Tragic Details About Young Sheldon’s Annie Potts
Annie Potts is an actor who transcends generations. In the 1980s, she gained fame for her delightfully sardonic portrayal of wise-cracking secretary Janine Melnitz in the original “Ghostbusters” films. Potts later reprised her role as Janine in the more modern “Ghostbusters” legacy sequels. In the 1990s, she added another iconic role to her repertoire when she voiced Bo Peep in Pixar’s first two “Toy Story” movies, eventually reprising that role in “Toy Story 4” some 20 years later. Then, from 2017 to 2024, Potts played the key role of Sheldon Cooper’s grandmother in the “Big Bang Theory” prequel series “Young Sheldon,” appearing opposite her “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” co-star Mckenna Grace
However, Potts’ stunning transformation hasn’t been without its hurdles. And, much like some of her fellow “Young Sheldon” cast members, she’s had her fair share of personal and professional tragedy. From very nearly losing her life as a young woman to enduring multiple divorces in the following years, Potts has certainly had to endure quite a bit in her time. But she’s nothing if not a survivor and has only maintained that attitude as she’s aged. “It’s like, ‘Man, this is great, because I almost didn’t have it.’ So I just try to relish it,” Potts told Senior Planet in 2024. “It’s made me really take care of my body because it got broken up pretty badly. I have an appetite for life.” With that in mind, here are some tragic details about “Young Sheldon” star Annie Potts.
Annie Potts was in a terrible car crash when she was 21
In 1973, five years before Annie Potts made her big-screen debut, a terrible car crash threatened not only her acting career but her life. At the time, Potts was 21 years old and had only recently married her first husband, Steven Hartley. According to Potts, she and Hartley were driving along the highway when a group of drunk teenagers drag racing down the wrong side of the road plowed into them. Potts says the impact broke almost every bone in her lower body. She also reportedly lost the heel of her right foot in the crash, while Hartley lost his left leg.
“I almost died,” Potts said point blank in her March 2024 interview with Senior Planet. The actor spoke more about the life-changing incident that same month during a chat with The Guardian. “It took a very long time to recover. I’m still trying to recover,” she confessed. Potts has had over 20 orthopedic surgeries as a result of the crash — including an ankle replacement she got in 2022. About a decade before that particular procedure, Dr. Greg Vanvakaris — a strength and conditioning specialist who began working with Potts years after the accident — noted that her ankle was often a source of trouble. “An acute flair-up in her arthritic ankle … can be extremely debilitating and painful for her,” Vanvakaris said (via HowStuffWorks). Despite the pain, Potts is very energetic and continues working to stay active and healthy.
