Amanda Peterson, the actress who played Patrick Dempsey‘s leading lady in the beloved 1987 movie “Can’t Buy Me Love,” was found dead in her Greeley, Colorado, home on Sunday, police told TheWrap. She was 43.
Peterson starred as Cindy Mancini, a cheerleader paid by Dempsey’s character to pose as his girlfriend so he could climb the social ladder at his Arizona high school.
Directed by Steve Rash, the film sits in a canon of ’80s fare alongside John Hughes and other angst masters. The film’s title is taken from The Beatles song of the same name.
Peterson also appeared in the 1985 sci-fi movie “Explorers,” which was the cinematic debut of both Ethan Hawke and the late River Phoenix.
The cause of death was not immediately known. According to media reports, Peterson had been missing since July 3, and her father speculated about preexisting medical conditions as possible factors in her death.
“She had some illness and a sleep apnea problem that may have contributed,” he told TMZ. An official cause of death has not yet been revealed.
Peterson’s final credits include the 1989 Kirk Cameron-Jami Gertz drama “Listen to Me,” a 1990 appearance on Neil Patrick Harris‘ star-making sitcom “Doogie Howser, M.D.” and a 1994 film called “WindRunner.”