Name
Gates McFadden
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1949-03-02 (77 years old)
Place of Birth
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, USA
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.
Known For
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A new technologically-superior Soviet nuclear sub, the Red October, is heading for the U.S...
6.616
When the Muppets graduate from Danhurst College, they take their song-filled senior revue ...
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Over the last fifty years, America has been fascinated by Star Trek since it first aired i...
6.3
An uptight advertising exec has his entire life in a filofax organizer which mistakenly en...
7.605
A behind-the-scenes look at Jim Henson's 1986 fantasy film, 'Labyrinth', featuring David B...
- 1994 Star Trek: Generations as Dr. Beverly Crusher
- 1996 Star Trek: First Contact as Commander Beverly Crusher
- 1998 Star Trek: Insurrection as Doctor Beverly Crusher
- 2002 Star Trek: Nemesis as Dr. Beverly Crusher
- 2005 Dirty as Wife
- 2023 Star Trek: Picard - The IMAX Live Series Finale Event as Dr. Beverly Crusher
- 1992 Star Trek: Federation Science
- 1994 Journey's End - The Saga of Star Trek: The Next Generation as Self
- 1993 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Behind the Scenes as Beverly Crusher
- 2014 Chaos on the Bridge as Self
- 1990 Taking Care of Business as Diane Connors
- 2015 Mattresside as Nurse
- 2016 50 Years of Star Trek as Self
- 2009 Make the Yuletide Gay as Martha Stanford
- 1997 Crowned and Dangerous as Patrice Baxter
- 1990 The Hunt for Red October as Caroline Ryan
- 1991 Star Trek: 25th Anniversary Special as Self
- 2017 A Neighbor's Deception as Dr. Constance Abrams
- 1986 Inside the Labyrinth as Self
- 1984 The Muppets Take Manhattan as Mr. Price's Secretary
- 2013 Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Best of Both Worlds as Dr. Beverly Crusher (archive footage)
- 2012 Reunification - 25 Years After Star Trek: The Next Generation as Self
- 2019 That Guy... Who Was In That Thing 3: Trek Stars as Self & Narrator
- 2020 Hexengeddon: Witches vs. the World as Madame Hexxina
- 1996 Star Trek: 30 Years and Beyond as Self
- 2014 Star Trek: The Next Generation - Chain of Command
- 2013 Star Trek: The Next Generation - Unification
- 2013 Star Trek: The Next Generation - Redemption as Dr. Beverly Crusher
- 2014 Star Trek: The Next Generation - All Good Things... as Dr. Beverly Crusher
- 1999 Family Guy ( 1 episode ) as Gates McFadden (voice)
- 1987 Star Trek: The Next Generation ( 154 episodes ) as Beverly Crusher
- 2001 The Division ( 1 episode ) as Mrs. Petersen
- 1997 The Practice ( 1 episode ) as Judge Emily Harrison
- 1994 Party of Five ( 1 episode ) as Greer Erikson
- 1995 Marker ( 13 episodes ) as Kimba
- 2022 The Shuttlepod Show ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1992 Mad About You ( 4 episodes ) as Allison Rourke
- 2021 The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek ( 4 episodes ) as Self / Narrator
- 2021 Star Trek: Prodigy ( 1 episode ) as Dr. Beverly Crusher (voice)
- 1986 The Wizard ( 1 episode )
- 2013 The Captains Close Up ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 2024 X-Men '97 ( 3 episodes ) as Mother Askani (voice)
- 2019 The Ready Room ( 2 episodes ) as Self
- 1990 Dream On ( 1 episode ) as Ina Dreikoff
- 2020 Star Trek: Picard ( 10 episodes ) as Dr. Beverly Crusher
- 2021 Star Trek: Prodigy ( 2 episodes ) as Beverly Crusher (voice)
- 1984 The Cosby Show ( 1 episode )
- 2024 Masters of the Universe: Revolution ( 4 episodes ) as Queen Marlena (voice)
- 2023 Star Trek: very Short Treks ( 1 episode ) as Dr. Crusher (voice)
- 2011 Franklin & Bash ( 4 episodes ) as Judge Mallory Jacobs
- 2003 NCIS ( 1 episode ) as Mrs. Belmont
- 1975 Saturday Night Live ( 1 episode ) as Woman in audience kissed by Bill Murray (uncredited)
