McFadden was born in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. She attended Brandeis University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (cum laude) in the theatre arts, before moving to Paris where she studied theatre with actor Jacques Lecoq at his school of physical theatre. She is of Lithuanian descent on her mother\'s side.\n', '

McFadden often worked at The Jim Henson Company, 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.\n', '

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, at Hurley\'s demand, she was fired at the end of season one. Diana Muldaur joined the production as the Enterprise's new chief medical officer, Dr. Katherine Pulaski, for the second season.\n', '

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