Diff’rent Strokes actress Melanie Watson has passed away, closing a chapter for many of us who grew up in front of early ’80s television.
A native of Dana Point, California, Watson was born with osteogenesis imperfecta, a rare genetic condition often called brittle bone disease. She relied on a wheelchair throughout her life.
Watson died Dec. 26 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, TMZ reported. She was 57.
In an interview with Us Weekly, her brother Robert Watson said she had been hospitalized earlier in the week due to internal bleeding, but her health declined quickly, and she died on Friday.
Watson was best known for playing Kathy Gordon on the ’80s show “Diff’rent Strokes.” She was a close friend and classmate of Arnold Jackson, the character played by Gary Coleman.
According to IndieWire, her path to television began at 13. She was discovered by a talent scout at her local YMCA who was searching for disabled swimmers. A series of television opportunities eventually brought her to the attention of Norman Lear, the producer of “Diff’rent Strokes.”
Known as a revolutionary, Lear’s shows often deconstructed everything from gender to race. To him, it just made sense to include disabled characters to emphasize the world we lived in.
Watson expressed gratitude to Lear for pushing television audiences to see life from a different perspective. “I didn’t realize what a gift it was to be the first one out there,” she said.
After stepping away from “Diff’rent Strokes,” Melanie dedicated herself to helping others in the disability community. According to her IMDb profile, she founded and served as an executive at Train Rite, an organization focused on training assistance dogs for people with disabilities.
In 2020, she turned her attention to public service, launching a campaign for a seat in the Colorado State Senate. The effort was later “brought to a screeching halt” due to “unforeseeable health conditions,” she wrote on Facebook.
