Gates McFadden

Cheryl Gates McFadden (born March 2, 1949),^[1] is an American actress and choreographer. She is usually credited as Cheryl McFadden when working as a choreographer and Gates McFadden when working as an actress. She is best known for playing Dr. Beverly Crusher in the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series and in the four subsequent films.

Early life

McFadden was born in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. She attended Brandeis University graduating with a Bachelor of Arts cum laude in theatre arts. After graduating from Brandeis, she moved to Paris and studied theatre with actor Jacques Lecoq. She is of Lithuanian descent on her mother's side.^[2]

Career

Early work

McFadden often worked at The Jim Henson Company, ^[3][4] working behind the scenes of Labyrinth (as director of choreography and puppet movement), The Muppets Take Manhattan (choreographer and a brief on-screen appearance), and uncredited work on Dreamchild (again supervising choreography and puppet movement). 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. However, she was credited as "Cheryl McFadden" in the Troma movie When Nature Calls (1985) and in the season-three episode of The Cosby Show, "Cliff's 50th Birthday". She appeared in The Hunt for Red October as Jack Ryan's wife Caroline, though most of her scenes were cut in post-production.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Season One

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; another important aspect of the character was being a widow balancing motherhood and a career.

Maurice Hurley, head writer and showrunner, did not like working with McFadden, and McFadden was fired at the end of the season 1.^[5] Diana Muldaur joined the production as the Enterprise's new chief medical officer, Dr. Katherine Pulaski, for season 2.

Seasons three through seven

Series creator Gene Roddenberry admitted that the Dr. Pulaski character did not develop a chemistry with the other characters, so McFadden was approached to return as Dr. Crusher for the third season.^[6] At first, she was hesitant, but after a phone call from co-star Patrick Stewart, and numerous fan letters, McFadden was persuaded to return to the role, which she then played through the remainder of the series.^[7]

Highlights for her character included "The High Ground", where she is kidnapped by terrorists; "Remember Me", in which she becomes trapped in an alternate reality where her loved ones start to disappear; "The Host", which features a romance between the doctor and a man with a big secret; "Suspicions", in which she risks her career to solve the murder of a scientist; "Descent" where Crusher takes command of the Enterprise when the rest of the senior staff is participating in a search for Data; "Sub Rosa", where she becomes the next victim of her grandmother's seductive "ghost"; and "Attached", where Picard and Crusher become telepathically linked as prisoners and learn their true feelings for one another.

McFadden reprised her role for all four TNG movies and also provided her voice for PC games Star Trek: A Final Unity and Star Trek Generations. Also, McFadden directed the episode "Genesis" (her only directing credit to date) in which an infection causes the crew to de-evolve into primitive forms of life, and choreographed the dance routine in "Data's Day".

After The Next Generation

McFadden in 2014

McFadden co-starred in the 1990 comedy Taking Care of Business starring James Belushi, and fellow Next Generation alumnus, John de Lancie (Q). In 1992, she appeared alongside fellow cast members Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, and Colm Meaney in a production of Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, which was performed in four cities. She also starred in the 1995 television series Marker with Richard Grieco and appeared in the made-for-television movie Crowned and Dangerous with Yasmine Bleeth in 1997. Additional television work was the role of Allison Rourke, Paul Buchman's boss, in four episodes of the sitcom Mad About You. In the spring of 2006, McFadden appeared in a series of television commercials for Microsoft.

She has taught at several universities (American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Brandeis, Harvard, Purdue, Temple, the Stella Academy in Hamburg, and the University of Pittsburgh).^[8] As of August 2010, she was listed as an adjunct faculty member in the School of Theater at the University of Southern California.^[9] She has been Artistic Director of Ensemble Studio Theatre of Los Angeles since January 2009,^[10] stepping down from that position in October 2014.^[11] During her tenure, she spearheaded the building of the Atwater Village Theatre Collective, a new two-theater space in Los Angeles.^[12][13]

McFadden has lent her voice as narrator in several audio books. In 2010, she was the narrator of "Confessor" (METAtropolis: CASCADIA).^[14][15]

Personal life

McFadden has one son, James, born in 1991.^[1] Her pregnancy was not written into the fourth season of TNG; instead, her character wore a laboratory coat over her uniform. Next Generation co-star Brent Spiner is her son's godfather.^[16]

Filmography

Theatre

Stage Appearances

• (As Cheryl McFadden) Ellen/Mrs. Saunders and Betty, Cloud 9, Theatre De Lys, New York City, 1981.
• (As Cheryl McFadden) Title role, To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday, Ensemble Studio Theatre, New York City, 1983, then Circle in the Square Downtown, New York City, 1984.
• (As Cheryl McFadden) Ruth, The Homecoming, Jewish Repertory Theatre, New York City, 1984.
• (As Cheryl McFadden) Annie Sutter, The Bloodletters, Ensemble Studio Theatre, 1984.
• (As Cheryl McFadden) Casey Staiger, How to Say Goodbye, Vineyard Theatre, New York City, 1986.
• (As Cheryl McFadden) Dr. Handleman, Couch Tandem, Women's InterArt Center, New York City, 1987.
• Kate, Emerald City, Perry Street Theatre, New York City, 1988.
• Lil, Voices in the Dark, George Street Playhouse, New Brunswick, NJ, 1998.
• (As Cheryl McFadden) Mary, Rosario and the Gypsies, Ensemble Studio Theatre; and as Mrs. Malloy, The Matchmaker, La Jolla Playhouse, La Jolla, CA.
• Viva Detroit, Los Angeles;
• Every Good Boy Deserves Favor;
• L'histoire du Soldat.

Stage Work

• (As Cheryl McFadden) Choreographer, The Winter's Tale, Brooklyn Academy of Music Theatre Company, Helen Owen Carey Playhouse, Brooklyn, NY, 1980.
• (As Cheryl McFadden) Fight choreographer, Johnny on the Spot, Brooklyn Academy of Music Theatre Company, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, 1980.
• (As Cheryl McFadden) Choreographer, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Brooklyn Academy of Music Theatre Company, Brooklyn Academy of Music, 1981.
• Choreographer, Yesterday Is Over, Women's InterArt Center, New York City;
• Director, Bottleneck at the Bar, Golden Lion Theatre, New York City;
• Director and Choreographer, Bumps and Knots, Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, London;
• Director and choreographer, Women of Trachis, He Who Gets Slapped, and Old Times, all Springold Theatre, Waltham, MA;
• Director and choreographer, Medea, Studio Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gates McFadden.

• Gates McFadden on IMDb
• Gates McFadden at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Gates McFadden at the TCM Movie Database
  
• Gates McFadden at AllMovie
• Gates McFadden at Rotten Tomatoes
• Gates McFadden at TVGuide.com