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Quick Facts
- NAME: Gary Coleman
- OCCUPATION: Television Actor, Reality Television Star
- BIRTH DATE: February 08, 1968
- DEATH DATE: May 28, 2010
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Zion, Illinois
- PLACE OF DEATH: Provo, Utah
- Full Name: Gary Wayne Coleman
- AKA: Gary Coleman
Best Known For
Diminutive television star Gary Coleman made "What'choo talkin' 'bout, Willis?" a household catch-phrase in the 1980s.
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Gary Coleman - Full Episode (42:59)
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Dana Plato - Full Biography (45:21)
Dana Plato - Full Biography
Best-known for playing Kimberly Drummond on "Diff'rent Strokes" as a teenager, Dana Plato was fired from the show and struggled with drugs and alcohol. She died of an overdose at the age of 35.
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Play NowGary Coleman. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 05:39, May 25, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/gary-coleman-15720749.
Gary Coleman. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/gary-coleman-15720749 [Accessed 25 May 2013].
"Gary Coleman." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 25 2013, 05:39 http://www.biography.com/people/gary-coleman-15720749.
"Gary Coleman," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/gary-coleman-15720749 [accessed May 25, 2013].
"Gary Coleman," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/gary-coleman-15720749 (accessed May 25, 2013).
Gary Coleman [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 25] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/gary-coleman-15720749.
Gary Coleman, http://www.biography.com/people/gary-coleman-15720749 (last visited May 25, 2013).
Gary Coleman. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/gary-coleman-15720749. Accessed May 25, 2013.
Coleman, nearly 18 years old at the time, discovered only $220,000. The discovery resulted in a tangled lawsuit against his parents and his agent for misappropriation of his trust fund. Although he won the suit, Coleman saw little of his initial salary, receiving only $3.8 million.
Personal Issues
Coleman struggled with depression after the settlement, later admitting that he attempted suicide several times. The former star went into semi-retirement, bouncing from Colorado and then to Arizona. When he couldn't find acting work, Coleman took on work as a security guard. Money became tight, and Coleman filed for bankruptcy in 1999. He continued to make cameos in TV shows, including Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Married with Children, and The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show.
As Coleman matured, he became known for his hot temper, which resulted in several high-profile assault cases. In 1998, he was charged with assault after allegedly punching a woman who sought an autograph from the actor. He pleaded "no contest" to the charge, and was ordered to pay the victim's hospital bills. In July 2007, Coleman was again arrested, this time for disorderly conduct when a heated argument with his girlfriend, actress Shannon Price, got out of control. Despite their difficulties, the couple wed secretly in August of that same year. But by 2008, they were already having marital problems. They headed to TV's Divorce Court to settle their issues, airing their grievances for rapt audiences in May of 2008. The couple would stay together and, a year later, they were again embroiled in a domestic dispute. Both parties were cited for disorderly conduct. But these conflicts with the law didn't resonate with Coleman, and in 2010 he was charged with domestic violence again, and placed in jail overnight.
Health Problems
Coleman has also made headlines recently for his failing health. He suffered a seizure on the set of The Insider on February 26, 2010. Then, on May 26, 2010, he was admitted to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo, Utah, after a fall in his home. Gary Coleman died on May 28, 2010, at the age of 42, after suffering from an intracranial hemorrhage in Provo, Utah.
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