Julie Ann Piekarski is an American television actress, possibly best known for the role of Sue Ann Weaver on "The Facts of Life."
Born of Polish descent on January 2, 1963 in St. Louis, Missouri, Julie is the daughter of Bernard and Jeanette Piekarski. Described as an enthusiastic child passionate about arts and performance, often playing the central character in her school plays, she attended Highlander Charter School in St. Louis and received her first big break as a Mouseketeer on the 1970s version of "The New Mickey Mouse Club" alongside Lisa Whelchel, her future co-star on "The Facts Of Life". After gaining some popularity as an actress, she was cast as Sue Ann Weaver for the first season of "The Facts of Life." The series parlayed her into a cameo as her "Facts" character on its sister series, "Diff'rent Strokes," but with "The Facts of Life" struggling in the ratings, it went through a huge reboot for the second season. Along with Felice Schachter, Molly Ringwald and Julie Ann Haddock, she was let go from the series in favor for a smaller cast in an incident she called "blindsided."
Reduced to a guest star, Piekarski made a few appearances on "The Facts Of Life" before completely departing, later appearing in the TV shows "Quincy M.E" and "Three's Company," starring as a lovelorn teenager chasing John Ritter. She also starred in the TV-movies, "The Best of Times" and "The Miracle of Kathy Miller." She also auditioned for roles in the films "The Outsiders," "One Dark Night" (as the Meg Tilly character) and "Saturday The 14th," a film she turned down when she was asked to go topless for a scene. The part later went to actress Kari Michaelson of "Gimmee A Break" fame without the nude scene.
From 1986 to 1988, she was an entertainment reporter for KLPR-TV in St. Louis, Missouri. Although accepted to Stanford University, she chose to attend UCLA instead to study microbiology, later switching to communications. About this time, she played Sue Ann Weaver one more time on "The Facts of Life" where she was reunited with the First Season cast members minus Molly Ringwald. who busy making a movie. in 1986, she married dentist John Probst, having three children until their divorce in 2017.
Still finding time for acting roles, she had a brief part in the TV mini-series, "Pilot Season" and appeared in the 2021 film, "The Importance of Doubting Tom."
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