Mindy Cohn, most famously recognized for her portrayal of Natalie in the 1980s sitcom "The Facts of Life," disclosed on Sunday that she has been diagnosed with cancer for the second time. On Instagram, the actress shared a photo of herself lying in a hospital bed with the caption: "I've been off social media for a while because I had to go kick cancer's ass." In the image, Cohn is seen smiling and giving a thumbs-up. In her post, she expressed gratitude to the staff at Providence Saint John's Hospital in Santa Monica and her "phenomenal" oncology surgeon, Dr. Anton Bilchik.
She also thanked close friends, including "The Morning Show" actress Tara Karsian and "The Rookie" star Gregory Zarian, along with his husband, John Stewart. They "have been my advocates and always ready to help me when it's 'my turn'," she wrote. "I'll be recouping for another couple of weeks and then ready for my next adventure. Onwards! F**K Cancer!"
This is the second time Cohn has battled cancer. In 2017, she revealed that she had been battling breast cancer for five years. "I kept that secret for a long time," she told People at the time. "I've always been an optimist, but the cancer metastasized. It kept spreading and coming back. I was frustrated and enraged. I couldn't control any of this. I couldn't fix it."
Cohn was one of the stars of "Facts of Life" for its entire nine-season run from 1979-88. More recently, she co-starred opposite Kristen Wiig in Apple TV+'s "Palm Royale."
Cohn received an overwhelming amount of well wishes from famous faces in the comment section of her most recent post, including Sarah Paulson, who wrote "Sending love...your way." Rhea Seehorn wrote: "MINDY!!!! F**K that nonsense!!!! Sending you love and healing to the moon and back!" Other well wishers included Octavia Spencer, Chelsea Handler, Vicki Lawrence, Helen Hunt, Lucy Hale, Daphne Zuniga, Peri Gilpin, Johnny Weir, and Holly Peete.
