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The late Melanie Watson, a disability advocate and former child actress who starred in Diff’rent Strokes, once spoke candidly about the accessibility challenges she faced on set while filming the long-running NBC sitcom.
The former child star, who died on Friday, December 26, at the age of 57, was born with osteogenesis imperfecta and used a wheelchair. According to the Mayo Clinic, this genetic disorder, also known as brittle bone syndrome, is a connective tissue disease that causes bones to become brittle.
Speaking to IndieWire in 2020, Watson reflected on her four-episode run on the Norman Lear-produced TV series, saying that although she was inspired by Lear’s desire to include stories about disabilities on the show, she still faced many challenges as a disabled child actor in the 1980s.
Watson was discovered at the age of 13 by a talent scout looking for disabled swimmers at a local California YMCA, and after a bit role in the short-lived series The Baxters, Watson was asked to write the script for Diff’rent Strokes, in which she played Cassie Gordon, the best friend of Arnold Jackson (Gary Coleman), who uses a wheelchair.
“I didn’t have a wheelchair at the time,” she told IndieWire. “It took me everywhere.”
Watson said she used a manual wheelchair on set and often tripped over cords on the ground. However, he did admit that all the staff were polite and helpful.
Gary Null/NBC/NBCU
Melanie appeared in four episodes of Diff’rent Strokes. The classic comedy, starring the late Coleman and Todd Bridges, ran for eight seasons from 1978 to 1986.
Her character was introduced in the show’s third season, with standout performances in the 1982 episode “Cassie” and the 1984 episode “Cassie’s Olympics.”
Watson also revealed that she struggled with the study material she was given at the time. Her character, Cassie, had to appear on crutches in one episode to prove she could walk to give an important speech to Arthur, but she was nervous about walking.
Watson told IndieWire that she knew “I didn’t want to do that,” explaining that a few years before filming, she had suffered a bad fall that left her afraid to walk.
“I remember saying, ‘This is someone else’s dream,'” she said. “But they explained that this is the premise of the episode.”
Watson’s mother encouraged her to take part in the scene anyway, and she did, but soon began to become disillusioned with acting.
Lear has written and produced several television series featuring characters with disabilities during his career, and despite that experience, Watson praised actors like Lear for giving them the opportunity to work in front of the camera.
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“I’m proud of Norman for doing something against the norm,” she told IndieWire. “I didn’t realize how great it was to be the first in a company. If I had to start over, I would have stayed in the industry.”
According to TMZ, Watson died in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Her brother Robert Watson told the media that she was hospitalized and her condition worsened.
