Amanda Peterson

**Amanda Peterson** (July 8, 1971 – July 5, 2015) was an American actress. Peterson is known for her role as Cindy Mancini in the 1987 comedy film *Can't Buy Me Love*.

## Early life

A native of Greeley, Colorado, Peterson was the youngest of three children. While living in Colorado, she made her stage debut in a production of *The Sound of Music*. At the age of 9, she won a role in the musical film *Annie*, where she appeared as a dancing extra. Peterson went on to land guest spots on *Father Murphy* and *Silver Spoons*. In the 1983–1984 television season, she co-starred as Squirt Sawyer on NBC's *Boone*. *Boone* was canceled after one season.

## Acting career

In 1985, she won her first starring role in the feature film *Explorers*. The following year, she co-starred in the Emmy Award-winning miniseries *A Year in the Life*. It was third-highest rated miniseries of the 1986–87 US television season with a 16.9/27 rating/share. and was later adapted into a television series of the same name. The series aired from 1987 to 1988 on NBC.

In 1987, Peterson co-starred with Patrick Dempsey in the teen comedy *Can't Buy Me Love*. The film earned mixed reviews but became the sleeper hit of the summer. As a result, Peterson and Dempsey obtained teen idol status after the release and 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 appear in other films including *Listen to Me* (1989), and made guest appearance on *Doogie Howser, M.D.* in 1990. Peterson's last onscreen role was in the 1994 film, *WindRunner*, starring Jason Wiles.

## Personal life

After 1994, Peterson left the entertainment industry. She briefly modeled for a Colorado photographer in 2012.

Peterson was twice married. First to Joseph Robert Skutvik, then following their divorce, to David Hartley. Together with Hartley, she had two children.

She was discovered dead in her Greeley, Colorado, home on July 5, 2015, three days away from her 44th birthday. The cause of death has not been released.

## References

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4. ↑ (Three or more parts.) *TV Guide* magazine, June 27–July 3, 1987, issue #1787. All figures are based on the Nielsen ratings. The rating represents the percentage of the 87.4 million TV households tuned to a station (sets watching this show). The share represents the percentage of TV sets tuned to a television station at the time of the broadcast (sets in use)
5. ↑ http://www.krproductionscolorado.com/amanda-peterson.php
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## External links

* Amanda Peterson at the Internet Movie Database

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