Gates McFadden is Chief Medical Officer Dr. Beverly Crusher, who has led the medical units aboard the Starship Enterprise of both Galaxy and Sovereign classes. With the rank of commander, she has the ability to relieve her commander, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, if he is deemed medically or psychologically unfit for duty. Her late husband Jack was killed on a mission saving Picard when the men served together on the USS Stargazer, so her relationship with her current captain is powerfully charged. She also is the mother of Wesley (Wil Wheaton), the Enterprise's brilliant young ensign, who later attended Starfleet Academy until leaving to roam the galaxy with the enigmatic Tau Alphan dubbed "The Traveler."
Prior to joining the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Gates worked extensively on the New York stage, both acting and directing. Her roles include leads in the New York productions of "To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday," "How to Say Goodbye," "Cloud 9" and, more recently, "Emerald City" by David Williamson. Gates, who also appeared in "The Muppets Take Manhattan," continued to work with Jim Henson for several years, serving as director of choreography and puppet movement on the film "Labyrinth."
During the third season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Gates was seen in "Beyond the Groove," a British television production, written and starring the late actor David Rappaport. Other roles included the lead in the world premiere stage production of Derek Walcott's "Viva Detroit" in Los Angeles, the one-hour drama "Marker" during UPN's debut season, and the feature films "Taking Care of Business" with Charles Grodin and Jim Belushi and "Hunt for Red October."
Raised in Ohio, Gates served on the faculties of several theater arts training programs around the country including New York University Graduate School of the Arts, Brandeis University and the University of Pittsburgh. She earned her B.A. cum laude in Theater Arts from Brandeis University and studied with Jacques LeCoq in Paris for several years. In 1996, Gates gave birth to a next generation of her own, James Cleveland McFadden-Talbot.