Indeed, the Broadway musical "Avenue Q" featured a character named Gary Coleman who was identified as the former star of "Diff'rent Strokes," and was now the superintendent of an apartment building.
Coleman himself had once been a security guard after "Diff'rent Strokes" went off the air. The character joined the cast in singing a song called "It Sucks to Be Me.
Coleman was born on February 8, , and raised in Zion, Illinois, near Chicago. He was adopted as an infant by Willie Coleman, a representative for a pharmaceutical company, and Sue Coleman, a nurse. By age 5, Coleman was modeling for retailer Montgomery Ward, a job that was followed by appearances in commercials for McDonald's and Hallmark, according to a profile in People magazine.
At the time, NBC was mired in last place among the three major broadcast networks and, excluding movies, had just two series in the Nielsen Top Veterans marveled at his comic timing. He's bright, sweet and affectionate. He seems incapable of a wrong reading, and I've never seen that in any actor," co-star Conrad Bain, who played "Strokes' " millionaire industrialist Philip Drummond, told People in I knew what normalcy was, and I wasn't having it.
But after the show went off the air, the actor -- by then 18 -- struggled to find a place in show business. However, Coleman's small stature and charming personality made him perfect for Hollywood, and in , at age 10 , he became the star of the hit sitcom Diff'rent Strokes; he played the beloved character Arnold Jackson — an African American orphan who is adopted by a wealthy white benefactor, Philip Drummond —on the Bridges is the last surviving original actor of Diff ' rent Strokes.
When Diff'rent Strokes first kicked off, the actors got along like family. Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges really treated each other as brothers and would often prank their producers.
He said it ruined their friendship, but worse, Coleman himself began to act superior to everyone. On Oct. He was later portrayed by Will Smith in the film Ali.
Arnold's father died in , and his mother died in His mother worked as a housekeeper for a wealthy white widower, named Philip Drummond Conrad Bain.
Before her death, his mother expressed her wish for her two boys to be cared for by Mr. He played Arnold on Diff ' rent Strokes from to The actor behind wisecracking Arnold Jackson, best known for his catchphrase, "Whatchu talkin' 'bout Willis? According to Bridges' memoir, the Colemans also made their son work long hours on the sitcom and numerous side projects even though he had a chronic kidney disease that, combined with his medications, limited his height to 4-foot But it was too little, too late and within 10 years, he was working as a security guard and had to file for bankruptcy protection.
At that point, he was in the headlines more for legal problems than new projects. In , he was charged with assaulting an autograph seeker.
From to the end of his life, he was involved in a string of altercations, including two with his estranged wife, Shannon Price. He died May 28, , at age At her mother's direction, Plato gave up a promising career as a junior figure skater to take on the role of Kimberly Drummond, the biological daughter of Conrad Bain's character. While on the show, she began experimenting with pot, cocaine and alcohol, suffering an overdose at age She became pregnant in and the following year, she married boyfriend Lanny Lambert and gave birth to a son, Tyler Edward Lambert.
She then appeared in a pair of Elvis films, and that same year was named one of the three New Stars of the Year at the Golden Globes. After a battle with breast cancer, Mobley died in at age She was a bit more down to earth, of the earth, and nuttier than her brother. Sophia's first job as a caring aunt had her trying to rid Arnold's school of junk food, and later she tried to sound the alarm of pollution to deaf ears, but she caught everyone's attention when Kimberly's hair turned green after washing it in dirty water.
She even tried to help her brother find love, but her matchmaking skills backfired when it became a battle of the haves and have-nots.
Dolores nicknamed Dody by her brother dreamed of making a career as a dancer, but Imogene Coca imagined her as more of a comedienne, and so she went down that path successfully. Her funny voice, face and humor which she said she inherited from her mother splashed about on "The Ed Sullivan Show" explaining the differences between men and women , as Mary Hartman's mom on that 70s show, as the chime chiming assistant to the principal in "Grease" and its sequel, as Mrs.
Dody was also happy to be just her usual sunny self, dropping in on various talk shows, like Dinah Shore's, where she discussed old TV taboos , and danced the Charleston with Carol Channing. She even appeared as a panelist alongside Bain in the game show "All-Star Secrets" , which predated both collaborations.
Goodman died in , at age 93, " older than she often said. Arnold's best friend Dudley had a lot in common with him, including being adopted by a very loving father, Ted Ramsey, played by Le Tari. And yet Dudley's dad kept being used as an excuse for Arnold to hide the truth, first claiming that Mr. Ramsey abused Dudley, and because of that, Mr. Drummond should adopt him too in actuality, the only hand Mr.
R raised was to hug him. Two seasons later, in the special episode about child predators and abuse, a bicycle shop owner the late Gordon Jump , plied Arnold and Dudley with wine, but when the smell of it is sniffed on Arnold's breath, he fingered Mr. Ramsey as the supplier don't worry, he was cleared and the real bad guy was stopped. In another serious episode, Arnold and Dudley got caught smoking cigarettes, but Mr.
Ramsay shocked them all with the horror that it may lead to having their lung removed, which is a surgery he was about to undergo. Tari had a very short career, but packed in over 20 screen roles in just a dozen years. Every successful business man needs a top lawyer, especially when they also have many personal affairs to deal with as well. Enter Tom Bishop, played by Robert Rockwell, who was always there for Philip Drummond for whatever thing writ large in his and his family's lives.
One of his most important roles for Tom was shoring up the adoption process of Willis and Arnold. Other events he appeared on the scene for were when Mr. Drummond got into a serious car accident, or when Arnold stole a comic book as an initiation ritual to get into an "elite" school club. He at least got the night off and was simply a guest at Phillip's second wedding — which would also mark his final appearance on the show, as well as those of Charlotte Rae, Nedra Volz, Dody Goodman and Le Tari.
Rockwell is perhaps best known for playing a different Philip, Mr. Rockwell died of cancer in at age
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