Watson, who died on Dec. 26 at age 57, was born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta and used a wheelchair

Melanie Watson as Kathy Gordon
Melanie Watson in ‘Diff’rent Strokes’ as Kathy Gordon.Credit : Gary Null/NBC/NBCU

NEED TO KNOW

  • Melanie Watson, the late disability advocate and former child star who appeared in Diff’rent Strokes, once got candid about the accessibility challenges she faced on the show’s set
  • Speaking to IndieWire in 2020, she said she was required to do things she “did not want” to do on set, including walking using crutches
  • Watson died on Friday, Dec. 26, at age 57 after a brief hospitalization

Melanie Watson, the late disability advocate and former child star who appeared in Diff’rent Strokes, once got candid about the accessibility challenges she faced on set when she filmed the long-running NBC sitcom.

The former child star — who died on Friday, Dec. 26, at age 57 — was born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta and used a wheelchair. The genetic disorder, also known as Brittle Bone Syndrome, is a connective tissue disease that makes your bones fragile, per the Mayo Clinic.

Speaking to IndieWire in 2020, Watson reflected on her four-episode run on the Norman Lear-produced TV series, and shared that although she was inspired by Lear wanting to put stories about disability in his shows, she still faced plenty of difficulties as a disabled child actress in the 1980s.

After first being discovered at age 13 at her local California YMCA by a talent scout who was seeking disabled swimmers, Watson played a small role on the short-lived series The Baxters before having the Diff’rent Strokes role of Kathy Gordon — Arnold Jackson’s (Gary Coleman) best friend who used a wheelchair — written for her.

“Back in those days, I didn’t have a wheelchair,” she told IndieWire. “So I was carried everywhere.”

While on set, Watson said she used a manual wheelchair — but it often got tripped up on the cords on the ground, though she acknowledged that the whole crew was polite and accommodating.

Gary Coleman as Arnold Jackson, Melanie Watson as Kathy Gordon
Gary Coleman as Arnold Jackson and Melanie Watson as Kathy Gordon in ‘Diff’rent Strokes’.Gary Null/NBC/NBCU

Melanie appeared in four episodes of Diff’rent Strokes. The classic sitcom, which starred the late Coleman and Todd Bridges, aired for eight seasons from 1978 to 1986.

Her character was introduced in the third season of the show, and had standout performances in the 1982 episode “Kathy” and the 1984 episode “Kathy’s Olympics.”

Watson also shared at the time that she struggled with the material she was given. Her character Kathy was required to show up on crutches to prove that she could walk and inspire Arthur to give an important speech in one episode — and she felt uneasy about walking.

Watson knew she “did not want to do that,” she told IndieWire, explaining that a few years prior to filming, she suffered a bad fall that left her fearful of walking.

“I can remember saying, ‘This is somebody else’s dream,’ ” she said. “But they explained to me this was the premise of the episode.”

Watson’s mother encouraged her to take part in the scene anyway, and she did, but she soon began to be disillusioned with acting.