Amanda Peterson

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Birth Name: Phyllis Amanda Peterson

Born: 8 July 1971 Died: 3 July 2015

Country of origin: United States

Height: 5' 4"

Lists

102 votes

Gone, but not forgotten (2175 items)
list by Agent Kermit D. Fonz

Published 1 year, 10 months ago

14 comments

78 votes

Most beautiful women EVER and beyond (2651 items)
list by Scott Newman

Published 6 years, 10 months ago

1 comment

13 votes

In Memoriam 2015 (166 items)
list by SwtChaos

Published 11 years ago

2 comments

12 votes

Gone, But Not Forgotten (151 items)
list by rose77

Published 14 years, 6 months ago

1 comment

11 votes

Marooned (55 items)
list by nedavidson

Published 1 year, 6 months ago

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Photos

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Description: Amanda Peterson [born: Phyllis Amanda Peterson on July 8, in Greeley, Colorado] was an actress. Peterson gained fame during the late 1980s when she portrayed Cindy Mancini, a Tucson, Arizona high-school student, in the movie Can't Buy Me Love. Prior to the success of Can't Buy Me Love, Peterson made TV appearances in Father Murphy and Silver Spoons. She had a small role in the 1982 movie version of Annie before getting a starring role in the 1985 film Explorers. In the 1983–1984 season, she appeared as Squirt Sawyer on NBC's short-lived Boone starring Tom Byrd and Barry Corbin. In 1987, she portrayed Sunny, the granddaughte Amanda Peterson [born: Phyllis Amanda Peterson on July 8, in Greeley, Colorado] was an actress. Peterson gained fame during the late 1980s when she portrayed Cindy Mancini, a Tucson, Arizona high-school student, in the movie Can't Buy Me Love. Prior to the success of Can't Buy Me Love, Peterson made TV appearances in Father Murphy and Silver Spoons. She had a small role in the 1982 movie version of Annie before getting a starring role in the 1985 film Explorers. In the 1983–1984 season, she appeared as Squirt Sawyer on NBC's short-lived Boone starring Tom Byrd and Barry Corbin.

In 1987, she portrayed Sunny, the granddaughter of patriarch Joe Gardner (Richard Kiley) in the series A Year in the Life. Later that year, she and co-star Patrick Dempsey obtained teen idol status after the release of Can't Buy Me Love. Peterson and Dempsey subsequently appeared on covers of teen magazines such as Tiger Beat, Teen Beat and many others for a considerable amount of time. Peterson went on to make other movies, none of which had achieved the box-office success of Can't Buy Me Love. Peterson left acting after her last screen appearance in the 1994 film, WindRunner starring Jason Wiles as Greg Cima. Her life since leaving Hollywood had been tumultuous with multiple arrests. In May 2012, she appeared in her last-ever photoshoot.

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.

Peterson died on July 3, 2015 in Greeley, Colorado from an accidental drug overdose when she mixed a post-surgery drug prescribed to her with illegally obtained morphine.

According to her father, she had previously struggled with drug issues, but was drug-free at the time of her death and had become "quite religious". He added that, in recent years, Peterson had suffered from sleep apnea, as well as bouts of pneumonia and sinusitis. For the last three years of her life, Peterson was receiving disability benefits and lived alone in an apartment in Greeley.

An autopsy was scheduled for July 6 by the Weld County coroner, with results released on September 2, 2015. The examination revealed Peterson's death resulted from an accidental drug overdose. 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".

Two months after her death, in a September 2015 interview with talk show The Doctors, Peterson's family revealed that she had been raped at age 15 and had not disclosed it at the time, even to her sister. This incident changed her attitude and led to trust issues. Some family members stated that the incident led to her drug use. ... (more)