Amanda Peterson, Patrick Dempsey's Co-Star in '80s Classic 'Can't Buy Me Love,' Dead at 43

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Police tell TheWrap the actress’ body was discovered at her home in Colorado on Sunday.

By Matt Donnelly

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, Colo. 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 can 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.

Also Read: ‘Dirty Dancing’ Meets 'Teen Wolf’ and 'Fast Times’ in Epic '80s Teen Movie Mashup (Video)

Peterson also appeared in the 1985 sci-fi movie Explorers, which was the film debut of both Ethan Hawke and the late River Phoenix.

Missing since July 3, according to media reports, Peterson’s father speculated about preexisting 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 a 1990 appearance on the Neil Patrick Harris' star-making Doogie Howser, M.D. television series and a 1994 film called WindRunner.