Cheryl Gates McFadden (born March 2, 1949) is an American actress and choreographer. She is usually credited as Cheryl McFadden when working as a choreographer and Gates McFadden when working as an actress. She played Dr. Beverly Crusher in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, its four subsequent films, the sequel series Star Trek: Picard, and Star Trek: Prodigy.

McFadden was born in Akron, Ohio, and grew up in the nearby suburb of Silver Lake. She graduated high school from Old Trail School in 1966. She attended Brandeis University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (cum laude) in the theatre arts, before moving to Paris, where she studied theatre with actor Jacques Lecoq at his school of physical theatre. McFadden is of Lithuanian descent on her mother's side, and has Irish and Scottish heritage on both sides.

In the 1970s, McFadden spent time teaching in post-secondary theater and dance departments, including those of the University of Pittsburgh, Harvard University, and George Washington University. During this period she formed a theatrical company, The New York Theatre Commotion, and in 1975 toured an all-female clown act, "Commedia Dell Pinky".

McFadden worked at The Jim Henson Company as the director of choreography and puppet movement for Labyrinth, The Muppets Take Manhattan, and uncredited work on Dreamchild. As a way of distinguishing her acting work from her choreography, she is usually credited as "Gates McFadden" as an actress and "Cheryl McFadden" as a choreographer. However, she was credited as "Cheryl McFadden" in the Troma movie When Nature Calls (1985) and in the season-three episode of The Cosby Show, "Cliff's 50th Birthday".

In 1987, McFadden was cast as Dr. Beverly Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation. The Crusher character was slated to be Captain Jean-Luc Picard's love interest; another important aspect of the character was being a widow balancing motherhood and a career. McFadden clashed with Maurice Hurley, head writer and showrunner, about the characterization of Dr. Crusher. McFadden later stated, "I definitely pissed off Hurley. Because I kept saying, 'Why is it that I've raised this genius kid...and yet every time there's anything serious it's only the male characters who talk to him?'" She was also highly critical of the episode "Angel One," labeling it sexist. At Hurley's demand, McFadden's contract was not renewed at the end of the season. In her place, Diana Muldaur joined the production as the Enterprise's new chief medical officer, Dr. Katherine Pulaski, for the second season.

Series creator Gene Roddenberry admitted that the Dr. Pulaski character did not develop chemistry with the other characters, so McFadden was approached to return as Dr. Crusher for the third season. She was hesitant, but after a phone call from co-star Patrick Stewart, and numerous fan letters, McFadden was persuaded to return to the role, which she then played through the remainder of the series.

Highlights for her character included "The High Ground", where she is kidnapped by terrorists; "Remember Me", where she becomes trapped in a warp bubble that her son Wesley accidentally created, plunging her into an alternate reality where everyone begins to vanish; "The Host", which features a romance between the doctor and an alien composed of two symbiotic organisms; "Suspicions", in which she risks her career to solve the murder of a scientist; "Descent" where Crusher takes command of the Enterprise; "Sub Rosa", where she becomes the victim of a seductive "ghost"; and "Attached", where Picard and Crusher become telepathically linked as prisoners and learn their true feelings for one another.

McFadden reprised her role for all four TNG movies and also provided her voice for PC games Star Trek: A Final Unity and Star Trek Generations. McFadden directed the seventh season episode "Genesis" (her only directing credit) in which an infection causes the crew to de-evolve into primitive forms of life, and choreographed the dance routine in the fourth season's "Data's Day".