[Live in Front of a Studio Audience]]'''s reenactment of the show's third season [[episode]] "Kids Can Be Cruel". Whelchel also sang the show's theme song that evening.<ref>{{cite web |last=Schwartz |first=Ryan |title=ABC's Facts of Life Live Begins With OG Cast Reunion — Grade Reenactment |url=https://tvline.com/2021/12/07/facts-of-life-recap-cast-reunion-live-in-front-of-a-studio-audience-jennifer-aniston/ |website=TVLine |access-date=December 7, 2021 |date=December 7, 2021}}</ref>

== Music career ==
In 1984, Whelchel released a Christian pop album entitled ''[[All Because of You (Lisa Whelchel album)|All Because of You]]''. The album reached No. 17 on the ''[[Billboard magazine|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".<ref>{{cite web |author=Carolyn A. Burns |url=http://www.todayschristianmusic.com/artists/lisa-whelchel/features/lisa-whelchel/ |title=Lisa Whelchel &#124; Lisa Whelchel |publisher=TodaysChristianMusic.com |access-date=December 18, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130204111248/http://www.todayschristianmusic.com/artists/lisa-whelchel/features/lisa-whelchel/ |archive-date=February 4, 2013 |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Lisa-Whelchel/38978319/biography |title=Lisa Whelchel Biography at Simon & Schuster |publisher=Authors.simonandschuster.com |access-date=December 18, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121220041755/http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Lisa-Whelchel/38978319/biography |archive-date=December 20, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> 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 (Steve Taylor album)|Meltdown]]''.

== Speaking ==
For years, Whelchel was a regular inspirational speaker at churches and conferences nationwide. In 2000, she founded Momtime Ministries, a religious network of mothers' groups who met weekly to "equip and refresh and encourage" each other.

In 2021, Whelchel appeared on friend and ''The Facts of Life'' co-star Mindy Cohn’s podcast, ''Mondays with Mindy'', on which she talked about how her faith has changed and evolved over time. She explained that her speaking commitments have shifted over the years, as she no longer operates from a "fear-based, punishment-based" mentality. She explained, "Jesus came, ultimately, to bring grace. I can speak that message in any situation, but a lot of churches — when they find out that I believe that there are many ways to experience God, not just Jesus, then the invitations kind of dry up."<ref>{{Cite web|date=June 2021|title=Mondays with Mindy|url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zujo4P_0kg |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/6Zujo4P_0kg |archive-date=2021-12-21|url-status=live|access-date=August 22, 2021|website=Youtube}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Mondays with Mindy Podcast Platforms|url=https://anchor.fm/mondayswithmindy/episodes/Mondays-With-Mindy--Season-4--Episode-6-Lisa-Whelchel-e117ofk|access-date=August 22, 2021|website=Anchor by Spotify}}</ref>

== 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)''.

==''Survivor''==
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 one of the season's two "celebrity" contestants.<ref>{{cite web|last=Strecker |first=Erin |url=http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/08/20/survivor-philippines-cast-lisa-whelchel-jeff-kent/ |title='Survivor: Philippines' cast includes Lisa Whelchel and Jeff Kent &#124; Inside TV &#124; EW.com |publisher=Insidetv.ew.com |access-date=December 18, 2012}}</ref> A former television star, she elected to keep her true identity a 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. [[Michael Skupin]] and [[Jonathan Penner]], who were around Whelchel's age, as well as eventual winner [[Denise Stapley]], were the only ones to recognize her as "Blair Warner".<ref>{{cite web|last=Chandler |first=Chip |url=https://www.amarillo.com/article/20121217/news/312179729 |title='Survivor' star struggles with faith, fame |publisher=Amarillo.com |access-date=July 30, 2021}}</ref>

On November 14, 2012, Whelchel announced via her [[Twitter]] account that she was suffering from [[West Nile fever]] 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''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/lisa-whelchel-has-west-nile-virus-survivor-star-reveals/ |title=Lisa Whelchel has West Nile Virus, 'Survivor' star reveals |publisher=Fox News |access-date=December 18, 2012}}</ref>

On December 16, 2012, Whelchel made it to the Final Tribal Council, where fellow contestant and jury member Jonathan Penner revealed to the rest of the jury that she was a former child star. In the end, she received one jury vote from RC Saint-Amour and tied with returning contestant Michael Skupin for runner-up, both losing to eventual winner Denise Stapley. She was also voted the Sprint Player of the Season, winning $100,000 by a margin of about .7 percent against Malcolm Freberg.

==Hosting duties==
On January 14, 2013, Whelchel co-hosted several episodes of ''[[The Jeff Probst Show]]'' with ''Survivor'' host, Jeff Probst.<ref name="realitynation1">{{cite web |author=Carrie "Spicy" Milburn |url=http://www.realitynation.com/tv-shows/survivor/lisa-whelchel-jeff-probst-show/24933/ |title=Survivor's Lisa Whelchel to Join Jeff Probst on Talk Show |publisher=Reality Nation |date=December 17, 2012 |access-date=February 13, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121033752/http://www.realitynation.com/tv-shows/survivor/lisa-whelchel-jeff-probst-show/24933/ |archive-date=January 21, 2013 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

In April 2019, Whelchel hosted a ''The Facts of Life'' marathon on the [[MeTV]] television network,<ref>{{cite web |title=Lisa's Call presents Lisa Whelchel's five favorite 'Facts of Life' episodes |url=https://metv.com/collectorscall/lisas-call-facts-of-life |website=metv.com |publisher=Weigel Broadcasting |access-date=19 February 2024 |date=26 February 2019}}</ref> as a lead-in for a preview of her series ''Collector's Call'' that debuted later that year and will be in Season 6 slated to begin in 2025.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.remindmagazine.com/article/18950/collectors-call-season-6-renew-date-episodes-metv/ | title=When is 'Collector's Call' Season 6 Coming? | date=September 3, 2024 }}</ref>

==Personal life==
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.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://people.com/celebrity/lisa-whelchel-is-divorced-facts-of-life-survivor-philippines/|title=Lisa Whelchel Is Divorced|author=Steve Helling|date=September 20, 2012|access-date=September 20, 2012}}</ref> In 2019, Whelchel married Pete Harris, who is a psychologist based in Nashville, Tennessee.

== Published works ==
{{BLP unreferenced section|date=September 2016}}
* 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===
{| class="wikitable"
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Title
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes
|-
| rowspan=2|1979 || ''[[The Double McGuffin]]'' || Jody || 
|-
| ''[[The Magician of Lublin (film)|The Magician of Lublin]]'' || Halina || 
|-
| 1992 || ''[[Where the Red Fern Grows (1974 film)#Sequel|Where the Red Fern Grows: Part Two]]'' || Sara Coleman || [[Direct-to-video]] film
|-
| 2013 || ''[[A Madea Christmas (film)|A Madea Christmas]]'' || Nancy Porter ||
|-
| 2014 || ''For Better or for Worse'' || Wendy Hampton ||
|-
| 2023 || ''Roswell Delirium'' || Mrs. Peltzer ||
|}

===Television===
{| class="wikitable"
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Title
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes
|-
| 1977–78 || ''[[The Mickey Mouse Club#1977 revival.2C The New Mickey Mouse Club|The New Mickey Mouse Club]]'' || [[The Mickey Mouse Club|Mouseketeer]]/Herself || Main cast (130 episodes)
|-
| 1977 || ''[[Disney anthology television series|The Wonderful World of Disney]]'' || [[The Mickey Mouse Club|Mouseketeer]]/Herself || Episode: "The Mouseketeers at Walt Disney World"
|-
| 1978 || ''[[Family (1976 TV series)|Family]]'' || Cathy Connelly || Episode: "All for Love"
|-
| 1979 || ''[[Disney anthology television series|The Wonderful World of Disney]]'' || Robin Lapp || Episode: "Shadow of Fear" (Parts 1 & 2)
|-
| 1979 || ''[[The Mary Tyler Moore Hour]]'' || Gail Connors || Episode #1.6
|-
| 1979–81 || ''[[Diff'rent Strokes]]'' || [[Blair Warner]] || 2 episodes
|-
| 1979–88 || ''[[The Facts of Life (TV series)|The Facts of Life]]'' || [[Blair Warner]] || Main cast (200 episodes)
|-
| 1980 || ''[[Skyward (film)|Skyward]]'' || Lisa Ward || Television film
|-
| 1981 || ''Twirl'' || Jill Moore || Television film
|-
| rowspan=2|1982 || ''[[The Facts of Life Goes to Paris]]'' || [[Blair Warner]] || Television film
|-
| ''[[The Wild Women of Chastity Gulch]]'' || | Amy Cole || Television film
|-
| 1983–85 || ''[[The Love Boat]]'' || Caroline Shea / Kelly Barrett || 4 episodes
|-
| 1985 || ''Back to Next Saturday'' || [[Blair Warner]] || Television film
|-
| 1987 || ''[[The Facts of Life Down Under]]'' || [[Blair Warner]] || Television film
|-
| 2001 || ''[[The Facts of Life Reunion]]'' || [[Blair Warner]] || Television film
|-
| 2012 || ''[[Survivor: Philippines]]'' || Herself (Contestant) || Co-runner-up
|-
| 2013 || ''[[The Jeff Probst Show]]'' || Herself (Co-host) || 16 episodes
|-
| 2014 || ''For Better or For Worse'' || Wendy || Television film
|-
| rowspan=2|2016 || ''Hearts of Spring'' || Carly Ashby || Television film
|-
| ''[[A Snow Capped Christmas]]'' || Dale Benson || Television film
|-
| 2019–present || ''Collector's Call'' || Herself (Host) || 125 episodes
|-
| 2019 || ''You Light Up My Christmas'' || Aurora || | Television film
|-
| 2021 || ''[[Live in Front of a Studio Audience]]'' || Herself || Episode: "''The Facts of Life'' and ''[[Diff'rent Strokes]]''"
|-
| 2022–23 || ''[[Toon In with Me]]'' || Herself || 2 episodes
|-
|}

===Music videos===
{| class="wikitable"
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Title
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Artist
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role
|-
| 1984
| "Meltdown (at Madame Tussaud's)"
| Steve Taylor
| News reporter
|-
|}

===Producer===
{| class="wikitable"
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Title
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Credited As
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes
|-
| 2013
| ''Lisa Whelchel's Everyday Workout for the Everyday Woman''
| Executive producer
| Also director and host
|-
| 2016
| ''Hearts of Spring''
| Co-executive producer
| Also actress
|-
|}

==Discography==
{| class="wikitable"
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Title
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Label
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Distributor
|-
| 1984 || ''[[All Because of You (Lisa Whelchel album)|All Because of You]]'' ||  Nissi Records || [[Sparrow Records]]
|-
|}

==Awards and nominations==
{| class="wikitable"
|-  style="background:#b0c4de; text-align:center;"
! Year
! Association
! Category
! Work
! Result
|-
| 1982
| rowspan="4"|[[Young Artist Awards]]
| Best Young Comedienne - Motion Picture or Television
| ''The Facts of Life''
| {{Nom}}
|-
| 1982
| Best Young Actress in a Television Special
| ''Twirl''
| {{nom}}
|-
| 1983
| Best Young Actress in a Comedy Series
| rowspan="2"| ''The Facts of Life''
| {{nom}}
|-
| 1984
| Best Young Actress in a Comedy Series
| {{nom}}
|-
| 1984
| [[27th Annual Grammy Awards|Grammy Awards]]
| Best Inspirational Performance
| ''All Because of You''
| {{nom}}
|-
| 2011
| [[TV Land Awards]]
| Pop Culture Award <small>(shared with cast)</small>
| ''The Facts of Life''
| {{won}}
|-
|}

==See also==
{{Portal bar|Biography|Christianity|Film|Television|United States}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commonscat|Lisa Whelchel}}
*{{Official website|http://www.lisawhelchel.com/}}
*{{IMDb name|924075}}
*{{tcmdb name|id=204979|name=Lisa Whelchel}}

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{{succession box | title=Runner-Up of ''[[Survivor (American TV series)|Survivor]]'' | before=Sabrina Thompson| years=''[[Survivor: Philippines]]''| after=Dawn Meehan,<br>Sherri Biethman}}
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{{Survivor contestants}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Whelchel, Lisa}}
[[Category:1963 births]]
[[Category:Actresses from Texas]]
[[Category:American bloggers]]
[[Category:American child actresses]]
[[Category:American Christians]]
[[Category:American performers of Christian music]]
[[Category:American television actresses]]
[[Category:American television talk show hosts]]
[[Category:American women bloggers]]
[[Category:20th-century American actresses]]
[[Category:21st-century American actresses]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mouseketeers]]
[[Category:People from Fort Worth, Texas]]
[[Category:People from Lamb County, Texas]]
[[Category:People from Littlefield, Texas]]
[[Category:Singers from Texas]]
[[Category:Writers from Texas]]