Her unforgettable role in “Savannah Smiles” captured our hearts.
After that, many expected Bridgette Andersen to have a brilliant career.
Instead, things took a heartbreaking turn, and the way her life ended serves as a tragic reminder of how fame can destroy even the most innocent and gifted talents.
A playful superstition
Bridgette Andersen, born July 11, 1975, in Inglewood, California, grew up under the sunny skies of Malibu. From a young age, she had a playful superstition: she believed her 7-11 birthday was lucky.
Whenever a digital clock struck 7:11, she’d kiss the first two fingers of her right hand and tap the time on the screen, a small ritual that seemed to carry her through childhood and into the spotlight. Little did anyone know, this bright young girl was destined for both dazzling success and heartbreaking tragedy.
From the very beginning, the little, blonde girl seemed destined for the screen.
As a baby, she appeared in TV commercials for Bank of America and Mervyn’s, capturing attention even in infancy. A voracious reader from just two-and-a-half years old, she amazed those around her with a “staggering IQ,” according to the Havre Daily News. At six, her favorite author was Ernest Hemingway, and she couldn’t get enough of The Old Man and the Sea.
When Bridgette was just a toddler, neighborhood kids would come knocking, eager “to see the little kid who talks like a grown-up.”
Inspired by shows like Diff’rent Strokes and Silver Spoons, Bridgette set her sights on acting, and dreamed of one day producing and directing her own films.
According to her father, Frank, acting, reading, singing, and all those other talents came completely naturally to Bridgette — no one in the family ever pushed her into it. In a February 1983 appearance on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, a young Andersen recalled trying to climb into the television at age two to play with Our Gang (“The Little Rascals”), delivering the story with rabbit-quick humor and razor-sharp clarity.
Caught by her father, she learned about acting, quickly signed with a talent agent, and launched her career. Over the next three years, she worked as a fashion model and appeared in commercials, while also landing roles in TV shows like King’s Crossing and Washington Mistress.
Her big breakthrough came in 1982 when she was cast as Savannah Driscoll in the film Savannah Smiles. Writer and co-star Mark Miller had originally written the role for his daughter, Savannah Miller, but she was too old at eleven.
After auditioning almost 150 children, Andersen was finally chosen for the role — and she immediately felt a deep connection to the character. During her audition, she was asked to tell any bedtime story she knew. She shared the tale of Br’er Rabbit, and her storytelling was so captivating that Miller decided to weave it into the film.
“We’re like twins! We do the same things,” she said in a contemporary interview.
“I play a little girl who runs away from home because she never feels loved by her parents,” Andersen explained in a 1982 interview. “She ends up in a car with two convicts, and when they see the reward in the paper, they want to return me to my parents without involving the police — so they can claim the money themselves…”
That same year, the young starlet portrayed a six-year-old Mae West in the biopic Mae West, starring alongside James Brolin.
For her role as ”Young Mae”, Andersen taught herself to dance by wearing tap shoes constantly for a week and studying Gene Kelly in Singin’ in the Rain (1952). By the time a professional dance instructor was assigned to her, she was already so skilled that she picked up the choreography in just a few days.
How Bridgette Andersen died
Her performances on the 1983–84 series The Mississippi earned her a Youth in Film Award nomination for “Best Young Actress – Guest in a Television Series.” She later starred in CBS’s short-lived sitcom Gun Shy, playing Celia, one of two children won in a card game by Barry Van Dyke’s character.
Andersen later explained that she preferred film work over television because it gave her more to do. And she was even considered for the role of Gertie in Steven Spielberg’s E.T., which ultimately went to Drew Barrymore. Ironically, her final acting credit in 1996 saw her portraying a character named “Drew” in a dream sequence.
During her teenage years, Andersen struggled to land acting roles. She also struggled with drugs and was attempting to stay clean while working at Erewhon Health Food Store in Los Angeles, California.
Tragically, Bridgette Andersen died from a heroin overdose in Los Angeles on May 18, 1997, at just 21 years old.
She is buried at Fir Grove Cemetery, Lane County, Oregon.
Today, Andersen’s elegacy lives on: in 2015, actress and poet Amber Tamblyn included Andersen in her book Dark Sparkler, a collection of eulogies and poems for deceased actors.
One poem honors Andersen directly, while another, dedicated to adult film actress Shannon Michelle Wilsey — whose stage name “Savannah” came from Savannah Smiles — reflects on their shared, fleeting brilliance.
It’s heartbreaking to see so many bright stars taken far too soon. To lose someone at just 21 years old is devastating, and dying from an overdose is a tragedy no one should ever have to endure. RIP Bridgette!
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