| Intro | Actress (1975-1997) |
| Was |
Actor Television actor Model Film actor |
| From | United States of America |
| Type |
Fashion Film, TV, Stage & Radio |
| Gender | female |
| Birth | 11 July 1975, Inglewood, USA |
| Death |
18 May 1997, Los Angeles, USA (aged 21 years) |
| Star sign | Cancer |
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.
Personal life
Andersen was born on July 11, 1975, to Frank and Teresa Andersen. By April 1982, she lived in Malibu, California, with her parents, younger sister Angelica, and two brothers. As an infant, Angelica appeared in television advertisements for Bank of America and Mervyn’s.
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. 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.
Andersen died of an opioid overdose in 1997, on Santa Monica Boulevard, at the age of 21.
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. She spent three years fashion modeling and acting in television advertisements. She also appeared in television shows including King’s Crossing and Washington Mistress.
In 1982, Andersen starred as Savannah Driscoll in the 1982 film Savannah Smiles. Writer and co-star Mark Miller was inspired by—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, so Mark Miller auditioned almost 150 children before discovering and choosing Andersen for the part. In a contemporary interview, Andersen opined that she and the Driscoll character were “like twins! We do the same things.” According to The Cumberland Times, only three months after the release of Savannah Smiles, Miller was already writing another script to star Andersen.
That same year, Andersen portrayed the six-year-old Mae West in the biographical television film, Mae West. In 1983, Andersen explained that she preferred working in films versus television because they gave her more to do. 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. 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.
In her teen years, Andersen had trouble finding acting work.
Acting credits
| Year | Title | Role | Citation(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Savannah Smiles | Savannah Driscoll | |
| 1983 | Nightmares | Brooke Houston | |
| 1985 | A Summer to Remember | Jill | |
| 1985 | Fever Pitch | Amy Taggart | |
| 1987 | Wish You Were Here | Suzy |
| Year | Title | Role | Episode(s) | Citation(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Washington Mistress | Jenny Reynolds | ||
| 1982 | King’s Crossing | |||
| 1982 | Mae West | Mae West (age six) | Television film | |
| 1983 | Gun Shy | Celia | Six episodes | |
| 1983 | Faerie Tale Theatre | Gretel | episode “Hansel and Gretel” | |
| 1984 | Remington Steele | Angela; “Angel” | episode “Blood Is Thicker Than Steele” | |
| 1984 | The Return of Marcus Welby, M.D. | Alison Lattimer | Television film | |
| 1986 | The Golden Girls | Charley | episode “The Truth Will Out” | |
| 1986 | Between Two Women | Kate Petherton | Television film | |
| 1986 | The Parent Trap II | Mary Grand | Television film | |
| 1987 | CBS Summer Playhouse | Jamie Wilde | episode “Doctors Wilde” |
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 |
| 1982–83 | 5th Youth in Film Awards | Best Young Actress in a Comedy Series | Gun Shy | Nominated |
| 1983–84 | 6th Youth in Film Awards | Best Young Actress – Guest in a Television Series | The Mississippi | Nominated |
| 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 |
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. Wilsey’s poem is written as “a meta-poem, where she’s writing for Bridgette Andersen, and telling her how they’re the same.”
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”.