This Child Actress Going Viral for Her Amazing Solo in “Annie” Later Faced a Heartbreaking Future
- - This Child Actress Going Viral for Her Amazing Solo in “Annie” Later Faced a Heartbreaking Future
Gillian TellingDecember 27, 2025 at 3:15 AM
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Lorimar Film Entertainment/Everett Collection; Alamy Stock Photo
Amanda Peterson in 'Boone' in 1984, Amanda Peterson in 'Can't Buy Me Love' in 1987 -
Actress Amanda Peterson was in Annie and the TV series Boone, before rising to fame in 1987's Can't Buy Me Love
She later struggled with drugs and died at 43 of an accidental morphine overdose
Her parents later gave an interview revealing she'd been raped at 15 and never recovered from the trauma
Amanda Peterson is going viral for her hard-hitting solo in the 1982 film Annie, in which she played an orphan who belted out a line about Rover in the song "Sandy."
Instagram user Ian McConnell posted a clip of the actress' solo, noting, "It takes real nerve shushing a girl when she’s absolutely EATING during her solo." The clip has been viewed 2.2 million times.
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Who is the adorable on-screen orphan with the big voice?
She is no other than actress Amanda Peterson, who later became best known for her role opposite Patrick Dempsey in the 1989 teen comedy Can't Buy Me Love, in which she played popular girl Cindy Mancini. In the film, Dempsey's nerdy Ronald Miller pays Peterson to hang out with him to make himself more popular.
After starring in the hit film, Peterson fell out of the spotlight and struggled with drug addiction.
Peterson was arrested several times, including in March 2010, following a fight with another woman in Fort Collins, Colo. According to a police report, Peterson "appeared intoxicated" and "was slurring" and had been drinking earlier at a bar. Her then-boyfriend told police that Peterson was taking medication for bipolar disorder and ADD and was not supposed to drink.
Two years later, she was arrested for a DUI and for possessing narcotic equipment.
On July 5, 2015, Peterson was found dead at the age of 43 in her Greeley, Colo., home. The Weld County Coroner's report revealed Peterson died of an accidental morphine overdose.
Amanda Peterson
According to a coroner’s report obtained by TMZ, Peterson reportedly had a deadly cocktail of prescription drugs in her system at the time of her death, including benzodiazepines, opiates and phenothiazines (an anti-psychotic medication).
The report also stated the actress told someone a week before her death that she was self-medicating to manage pain. She was found to have six times the normal level of Gabapentin in her system. The report noted she died of a “morphine effect,” which triggers respiratory failure.
After Amanda's death, her mother, Sylvia Peterson, told Entertainment Tonight that her daughter struggled with drugs when she was younger. However, Sylvia said her daughter had been clean for a long time and that "this was not, in any way, a drug thing."
In September 2015, Amanda's parents and sister gave an interview on The Doctors, where they revealed their daughter had been raped when she was 15.
“She just felt so ashamed. She didn’t want people to know,” Sylvia said during the episode, later adding, “I think it affected her forever.”
Amanda's father, Dr. James Peterson, said he noticed a marked difference in her personality after the alleged rape.
“After that she became so defensive, less trusting. Some of the sparkle was gone,” James said, adding that “she did have significant bipolar problems.”
Sylvia noted that her daughter never wanted to press charges against her attacker, who was described as a man who was “27 years older – double her age." Her voice began to break when she recounted the time Amanda asked to see a counselor, and she didn’t take the request seriously.
“She had said to me one time, ‘Mother, I think I need a therapist.’ And I thought, ‘This is just Hollywood,’ ” she said. “I didn’t say, ‘Why? What’s going on? Let’s find someone.’ I said [dismissively], ‘Oh, that’s a good idea.’ ”
Amanda’s sister, Ann-Marie Peterson, also said on the show that her sister kept the burden of her trauma inside.
“She did not tell me about it. She did not talk about it with anyone,” she said. “I think for her to carry this secret, this burden of his assault must have been overwhelming.”
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After Amanda's death, Sylvia spoke with PEOPLE and shared some of her daughter's final moments.
"She was in bed, and she'd had a wonderful day, and we were planning on a dinner the next day," Sylvia said of her chatting with her daughter. "So it was just a very, very big surprise."
Photographer Ryan Hartsock later recalled working with Peterson on what would be her last ever photoshoot in 2012.
“She had the greatest smile. I know it brightened her day when she got all the emails and fan mail from everybody,” he told PEOPLE in 2015. “Really, any time that we were together, she was a kindhearted, great person.”
The photographer says the star’s death was a shock, and that Peterson seemed in good health whenever he spent time with her.
“I always thought she was healthy. I’ve never thought otherwise. She was a great gal,” he said.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
