Actress Melanie Watson Bernhardt has died.
Bernhardt, best known for her role as Cassie Gordon on “Diff’rent Strokes,” died Friday in Colorado Springs, her brother told TMZ.
The actress, who was battling the genetic disorder osteogenesis imperfecta (which causes bones to break easily, low muscle tone, hearing loss and dental problems), was hospitalized with bleeding problems, the newspaper reported.
Her health condition reportedly deteriorated rapidly after her hospitalization.
Bernhard was 57 years old.
Her brother told TMZ that his sister was lucky to live a long life despite her illness.
Bernhardt was a frequent guest star on Diff’rent Strokes, playing the wheelchair-bound friend of main character Arnold (Gary Coleman). “Diff Rent Strokes” aired for eight seasons from 1978 to 1986.
After the show ended, Berhardt retired from acting.
According to IMDB, she later founded and served as executive director of Train Rite, an organization that trains protection dogs to help people with disabilities.
Bernhardt was married to Roger Bernhardt from 1994 to 1996.
Diff’rent Strokes follows two orphan brothers (Willis and Arnold Jackson) from Harlem who are adopted into the family of a wealthy New York businessman whose mother once worked.
Back in 2021, Todd Bridges, who played Willis, told Page Six that he experienced “extreme racism” growing up as a child actor.
“Here, you’re doing great things for people and they’re enjoying it. But when you go out, you’re treated like you’re ignorant and stupid and stupid,” he told us.
“There’s no way you’re intelligent or a good kid,” he continued.
Both Bridges and her co-stars suffered publicly after the show ended.
Bridges battled addiction to crack cocaine and methamphetamine. In 1989, he was arrested and tried for the attempted murder of Los Angeles-based drug dealer Kenneth “Tex” Clay, but was ultimately acquitted.
Coleman died in 2010 at the age of 42 from an epidural hematoma. Before his death, he won a lawsuit against his parents and business advisor over misappropriation of his income.
Dana Plato, who played the boys’ adopted sister Kimberly, also struggled with drugs and alcohol for years. She died in 1999 at the age of 34 from a drug overdose, which was later ruled a suicide.
