‘Bad News Bears’ Actress Sammi Kane Kraft, 20, Dies in Car Accident in Los Angeles

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Oct 11, 2012

'Bad News Bears' Actress Sammi Kane Kraft, 20, Dies in Car Accident in Los AngelesSammi Kane Kraft, who played the part of Amanda Whurlitzer in the 2005 remake of “Bad News Bears,” passed away on Tuesday morning.

According to the California Highway Patrol, the 20-year-old Kraft was a
passenger in an Audi that rear-ended a big rig and was
then struck by another car on the westbound 10 Freeway around 1:30 a.m. PT.

Kraft played the part of Amanda Whurlitzer — the same character that was played by Tatum O’Neal in the 1976 original film. Kane was picked for the role after throwing a 75 mph fastball at a casting call, according to reports.

“Amanda is such a character that you can’t ‘out-Tatum’ Tatum O’Neal, so we wanted to get a real girl who could do it,” “Bad News Bears” director Richard Linklater said in a 2005 interview with The Los Angeles Times. “I didn’t want to keep cutting to some boy with a wig on who could throw.”

Kraft was enrolled at Santa Monica College and is survived by her parents, Shelly and Lulu Kane Kraft and brothers Frankie and Bobby.

Screengrab via YouTube/paramountmovies

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