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“So that's my philosophy: If you believe in yourself, the chances and the opportunities will come around.” Born in Los Angeles in 1996, she was raised Jewish by her parents Nat & Ina Cohn.

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Career

She was first discovered by actress Charlotte Rae when her and the producers of The Facts of Life visited Westlake School in Holmby Hills while doing research for the show. She was cast as Natalie Green and portrayed that role for the series’ entire run until 1988 and in the reunion movie in 2001 too.

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In 1984, she had a leading role alongside Stockard Channing in Table Settings. In 1986, she was in The Boy Who Could Fly as Geneva. She also made guest television appearances in Charles in Charges and in 21 Jump Street. She has since been seen on Hot in Cleveland, The Secret Life of the American Teenager and in The Middle too. In 2004, she starred in the WB comedy, The Help. In 2010, she played Violet, the leading character of a movie Violet Tendencies. She also appeared on What Not to Wear in 2010.

She currently does voice over for HGTV’s Best. Pool. Ever.

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She was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for her work on What’s New Scooby Doo? She provided the voice of Velma Dinkley for the series. She reprised that role in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated and in many Scooby Doo movies too.

She also was in a comedy film, Sex and Death 101, in 2007 where she received positive reviews.

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2019 Holiday Movie

Cohn reunited with some of her The Facts of Life costars, Lisa Whelchel, Nancy McKeon and Kim Fields for a Lifetime holiday movie, You Light Up My Christmas, in 2019. Fields invited the group to join her in the TV movies where they play co-owners of an ice skating rink. “I put the invitation out after speaking with Lifetime to have my ‘Facts of Life’ sisters join me for some special appearances from them,” Fields said. “They really turned out great. They’re always supportive.”

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The film had inside jokes from the series too for fans. The group even paid tribute to their house mother, Charlotte Rae, who passed away in 2018. While McKeon couldn’t be on the film with them, she made a Facetime cameo in the film.

Friendship With Charlotte Rae

In 2013, she commented on Rae’s lobbying for her: "Mr. Reynolds calls me into his office. It seemed that Charlotte Rae had fallen madly in love with me, in part because I reminded her of her best childhood friend Natalie — and I was irrepressible, charming, and hilarious. So she asked the producers to create a part for me in the show. Honestly, the whole thing seemed so fantastic I didn’t know what to think."

After the show, her and Rae have remained close friends. 

Personal Life

Cohn has a degree in cultural anthropology from Loyola Marymount University. She is also the founding member of the weSpark cancer support center.

In 2012, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. “I’ve always been an optimist,” she says. “But the cancer metastasized. It kept spreading and coming back. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, and then it would. And then I’d wait for another shoe to drop, and it would. I was frustrated and enraged. I couldn’t control any of this. I couldn’t fix it.”

She fought it for five years with a double mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiation. She is now cancer free.  “I’m feeling great,” she says. “And I’m so ready to get back to working. I think I’m a good actress, and I have a lot to offer. I’m excited to see what I get to do next!”

She has never married or had children. She is a strong supporter of the LGBT community.