Rae died on Sunday and is being remembered by her colleagues as a warm, funny and versatile professional. Last year she disclosed she was battling bone cancer.

Rae enjoyed a long career on the stage as well as playing her signature TV role as boarding school headmistress Edna Garrett on the teen-friendly The Facts of Life that ran from 1978 to 1988.

Former Facts of Life co-stars Kim Fields and Mindy Cohn expressed their sadness at Rae's passing on Twitter. Cohn called Rae "this incredible force of a woman."

Facts of Life hailed from Norman Lear's Embassy Communications but before Rae was tapped to anchor the show, she was a fan favourite on the first two seasons of another Embassy comedy, Diff'rent Strokes.

She was remembered fondly by her co-star Todd Bridges.

"You were loved by everyone on our show," Bridges wrote on Twitter.

Rae gained fame on TV but she made her name as a thespian in the 1950s in stage roles ranging from "The Threepenny Opera" to "Li'l Abner." She was Tony-nominated in 1966 for her work in the musical "Pickwick" and in 1969 for the play "Morning, Noon, and Night." Broadway star Audra McDonald called Rae "funny, wise, lovely, and brilliant."

Industry notables also expressed their appreciation for Rae and her role as the no-nonsense but gentle house mother on "The Facts of Life."

Australian Associated Press