ABOUT

About

Actor.
Director.
Choreographer.

Gates McFadden is best known for her role as Dr. Beverly Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation – six seasons and four films. She is also a stage actress, choreographer, director, teacher, and the host of the Nacelle Podcast Gates McFadden InvestiGates: Who Do You Think You Are?

Born and raised in Ohio, she spent many years working and teaching in France, New York, and along the East Coast. Gates now lives primarily in Los Angeles, where she is always hard at work on upcoming projects and teaching her smart aleck cats to make a decent cup of coffee

See below for her extensive body of stage, screen, and teaching work. 

Stage
  • Medea —Studio Theatre, University of Pittsburg, PA 1976 — director/choreographer
  • Pal Joey — Springold Theatre | Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 1977 — choreographer
  • Women of Trachis — Springold Theatre | Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 1979 — director *Winner of Most Innovative Director in Boston Area along with Peter Sellars
  • Old Times — Laurie Theater |Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 1979 — director
  • He Who Gets Slapped — Springold Theatre | Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 1979 — director
  • Johnny on a Spot — Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) NY 1980 —fight choreographer
  • A Winter’s Tale — Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) NY 1980 — choreographer
  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream — Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) NY 1981 — choreographer
  • Cloud 9 — Theatre De Lys NYC 1981, Tommy Tune; director — Ellen/Mrs Saunders/Betty
  • Rosario and the Gypsies — Ensemble Studio Theatre NYC 1982 — Mary
  • “Bumps” and “Knots” — Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, London 1982 — director/choreographer
  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream — NY Shakespeare Festival | Delacorte Theatre 1982, James Lapine; director — Fairy/Prologue/Helena understudy
  • To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday — Ensemble Studio Theatre New York 1983 — Gillian
  • To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday — Circle in the Square Downtown, NYC 1984 — Gillian
  • The Homecoming — Jewish Repertory Theatre (JRT), NYC 1984 —Ruth
  • The Bloodletters — Ensemble Studio Theatre, NYC 1984 —Annie Sutter
  • How to Say Goodbye — Vineyard Theatre, NYC 1986 —Casey Staiger
  • Couch Tandem —Women’s InterArt Center, NYC 1987 — Dr. Handleman
  • The Matchmaker — La Jolla Playhouse, CA 1987 — Mrs. Malloy
  • Bottleneck at the Bar — Golden Lion Theatre, NYC 1990 — Playwright (as Jesse Stuart Gates) and director
  • L’historie du Soldat (Soldier’s Tale) — Ja Jolla Chamber Music Festival, CA; Kent Nagano, Conductor 1993— The Devil
  • Carnival des Animaux —Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, OH; Leonard Slatkin, Conductor 1993 — narrator
  • Emerald City — Perry Street Theatre | New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW), NYC 1988 —Kate
  • Viva Detroit — Los Angeles Theatre Center (LATC), LA 1990 — Pat
  • Every Good Boy Deserves Favour — Tour 1992-93 (Patrick Stewart; Director) —Schoolteacher
  • Voices in the Dark — George Street Playhouse, New Brunswick, NJ 1998 — Lil
  • Tree —EST-LA 2009 — Artistic Director/Producer
  • Mlle. God — EST-LA 2011 —Artistic Director/Producer
  • The House of the Rising Sun — EST-LA 2011 — Artistic Director/Producer
  • Crack Whore Galore —EST-LA 2011 — Director/Producer/Co-creator
  • House of Gold — EST-LA 2011 — Director/Producer
  • The Many Mistresses of Martin Luther King — EST-LA 2012 —Artistic Director/ Producer
  • The Belle of Belfast — EST-LA 2012 — Artistic Director/Producer
  • Year of the Rabbit —EST-LA 2012 — Artistic Director/Producer
  • Does Anyone Know What a Pancreas Is? —EST-LA 2012 — Director/Artistic Director/ Producer
  • The Fisherman’s Wife —EST-LA 2012 —Director/Producer
  • The Last Look Back — EST-LA 2013 —Director/Producer
  • The Ugly One — EST-LA 2014 — Director/Producer
  • Land Line — EST-LA 2014 — Producer
  • FĂ©stival Ă  PĂ©lican — Domaine de PĂ©lican, Gignac, France 2016 —producer
  • FĂ©stival Ă  PĂ©lican — Domaine de PĂ©lican, Gignac, France 2017 —producer
Screen

Film

  • The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)— Mr. Price’s Secretary
  • Dreamchild (1985) —director of choreography
  • Labyrinth (1986)— Director of Choreography and Puppet Movement
  • The Hunt for Red October (1990) —Carolyn Ryan
  • Taking Care of Business (aka Filofax) (1990) —Diane Conners
  • Beyond the Groove (1990) —Secretary (with David Rappaport)
  • Star Trek Generations (1994) —Dr. Beverly Crusher
  • Start Trek First Contact (1996)— Dr. Beverly Crusher
  • Crowned and Dangerous (1997) —Patrice Baxter
  • Star Trek Insurrection (1998) —Dr. Beverly Crusher
  • Star Trek Nemesis (2002) —Dr. Beverly Crusher
  • Dirty (2005) —Wife
  • Make the Yuletide Gay (2009) Martha Stanford
  • Mattresside (2015 short) — Nurse
  • Follow the Number (2016 ONSEN music video)
  • Finger (2019 short)

Television

  • The Edge of Night (1982)— five episodes —Tammy Dryden
  • The Wizard (1986) —episode pilot “El Dorado” —Darcy Stafford (David Rappaport)
  • The Cosby Show (1987) —episode “Cliff’s 50th Birthday” —Anita Garcia
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1988; 1989-1994) —154 episodes— Dr. Beverly Crusher/choreographer one episode (Data’s Day)/director one episode (Genesis)
  • All My Children (1988)— Dr. Lisa Mallory
  • L.A. Law (1992) —episode “Steal It Again, Sam”— Uta Keller
  • Dream On (1993) —episode “The Book, the Thief, Her Boss and His Lover” —Ina Dreikoff
  • Party of Five (1994) —episode “Something Out of Nothing”— Greer Erikson
  • Marker (1995) —13 episodes —Kimba Hills Rose
  • Mystery Dance (1995) —episode pilot #1.1— Nancy Maxwell; John Wells director
  • Mad About You (1995-1996)— Four episodes — Allison Rourke
  • The Practice (2000)— episode “Checkmates” —Judge Emily Harrison
  • The Division (2001) —episode “Hero”— Mrs. Petersen
  • The Handler (2004) —episode “Wedding Party” —Siobhan
  • Franklin & Bash (2011-2013) —four episodes — Judge Mallory Jacobs
  • A Neighbor’s Deception (2017) —Dr Constance Abrams
  • NCIS (2017) episode “Skeleton Crew” —Mrs. Belmont
  • The Guy
 Who Was In That Thing 3: Trek Stars (2019 tv movie)— Narrator/Self
  • The Center Seat (2021) — The History Channel — Narrator
Voice Work

Video Games

  • Star Trek: The Next Generation – A Final Unity (1995) — Dr. Beverly Crusher (voice)
  • Star Trek: Generations (1997) —Dr. Beverly Crusher (voice)
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion (1999) —Dr. Beverly Crusher (voice)
  • Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff (2014) —Dr. Beverly Crusher (voice)

Voice Work

  • Mary Jane Colter: House Made of Dawn (1999) — PBS documentary — Narrator
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation: First Contact (Adapted) —2000
  • Chapter Two — 2001
  • This Town —2001
  • War of the Worlds (Dramatized) — 2002
  • Pariswalks —2003
  • Walk and Talk Paris —2006
  • Family Guy (2009) — episode “Not All Dogs Go to Heaven” —  (voice)
  • The Autumn Garden — 2009
  • METAtropolis: Cascadia —2010
  • Pure Voice Audio Bible- King James Version, KJV: Complete Bible —2012
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Devil’s Heart (Adapted) — 2013
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation: Reunion (Adapted) — 2014
  • Confessor (A METAtropolis Story) — 2014
  • Scary Endings (2016) —  episode “U Get What U Deserve” —  (voice) 911 operator
Teaching
  • Harvard Hasty Pudding Show Choreographer; 1970 Boy Who Cried Beowulf; 1971 Rhinestones in the Rough
  • Choreographer in Residence for the BAM Theater Company under David Jones
  • Artistic Director of Ensemble Studio Theatre LA (EST-LA) for five years
  • NYU Tisch School of the Arts
  • Brandeis University
  • University of Pittsburgh
  • Brooklyn College
  • AADA New York
  • Harvard
  • The Stella Academy in Hamburg, Germany
  • Teaching artist for Lincoln Center Institute
  • Nashville Institue of the Arts (director of “The Drummer”)
  • USC where she was awarded the George Burns Teaching Fellowship
  • NYU Fredonia
  • NYU Stony Brook
  • George Washington Institute
  • Eckerd College
  • Perdue
  • Browns & Nichols
  • Cambridge School
  • Harvard West Lake
  • Theatre of The Riverside Church
.With Daniel Gerroll, Dan Butler, and Alice Haining in “Emerald City” at the Perry Street Theatre, NYC 1988.
.
With Daniel Gerroll, Dan Butler, and Alice Haining in “Emerald City” at the Perry Street Theatre, NYC 1988.
.With DW Moffett in “How to Say Goodbye” 1986.
.
With DW Moffett in
“How to Say Goodbye” 1986.
.With DW Moffett & Jason Ruggiero in “How to Say Goodbye” 1986.
.
With DW Moffett & Jason Ruggiero in
“How to Say Goodbye” 1986.
.With Garrett M. Brown in “Bloodletters” at Ensemble Studio Theatre, NYC 1984. Photo by Carol Rosegg.
.
With Garrett M. Brown in “Bloodletters” at Ensemble Studio Theatre, NYC 1984.
Photo by Carol Rosegg.
.Teaching theatre at Brandeis University, MA 1995.
.
Teaching theatre at Brandeis
University, MA 1995.
.With the cast of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at the New York Shakespeare Festival in Central Park, NYC 1982. Photo by Martha Swope.
.
With the cast of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at the New York Shakespeare Festival in Central Park, NYC 1982.
Photo by Martha Swope.
.As Gillian with Noelle Parker, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jean De Baer, Richmond Hoxie, Francis Conroy, and David Rasche in “To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday” at Ensemble Studio Theatre, NYC 1983. Photo by Carol Rosegg.
.
As Gillian with Noelle Parker, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jean De Baer, Richmond Hoxie, Francis Conroy, and David Rasche in “To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday” at Ensemble Studio Theatre, NYC 1983. Photo by Carol Rosegg.
.As Gillian with David Rasche in “To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday” at Ensemble Studio Theatre, NYC 1983. Photo by Carol Rosegg.
.
As Gillian with David Rasche in “To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday” at Ensemble Studio Theatre, NYC 1983. Photo by Carol Rosegg.
.As Judge Mallory Jacobs in the television series “Franklin & Bash” 2011.
.
As Judge Mallory Jacobs in the television
series “Franklin & Bash” 2011.
.As Kimba Rose in the television series “Marker” 1995.
.
As Kimba Rose in the television
series “Marker” 1995.
.As Alison Rourke with Paul Reiser in the television series “Mad About You” 1995.
.
As Alison Rourke with Paul Reiser
in the television series “Mad About You” 1995.
.As Diane Conners in “Taking Care of Business” 1990.
.
As Diane Conners in
“Taking Care of Business” 1990.
.Sharing a hug with Ludo behind the scenes of “Labyrinth” 1985.
.
Sharing a hug with Ludo
behind the scenes of “Labyrinth” 1985.
.At work behind the scenes on “Labyrinth” with Jim Henson and Hoggle, 1985.
.
At work behind the scenes on “Labyrinth”
with Jim Henson and Hoggle, 1985.
.As Dr. Handleman in “Couch Tandem” at the Women’s InterArt Center, NYC 1987.
.
As Dr. Handleman in “Couch Tandem” at the Women’s InterArt Center, NYC 1987.