Gates McFadden

Gates McFadden is 77 years old as of 9 November 2026. She was born Cheryl Gates McFadden on 2 March 1949 in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, and turns 78 in March 2027 [2] [3]. Most viewers know her as Dr. Beverly Crusher, but she spent years in theatre, teaching and puppet movement before that, and in 2026 she is writing a comic about the character.

Ohio, Brandeis and Paris

McFadden was born and raised in Ohio [1] [4]. She earned a bachelor's degree in theatre arts at Brandeis University, and TV Guide dates the degree to 1970 [2] [4]. She then studied acting and mime in Paris with Jacques Lecoq at his École Mime et Théâtre [2]. StarTrek.com notes that Lecoq's other students included Toby Jones, Geoffrey Rush and Isla Fisher [3].

Her own site says she spent years working and teaching in France, New York and along the East Coast, and that she now lives mainly in Los Angeles [1].

Choreographer before actress

The break came through dance and staging, not through a television pilot. Her official biography lists her choreography for Harvard's Hasty Pudding Show in 1970 and 1971, and for Brooklyn Academy of Music productions of A Winter's Tale and A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1980 and 1981 [1]. Encyclopedia.com also credits her as choreographer of The Winter's Tale (1980) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (1981), and as fight choreographer of Johnny on the Spot in 1980 [2].

That stage work led to Jim Henson. She choreographed The Dark Crystal (1982) and appeared briefly in The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984), according to Encyclopedia.com and StarTrek.com [2] [3]. In Labyrinth (1986) she was Director of Choreography and Puppet Movement [1]. TV Guide adds that she choreographed the ballroom scene in Labyrinth [4]. She also choreographed and directed the fantasy sequences of Dreamchild (1985) [2].

She kept a foot in theatre throughout. Encyclopedia.com lists her as founder and artistic director of New York Theatre Commotion, a touring company, and her stage appearances include Cloud 9 (1981) and The Homecoming (1984) [2]. Her own site says she directed Bumps and Knots in London and was artistic director of Ensemble Studio Theatre/Los Angeles for five years [1].

Screen roles: The Hunt for Red October and Star Trek

Her first regular television part was Darcy Stafford in The Wizard in 1986 [2]. In 1987 she began playing Dr. Beverly Crusher, the chief medical officer of the USS Enterprise-D, in Star Trek: The Next Generation, a role that ran until 1994 [2].

Her time on the show was not continuous. StarTrek.com says she played Crusher in the first season and left after a clash with producer Maurice Hurley, and that Diana Muldaur played Dr. Pulaski in season two [3]. FEDCON's biography words the gap differently, saying she left after the second season and came back a year later at fans' request, so the exact length of her absence is described differently by the two sources [11].

In 1990 she played Caroline Ryan, wife of Jack Ryan, in The Hunt for Red October [2]. She told Screen Rant in 2023 that she was meant to return as Cathy Ryan in the next Jack Ryan film, but that Alec Baldwin's pay dispute ended the plan and the studio cast Harrison Ford instead [7]. That is her account, and the interview does not give the film's title. She also played Diane Conners in Taking Care of Business the same year [2].

After the series she played Crusher in the four films, Generations (1994), First Contact (1996), Insurrection (1998) and Nemesis (2002) [2]. Outside Star Trek she had a recurring role as Allison Rourke in Mad About You (1995) and played Judge Emily Harrison in The Practice (2000) [2]. Her official site also lists Marker and Franklin & Bash among her credits [1].

Directing "Genesis"

McFadden directed one episode of The Next Generation, "Genesis", in 1994 [2] [3]. In a Parade interview published in March 2026, she said she wanted to direct from the first day of production and that for most of the seven seasons nobody said yes [9]. She also said she believes the informal mentoring that helped male cast members become directors was not open to her: men "show each other how to do it," but "don't always do that for the women" [9].

She calls the "Genesis" shoot her favorite week of the series. Rick Berman's note on her work was two words, "great rushes," and she never directed another episode. She says no one has told her why she was not asked back [9]. TV Guide's biography calls her the only regular Star Trek cast member to have directed an episode [4].

Best-known work

Year	Title	Role
1982	The Dark Crystal	Choreographer
1984	The Muppets Take Manhattan	Brief on-screen appearance
1985	Dreamchild	Choreographer and director of fantasy sequences
1986	Labyrinth	Director of Choreography and Puppet Movement
1986	The Wizard	Darcy Stafford
1987 to 1994	Star Trek: The Next Generation	Dr. Beverly Crusher
1990	The Hunt for Red October	Caroline Ryan
1990	Taking Care of Business	Diane Conners
1994	Star Trek: Generations	Dr. Beverly Crusher
1995	Mad About You	Allison Rourke
1996	Star Trek: First Contact	Dr. Beverly Crusher
1998	Star Trek: Insurrection	Dr. Beverly Crusher
2000	The Practice	Judge Emily Harrison
2002	Star Trek: Nemesis	Dr. Beverly Crusher
2023	Star Trek: Picard (season 3)	Dr. Beverly Crusher

Sources for the table: [2] [1] [3] [8]. The 2023 entry rests on the Nacelle Company's interview with her about Picard season 3 [8].

Teaching and the stage

Teaching is a second thread. Her official biography lists NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Brandeis University, the University of Pittsburgh, Brooklyn College, the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, Harvard, Lincoln Center Institute and USC, where she received the George Burns Teaching Fellowship [1]. Encyclopedia.com lists her as an assistant professor in Brandeis's graduate school of theatre arts, a lecturer at Pittsburgh and an instructor in acting and improvisation at NYU, without giving years [2]. In 2023 she told Screen Rant that many of her former students are now "extraordinary people" [7].

Awards

Her best-documented honor is shared. At the 51st Saturn Awards in Burbank on 4 February 2024, the cast of The Next Generation received a special Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Kevin Feige, and McFadden accepted it along with Patrick Stewart, Michael Dorn, Brent Spiner, Marina Sirtis and Wil Wheaton [5]. The Saturn Awards said it extended the usual award to the whole cast because of the show's "continued influence on the face of general television" [6]. TV Guide's biography also mentions a 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award [4]. We found no individual major award to list for her.

Relationships

McFadden has kept her private life largely out of print. Her son James was born in 1991, during the run of The Next Generation, and her co-star Brent Spiner is his godfather [3]. Encyclopedia.com also lists a son named James Cleveland [2]. We found no on-record statement from her, and no two reliable outlets, about a current or former partner, so we do not name one. Net worth is also a gap: we found no estimate from a named outlet with a date, so we give no figure.

Picard, podcasting and the Crusher comic

She returned as Beverly Crusher in season 3 of Star Trek: Picard in 2023 [8] [11]. She described the character as a "whole person": a ship captain, nonprofit leader, explorer, doctor, scientist and parent [7]. In the same interview she said the character's son is named Jack, her own son's name too [7].

In 2022 she began hosting the podcast InvestiGates, produced by The Nacelle Company's NacelleCast [8]. Season 1 featured mostly her Next Generation friends and co-stars, and season 2 widened the guest list to include William Shatner, Kate Mulgrew and Tawny Newsome [8] [7]. Nacelle's chief executive Brian Volk-Weiss hired her, and she had turned the offer down twice before accepting [8]. She edits the sound herself, saying "I have a director's mind" [7].

On 6 October 2026, ICv2 reported that she will write a limited comic series for IDW Publishing, with art by Megan Levens and colors by Charlie Kirchoff, due in summer 2027. It fills the 20-year gap in Crusher's life between Nemesis and Picard [10]. She is also listed as a guest at FEDCON 35 in Bonn, on all convention days [11].