Friday, May 28, 2010

Diff'rent Strokes Star Gary Coleman Dies at 42

Gary Coleman, who by age 11 had skyrocketed to become TV's brightest star but as an adult could never quite land on solid footing, has died after suffering a brain hemorrhage. He was 42.

As Arnold Jackson, the plucky Harlem boy adopted into a wealthy white household on Diff'rent Strokes from 1978-86 – with his much-mimicked catchphrase of, "What'choo talkin' 'bout, Willis?" – Coleman was pulling down as much as $100,000 per episode, though it was later reported that three-quarters of ended up being shelled out to his parents, advisers, lawyers and the IRS.

As has been chronicled, the three children on the series grew up into troubled lives. Dana Plato, 34, died of a drug overdose in 1999. (Plato's son, Tyler Lambert, never came to terms with his mother's death, and committed suicide on May 6, 2010. He was 25.)

The show's Willis, actor Todd Bridges, now 45, was first arrested in 1994 after allegedly ramming someone's car during an argument, He also has owned up to serious drug habit, which he struggled to beat.

No comments: