Kari Michaelson, Who Nearly Landed the Role of Jo on “The Facts of Life”, Wishes Nancy McKeon a Happy 60th Birthday

Angela AndaloroMon, April 6, 2026 at 3:17 PM UTC

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Nancy McKeon in 1980 (left) and todayCredit: NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty; Bruce Glikas/WireImage -

Kari Michaelson took to Instagram to give dear friend Nancy McKeon a shoutout for her 60th birthday

In an oral history of The Facts of Life, McKeon revealed she and Michaelson were the last two vying for the role of Jo Polniaczek on the series

Michaelson went on to star as Katie Kanisky on Gimme a Break!

Nancy McKeon is being celebrated on her special day.

The Facts of Life actress was honored by friend and fellow actress Kari Michaelson as McKeon turned 60 on April 4. Michaelson shared some throwback photos of the pair, including a few with fellow actors Justine Bateman and Anthony Edwards.

"Please join me to wish Nancy McKeon a VERY 'Happy Birthday' 🎈Nancy, SO many Fun Memories that I cherish!! 😊😊 Have a wonderful Birthday Celebration tomorrow!! XOXO 💖🎉💖," Michaelson wrote.Of the photos with Bateman and Edwards, she added, "** This was a fun day we had in New York with Justine Bateman and Anthony Edwards while we were all promoting our shows that were on NBC. 😊🎬."

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In a 2015 oral history of The Facts of Life for Entertainment Weekly, McKeon revealed that she faced off against her friend, Michaelson, for the role of Jo Polniaczek in the beloved series, which aired for nine seasons on NBC from 1979 to 1988.

The character was introduced in season 2 as the show went from focusing on the broader class of girls at Eastland to the core four that carried the show forward.

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"There were quite a few girls on the first season, so they wanted to sort of pare that down, but they also wanted to bring on another character to be sort of be an opposite to the Blair character, if you will, so they’d opened the auditions up," McKeon explained.

"I just did my best, did the best that I could, and finally got to a screen test between myself and one other girl (Kari Michaelson), who ended up being a really great friend. She ended up on another show, and she’s terrific."

Kim Fields as Tootie Ramsey, Lisa Whelchel as Blair Warner, Nancy McKeon as Jo Polniaczek, Charlotte Rae as Edna Garrett and Mindy Cohn as Natalie GreenCredit: Frank Carroll/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

Fred Silverman, who was the president and CEO of NBC at the time, told the outlet that Jo was brought in because the cast "needed some contrast," and McKeon delivered.

"I had seen Nancy McKeon—I don’t remember for sure where—but I was very impressed with her. She’s a very, very good actress. So I said, 'You know, we ought to put her in there. She’d provide enormous contrast to the other girls in attitude,' " he recalled.

"We had ethnic differences, but I didn’t think that was enough. I thought we needed more attitudinal conflict. So we brought her in, and it made an enormous difference. It added new life to the series."

McKeon added, "I’d actually done a pilot for NBC where I played a similar kind of character—it was a one-hour drama, however—so they knew of me. The pilot didn’t get picked up, but they did bring me in for The Facts of Life. But there were a lot of people auditioning for the show. It wasn’t, 'Bring her in. She’s our gal!' "

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”