Gates McFadden
Acting
Born 1949-03-02
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, USA
53 credits
Read biography
Cheryl Gates McFadden (born March 2, 1949) is an American actress and choreographer.
She is best known for portraying the character of Dr. Beverly Crusher in the television and film series Star Trek: The Next Generation. She attended Brandeis University earning B.A Cum Laude in Theater Arts. After graduating from Brandeis, she moved to Paris and studied theater with actor Jacques LeCoq. Before Star Trek: The Next Generation, she was mostly known as a choreographer, often working on Jim Henson productions including the films The Dark Crystal, for which she was a choreographer, Labyrinth, for which she served as Director of Choreography and Puppet Movement, and The Muppets Take Manhattan, in which she has a brief on-screen appearance.
As a way of distinguishing her acting work from her choreography, she is usually credited as "Gates McFadden" as an actress and "Cheryl McFadden" as a choreographer. She appeared briefly in the Woody Allen film Stardust Memories, and in The Hunt for Red October as Jack Ryan's wife Cathy, though most of her scenes were cut in post-production. In 1987, McFadden was cast as Dr. Beverly Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
The Crusher character was slated to be Captain Jean-Luc Picard's love interest, and this aspect of the character is what attracted McFadden to the role. Another important aspect of the character was being a widow balancing motherhood and a career. McFadden left after the first season, in part because series executive producer Gene Roddenberry was never enthusiastic about casting McFadden in the first place.
Roddenberry also wanted to give the role of ship's doctor to actress Diana Muldaur, with whom he had worked on the original Star Trek series and other occasions. Muldaur's character, Dr. Katherine Pulaski, proved very unpopular with fans and left the show after the second season. McFadden was approached to return for the third season. At first she was hesitant, but after a phone call from co-star Patrick Stewart, McFadden was persuaded to reprise her role.
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Filmography
Acting
48 credits
NCIS
Family Guy
X-Men '97
Saturday Night Live
Star Trek: The Next Generation
The Practice
The Division
Mad About You
Star Trek: Picard
Party of Five
Franklin & Bash
Star Trek: Prodigy
Star Trek: First Contact
The Hunt for Red October
Star Trek: Nemesis
Star Trek: Insurrection
Dream On
Star Trek: Generations
The Ready Room
Masters of the Universe: Revolution
The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek
Marker
Dirty
The Muppets Take Manhattan
The Shuttlepod Show
The Captains Close Up
Taking Care of Business
Star Trek: very Short Treks
Star Trek: 25th Anniversary Special
Star Trek: 30 Years and Beyond
50 Years of Star Trek
Mattresside
Crowned and Dangerous
A Neighbor's Deception
Make-Up Man: The Michael Westmore Documentary
Star Trek: The Next Generation - All Good Things...
That Guy... Who Was In That Thing 3: Trek Stars
Journey's End - The Saga of Star Trek: The Next Generation
Hexengeddon: Witches vs. the World
Inside the Labyrinth
Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Best of Both Worlds
Star Trek: Picard - The IMAX Live Series Finale Event
Chaos on the Bridge
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Redemption
Reunification - 25 Years After Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Behind the Scenes
Make the Yuletide Gay
The Sixty Year Mission: How Star Trek Changed Television and the World
Other credits
5 credits
The Cosby Show
The Wizard
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Unification
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Chain of Command
Star Trek: Federation Science
Directing
1 credit
Producing
1 credit
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