Аманда Петерсон: Жизнь и карьера американской актрисы

American actress (1971–2015)

Phyllis Amanda Peterson (July 8, 1971 – July 3, 2015) was an American actress, most known for her role as Cindy Mancini in the 1987 comedy film Can't Buy Me Love.

Peterson was born in Greeley, Colorado, the youngest of three children born to James Peterson, an ear, nose, and throat specialist, and his wife Sylvia. She had two older siblings: a sister, Anne Marie and a brother, James Jr. Peterson began acting as a child and used the name "Amanda Peterson" in a professional capacity. At the beginning of her career, she used the name "Mandy Peterson", which was what friends and family called her.

At age seven, Peterson made her stage debut as Gretl in the University of Northern Colorado's stage production of The Sound of Music. She also appeared in more than 50 television commercials. Boone was canceled after one season. In 1985, Peterson won her first starring role in the feature film Explorers. The next year, she co starred as "Sunny Sisk" in the Emmy Award winning miniseries A Year in the Life. The miniseries was highly acclaimed; it was the third highest rated miniseries of the 1986–87 U. S. television season with a 16.9/27 rating/share. Later it was adapted into a television series of the same name and aired on NBC from 1987 to 1988. For her work on the series, Peterson won a Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress Starring in a Television Drama Series. In 1986, 15 year old Peterson was cast in the teen comedy Boy Rents Girl, opposite Patrick Dempsey. The film was shot on location in Tucson, Arizona. The title was later changed to Can't Buy Me Love after producers secured the rights to The Beatles' 1964 song of the same name. Released in the summer of 1987, Can't Buy Me Love received mixed reviews but became the sleeper hit of the summer. In 1988, Peterson co starred in a Roger Corman production, the post apocalyptic film The Lawless Land, followed by a role in the 1989 teen drama Listen to Me. Later that year, she returned to Greeley, where she graduated from University High School (while working in Los Angeles, she was privately tutored). Shortly after graduating, she starred in the television movie Fatal Charm. That fall, Peterson enrolled at Middlebury College., Later that year, Peterson dropped out of Middlebury College.

In 1994, Peterson retired from the entertainment industry and returned to her hometown of Greeley. According to her father, she left Hollywood to "choose a new path in her life." After briefly attending Middlebury College, she enrolled at Colorado State University for a year. Peterson was twice married and had two children. She was first married to Joseph Robert Skutvik. After their divorce, she married David Hartley. Peterson and Hartley were reportedly divorced at the time of her death. From September to December 2005, she spent nearly three months in jail. Peterson's last arrests were for a misdemeanor DUI and possession of narcotics equipment charge in April 2012, and suspicion of child abuse in May 2012, which was later dropped. For the last three years of her life, Peterson was receiving disability benefits and lived alone in an apartment in Greeley, Colorado. Two days later, on July 5, she was found dead at her home by Greeley police at the age of 43. Though her apartment door was unlocked, authorities found no evidence of foul play. An autopsy was scheduled for July 6 by the Weld County coroner, She had recently undergone a hysterectomy and was prescribed Gabapentin for pain management. Additionally, she had been taking morphine, obtained from a friend a week prior. The coroner attributed her death to respiratory failure triggered by a "morphine effect." Peterson was later cremated.