Bridgette Andersen

Marriah Bridget Andersen (July 11, 1975 – May 18, 1997), professionally known as Bridgette Andersen, was an American television and film actress who began her career as a child model at the age of 2. She is best known as the title role of the 1982 comedy Savannah Smiles. As a teenager, Andersen developed a drug addiction. In May 1997, at the age of 21, she died of an accidental heroin and alcohol overdose. 2Early life and career Marriah Bridget Andersen was born in Inglewood, California to Frank Glasse and Teresa Andersen, Andersen was raised in Malibu, California, and from an early age, she showed exceptional intelligence. By two years old, she decided she wanted to be an actress and eventually began a career as a child model, appearing in TV commercials, before breaking into acting at the age of seven in the 1982 TV movie, Washington Mistress Later that year, Andersen appeared in her most memorable role as the title character in Savannah Smiles, followed by roles in Family Ties, Remington Steele, and as a young Mae West in the TV biopic of the actress' life. In 1983, Andersen appeared as Celia in the short lived sitcom Gun Shy, and was also nominated for a Young Artist Award for her role in Savannah Smiles. She followed up with a role in the horror film, Nightmares. She was nominated for a second time for a Young Artist Award for her role in Gun Shy the following year. Throughout the mid-1980s, Andersen continued to appear in episodic television, T.V. movies and features films, including: A Summer to Remember in 1985, Hotel, Fever Pitch with Ryan O'Neal, The Golden Girls, and The Parent Trap II with Hayley Mill