Bridgette Andersen

Bridgette Andersen (July 11, 1975 – 1997) was a California-based child actress and child model in American media. She starred in 1982's Savannah Smiles, for which she received her first of four Youth in Film Award nominations.

Bridgette Andersen
Born	(1975-07-11)July 11, 1975
Died	1997 (aged 21) Los Angeles County, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Opioid overdose
Occupation	Actress and model
Years active	Late 1970s – 1987

Personal life

Andersen was born on July 11, 1975, to Frank and Teresa Andersen.[1] By April 1982, she lived in Malibu, California,[2] with her parents, younger sister Angelica,[1] and two brothers. As an infant, Angelica appeared in television advertisements for Bank of America and Mervyn's.[3]

A reader since age two-and-a-half, the Havre Daily News reported that six-year-old Andersen had "a staggering IQ". Her favorite author was Ernest Hemingway, and her favorite book was The Old Man and the Sea.[4] In February 1983, Andersen enjoyed the TV series Diff'rent Strokes and Silver Spoons. The seven-and-a-half-year-old planned to continue acting, and aspired to produce and direct films as well.[3]

Andersen died of an opioid overdose in 1997,[5] on Santa Monica Boulevard,[6] at the age of 21.[7]

Career

In a February 1983 interview with Johnny Carson on his late-night show, Andersen related a family anecdote of her trying to climb into the television and play with Our Gang ("The Little Rascals") at age two. Caught by her father, she was taught about actors and acting, whereafter she secured a talent agent and began acting.[3] She spent three years fashion modeling and acting in television advertisements. She also appeared in television shows including King's Crossing and Washington Mistress.[2]

In 1982, Andersen starred as Savannah Driscoll in the 1982 film Savannah Smiles. Writer and co-star Mark Miller was inspired by[8]—and wrote the part for—his daughter, Savannah Miller. However, when the film was ready to shoot, Ms. Miller was too old for the part at age eleven,[4] so Mark Miller auditioned almost 150 children before discovering and choosing Andersen for the part.[8] In a contemporary interview, Andersen opined that she and the Driscoll character were "like twins! We do the same things."[4] According to The Cumberland Times, only three months after the release of Savannah Smiles, Miller was already writing another script to star Andersen.[8]

That same year, Andersen portrayed the six-year-old Mae West in the biographical television film, Mae West.[2] In 1983, Andersen explained that she preferred working in films versus television because they gave her more to do.[3] During the 1983–84 run of The Mississippi, Anderson was nominated for a Youth in Film Award ("Best Young Actress - Guest in a Television Series") for her work thereon.[9] Andersen went on to star in the short-lived CBS sitcom, Gun Shy; she portrayed Celia, one of two children won in a card game by Barry Van Dyke's Russell Donovan.[10]

In her teen years, Andersen had trouble finding acting work.[6][11]

Acting credits

Film performances

Year	Title	Role	Citation(s)
1982	Savannah Smiles	Savannah Driscoll	[8]
1983	Nightmares	Brooke Houston	[12]
1985	A Summer to Remember	Jill	[12]
1985	Fever Pitch	Amy Taggart	[13]
1987	Too Much	Suzy	[12]

Television performances

Year	Title	Role	Episode(s)	Citation(s)
1982	Washington Mistress	Jenny Reynolds		[12]
1982	King's Crossing			[2]
1982	Mae West	Mae West (age six)	Television film	[2]
1983	Gun Shy	Celia	Six episodes	[10]
1983	Faerie Tale Theatre	Gretel	episode "Hansel and Gretel"	[4]
1984	Remington Steele	Angel	episode "Blood Is Thicker Than Steele"	[14]
1984	The Return of Marcus Welby, M.D.	Alison Lattimer	Television film	[12]
1986	The Golden Girls	Charley	episode "The Truth Will Out"	[14]
1986	Between Two Women	Kate Petherton	Television film	[12]
1986	The Parent Trap II	Mary Grand	Television film	[15]
1987	CBS Summer Playhouse	Jamie Wilde	episode "Doctors Wilde"	[12]

Awards nominations

Year(s)	Award	Category	Title of work	Result
1981–82	4th Youth in Film Awards	Best Young Motion Picture Actress	Savannah Smiles	Nominated[16]
1982–83	5th Youth in Film Awards	Best Young Actress in a Comedy Series	Gun Shy	Nominated[17]
1983–84	6th Youth in Film Awards	Best Young Actress - Guest in a Television Series	The Mississippi	Nominated[9]
1984–85	7th Youth in Film Awards	Exceptional Performance by a Young Actress in a Television Special or Mini-Series	A Summer to Remember	Nominated[18]

Legacy

In 2015, actress Amber Tamblyn published her third book of poetry—Dark Sparkler—"featuring elegies to late actresses both legendary and unknown, all who suffered untimely deaths." Andersen is the subject of one such poem, as is pornographic film actor Shannon Michelle Wilsey (1970–1994), whose stage name "Savannah" was derived from Andersen's Savannah Smiles.[6] Wilsey's poem is written as "a meta-poem, where she's writing for Bridgette Andersen, and telling her how they're the same."[11]

When MVD Entertainment Group published Savannah Smiles on Blu-ray in 2018 as part of their MVD Rewind Collection, among the bonus materials included was "a featurette about the memories of Andersen".[19]

See also

• Anissa Jones
• Bobby Driscoll

References

1. Bledsoe, Gloria (1984-08-30). "Child actress a TV and movie 'veteran' at age 9". Statesman Journal. p. 20. ISSN 0739-5507.
2. "Andersen is precocious actress". Havre Daily News. 1982-04-23. p. 18.
3. The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Season 22. Episode 26. 1983-02-18. NBC.
4. Triplett, Gene (1982-05-16). "Interview is almost too much for Gene". The Oklahoman. Archived from the original on 2018-08-24. Retrieved 2018-08-24.
5. Smetanka, Andy (2003-09-04). "Dead end kids". Colorado Springs Independent. Archived from the original on 2015-09-13. Retrieved 2018-08-18. Or, how Hollywood eats its child actors
6. Turnbow, Tina (2015-04-07). "Amber Tamblyn Talks to Us About Her New Poetry Book Inspired By Dead Starlets". Paper. Paper Communications. ISSN 1073-9122. Archived from the original on 2018-08-20. Retrieved 2018-08-20.
7. Heldenfels, Rich (2011-07-31). "'Savannah Smiles' child star dies young". Jacksonville Daily News. p. 31. OCLC 30050468. Bridgette Andersen, who played Savannah, worked at times following this movie, including in the TV comedy 'Gun Shy.'
8. "All-American Country Music Stars Belie Typical Lyrics". The Cumberland News. 1982-06-26. p. 22.
9. "6th Annual Awards". Youth in Film Association. 1983–84. Archived from the original on 2016-05-06. Retrieved 2018-10-17.
10. Leszczak, Bob (2016). "Gun Shy". Single Season Sitcoms of the 1980s: A Complete Guide (illustrated ed.). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-7864-9958-8.
11. Smith, Zack (2016-02-23). "Interview: Actress and Poet Amber Tamblyn Surveys Hollywood's Toll on Women in Dark Sparkler". Indy Week. ISSN 0737-8254. Archived from the original on 2017-06-24. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
12. "Filmography for Bridgette Andersen". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on 2019-01-22. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
13. Brody, Richard (2016-10-13). "Richard Brooks's 'Fever Pitch' Never Got Its Due". The New Yorker. Condé Nast. ISSN 0028-792X. OCLC 320541675. Archived from the original on 2017-10-20. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
14. "Bridgette Andersen List of Movies and TV Shows | TV Guide". TV Guide. ISSN 0039-8543. Archived from the original on 2018-09-29. Retrieved 2018-10-01.
15. Ferber, Taylor (2016-02-27). "Disney Child Stars Who Met With Incredibly Tragic Fates". VH1. Archived from the original on 2016-07-09. Retrieved 2018-08-23. Unfortunately, no one ever saw any of this coming.
16. "4th Annual Awards". Youth in Film Association. 1981–82. Archived from the original on 2008-03-10. Retrieved 2018-10-17.
17. "5th Annual Awards". Youth in Film Association. 1982–83. Archived from the original on 2011-04-03. Retrieved 2018-10-17.
18. "7th Annual Awards". Youth in Film Association. 1984–85. Archived from the original on 2010-11-14. Retrieved 2018-10-17.
19. Barta, Preston (2018-05-18). "DVD reviews: 'Die Hard' turns 30 with high-definition explosions". Denton Record-Chronicle. Bill Patterson. Archived from the original on 2018-05-22. Retrieved 2018-08-21.

External links

• Bridgette Andersen on IMDb
• Bridgette Andersen at the TCM Movie Database