Cheryl Gates McFadden (born March 2, 1949), usually credited as Gates McFadden, is an American actress and choreographer. She is best known for portraying the character of Dr. Beverly Crusher in the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series and subsequent films.

Early life

McFadden was born in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. She attended Brandeis University graduating cum laude with a bachelor of arts in theater arts. After graduating from Brandeis, she moved to Paris and studied theater with actor Jacques LeCoq.

Career

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. However, she was credited as "Cheryl McFadden" In the Troma movie When Nature Calls (1983).