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Dana Plato

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Dana Plato
File:Dana Plato 1979.jpg
Plato as Kimberly on Diff'rent Strokes, in 1979
Born
Dana Michelle Strain

(1964-11-07)November 7, 1964
Maywood, California, U.S.
DiedMay 8, 1999(1999-05-08) (aged 34)[1]
Moore, Oklahoma, U.S.
Cause of deathMultiple drug intoxication[2][3]
NationalityAmerican
Alma materTaft Charter High School
OccupationActress
Years active1975–1999
Known forKimberly Drummond on Diff'rent Strokes
Spouse
Lanny Lambert
​
(m. 1984⁠–⁠1990)​
ChildrenTyler Lambert (1984–2010)

Dana Michelle Plato (born Dana Michelle Strain; November 7, 1964 – May 8, 1999) was an American actress who was notable for having played the role of Kimberly Drummond on the U.S. television sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, from 1978 to 1986.[4] After leaving the cast of Diff'rent Strokes, Plato attempted to establish herself as a working actress, with mixed success: she worked sporadically in made-for-TV movies and in independent films, and did voice-over work. At the age of 34, after years of struggling with poverty and substance abuse, Plato died from an overdose of prescription drugs.[1][2]

Life and career

1964–1977: Childhood and career beginnings

Plato was born Dana Michelle Strain on November 7, 1964, in Maywood, California, to Linda Strain, an unwed teenager who was already caring for an 18-month-old child. In June 1965, the seven-month-old Dana was adopted by Dean Plato, who owned a trucking company, and his wife Florine "Kay" Plato.[5] Plato was raised in the San Fernando Valley. When she was three, her adoptive parents divorced, and she lived with her mother.[6]

When she was very young, Plato began attending auditions with her mother and from age seven began appearing in television commercials; she reportedly appeared in over 100 commercials for companies as diverse as Kentucky Fried Chicken, Dole, and Atlantic Richfield. Plato made her film debut at age 13, in the horror film Return to Boggy Creek (1977).[7] Other early credits included Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) and California Suite (1978).

In addition to acting, Plato was an accomplished figure skater; at one point she trained for a possible Olympic team spot. It was during this time that she made a brief appearance on TV's The Gong Show and was spotted by a producer who helped her secure what became her most famous acting role, Kimberly Drummond on Diff'rent Strokes. According to Plato, her mother decided she should cut back on her skating in order to focus on the TV role.[citation needed]

1978–1986: Diff'rent Strokes

Main article: Diff'rent Strokes

Diff'rent Strokes debuted on NBC in 1978, becoming an immediate hit. The show features Phillip Drummond (Conrad Bain), a wealthy white widower in New York City who adopts two black boys after their parents' deaths. Plato played Kimberly, Drummond's teenage daughter, who at the start of the show becomes the adoptive sister of the two boys, Willis (Todd Bridges) and Arnold (Gary Coleman). Plato appeared on the show from 1978 until 1984 and again from 1985 to 1986; during her tenure the show appeared on two different networks.

Plato in 1983

During her years on Diff'rent Strokes, Plato struggled with drug and alcohol problems. She admitted to drinking alcohol, and using cannabis and cocaine, and she suffered an overdose of diazepam when she was 14.[6]

In December 1983, Plato moved in with her boyfriend, rock guitarist Lanny Lambert. The couple married on April 24, 1984, and their only child, Tyler Edward Lambert, was born on July 2, 1984.[8][9] During this time, Plato was let go from Diff'rent Strokes because the producers did not feel that a pregnancy would fit the show's wholesome image. Although rumors of drug use and other problems on the set surrounded her dismissal, the producers were adamant that Plato's pregnancy was the only reason her character was written out[citation needed].

She returned for six guest appearances during the show's seventh and eighth seasons. In the season 8 episode that aired on January 17, 1986—Plato's final appearance on the show—Kimberly suffers from the effects of bulimia.

1987–1998: After Diff'rent Strokes

After leaving Diff'rent Strokes, Plato attempted to establish herself as a serious actress but found it difficult to achieve success outside of her sitcom career. She had breast implants and modeled for a June 1989 Playboy pictorial, but her career remained in stagnation, and she started taking roles in such B-movies as Bikini Beach Race (1989) and Lethal Cowboy (1992).

Plato separated from Lambert in January 1988, the same week her mother died of scleroderma. In desperation over these traumatic events, she signed over power of attorney to an accountant who disappeared with the majority of her money, leaving her with no more than $150,000. She claimed the accountant was never found nor prosecuted, despite an exhaustive search, and that he had also stolen more than $11 million of other people's money.[10]

During her March 1990 divorce, Plato lost custody of her son to Lambert and was given visitation rights.[6][9] She moved to Las Vegas[disambiguation needed], where she struggled with poverty and unemployment. At one point she worked at a dry-cleaning store, where customers reported being impressed by her lack of airs.[6]

On February 28, 1991, she entered a video store, produced a pellet gun, and demanded the money in the cash register. The clerk called 911, saying, "I've just been robbed by the girl who played Kimberly on Diff'rent Strokes." Approximately 15 minutes after the robbery, Plato returned to the scene and was immediately arrested. The robbery netted Plato $164.[11] Las Vegas entertainer Wayne Newton posted her $13,000 bail,[12] and Plato was given five years' probation. Plato made headlines and became a subject of the national debate surrounding troubled child stars, particularly given the difficulties of her Diff'rent Strokes co-stars Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges.

In January 1992, she was arrested again, this time for forging a prescription for Diazepam. She served 30 days in jail for violating the terms of her probation and entered a drug rehabilitation program immediately thereafter.

In 1992, Plato was one of the first celebrities to star in a video game. The game, Night Trap, was not a great success (the majority of the game's video content was actually filmed in 1987 then shelved), but is considered a pioneering title because it was the first game to use live actors, specifically a well-known personality.[13] It was one of the first video game titles to have mature content and attracted controversy due to its depiction of violence. The controversy, along with that surrounding Mortal Kombat, eventually led to the creation of the ESRB.[14]

Toward the end of her career, Plato chose roles that could be considered erotic, softcore pornography.[15] She appeared nude in Prime Suspect (1989) and Compelling Evidence (1995), and in the softcore erotic drama Different Strokes: The Story of Jack and Jill...and Jill (1998), whose title was changed after filming in order to tie it to Plato's past. Following her appearance in the film, in the same year, Plato appeared in a cover story of the lesbian lifestyle magazine Girlfriends, in which she came out as a lesbian, although she later recanted.[citation needed]

She became engaged to Fred Potts, a filmmaker and close friend of Johnny Whitaker, but the romance soon broke.[6] Just before her death, she was engaged to her manager Robert Menchaca, with whom she lived in a motor home in Navarre, Florida.[12]

1999: Final interview and death

On May 7, 1999, the day before she died, Plato appeared on The Howard Stern Show. She spoke about her life, discussing her financial problems and past run-ins with the law. She admitted to being a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, but claimed she had been sober for more than 10 years by that point, and was not using any drugs, with the exception of prescribed painkillers due to the recent extraction of two molars. Many callers insulted her and questioned her sobriety, which provoked a defiant Plato who offered to take a drug test on the air. Some callers, as well as host Howard Stern, came to Plato's defense.[10] Although she allowed a hair to be cut for the test, Stern later claimed she asked for it back after the interview.[16]

The next day, Plato and Menchaca were returning to California and stopped at Menchaca's mother's home in Moore, Oklahoma, for a Mother's Day visit.[6] Plato went to lie down inside her Winnebago motor home parked outside the house, where she died of an overdose of the painkiller Lortab and the muscle-relaxant Soma. Her death was eventually ruled a suicide.[17] Her body was cremated and her ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.[18]

2010: Son's death

Almost exactly 11 years to the day after Plato's death, on May 6, 2010, her son Tyler Lambert died at the age of 25 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.[19] He had reportedly been experimenting with drugs and alcohol.[20] Johnny Whitaker, Plato's former manager and a family friend, said that Lambert always said he "wanted to be with Mom."[9]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
1977 Exorcist II: The Heretic Sandra Phalor Uncredited
1977 Return to Boggy Creek Evie Joe
1978 California Suite Jenny Warren
1989 Prime Suspect Diana Masters
1992 Bikini Beach Race J.D.
1992 The Sounds of Silence Deborah Nichols
1995 Compelling Evidence Dana Fields
1995 Lethal Cowboy Elizabeth
1995 Millenium Day
1997 Tiger Andrea Baker
1997 Blade Boxer Rita Direct-to-video
1998 Different Strokes: The Story of Jack and Jill...and Jill Jill Martin
1998 Desperation Boulevard Dana Plato
1999 Silent Scream Emma Jones
2002 Pacino Is Missing Prosecuting Attorney final film role
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1975 The Six Million Dollar Man Girl Episode: "The Bionic Woman"
1975 Beyond the Bermuda Triangle Wendy Television film
1976 Family Mary Beth Sanders Episode: "Home Movie"
1978 What Really Happened to the Class of '65? Episode: "The Most Likely to Succeed"
1978–86 Diff'rent Strokes Kimberly Drummond 140 episodes
Main cast (Seasons 1–6) Recurring role (Seasons 7–8)
1979 Hello, Larry Kimberly Drummond 3 episodes
Guest star (Season 1–2)
1979 The Facts of Life Kimberly Drummond Episode: "Rough Housing"
1979–80 CHiPs Dana Plato 2 episodes
Guest star (Season 3)
1980 Family Debbie Episode: "Letting Go"
1980 ABC Afterschool Specials Daisy Dallenger Episode: "Schoolboy Father"
1981 A Step in Time Television film
1982 Walt Disney World's 10th Anniversary Daughter Television special
1983 High School U.S.A. Cara Ames Television film
1984 The Love Boat Patty Springer Episode: "Paying the Piper/Baby Sister/Help Wanted"
1985 Growing Pains Lisa Episode: "Mike's Madonna Story"
Video Games
Year Title Role Notes
1992 Night Trap Kelly Medd

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result
1981 Young Artist Awards Best Young Actress in a Television Series Diff'rent Strokes Nominated
1982 Young Artist Awards Best Young Actress in a Television Special A Step in Time Nominated
1984 Young Artist Awards Best Young Actress in a Comedy Series Diff'rent Strokes Nominated
2003 TV Land Awards Quintessential Non-Traditional Family (shared with cast) Nominated
2004 TV Land Awards Quintessential Non-Traditional Family (shared with cast) Nominated

References

  1. ^ a b "'Dana Plato, 34, Star of 'Diff'rent Strokes'". The New York Times. May 10, 1999. Retrieved 2015-08-23.
  2. ^ a b "Death of Actress Dana Plato in Oklahoma Ruled a Suicide". The Deseret News. May 21, 1999. Retrieved 2011-05-22.
  3. ^ "Doctor rules Dana Plato's death suicide". lubbockonline.com. May 22, 1999. Retrieved 2012-07-15.
  4. ^ "Dana Plato - About This Person - Movies & TV - NYTimes.com". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-01-26.
  5. ^ "RootsWeb: Database Index". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Gliatto, Tom (May 24, 1999). "Little Girl Lost". People. 51 (19). ISSN 0093-7673.
  7. ^ "Return to Boggy Creek". The New York Times.
  8. ^ "Free Family Tree, Genealogy and Family History - MyHeritage". familytreelegends.com.
  9. ^ a b c Fisher, Luchina; Marikar, Sheila (May 13, 2010). "Growing Pains: The Trials and Tribulations of 1980s TV Child Stars". ABC News. Retrieved 2015-08-23.
  10. ^ a b "Dana Plato's final interview with Howard Stern". sitcomsonline.com. May 7, 1999.
  11. ^ Sporkin, Elizabeth (March 24, 1991). "Diff'rent Strokes, Fallen Stars". People. 35 (11).
  12. ^ a b "The Death of Dana Plato". Morbidly Hollywood.
  13. ^ "MobyGames Page on Night Trap". MobyGames. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
  14. ^ A.V. Club; Klosterman, Chuck (2009). Inventory: 16 Films Featuring Manic Pixie Dream Girls, 10 Great Songs Nearly Ruined by Saxophone, and 100 More Obsessively Specific Pop-Culture Lists. Simon and Schuster. p. 91. ISBN 1-4165-9473-6.
  15. ^ "Different Strokes: The Story of Jack & Jill... and Jill (1998)". The New York Times. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
  16. ^ https://nypost.com/1999/05/11/stern-dana-tried-desperately-to-dodge-drug-test/
  17. ^ O'Neill, Anne-Marie (June 7, 1999). "Seeking Serenity". People. 51 (20).
  18. ^ Benoit, Tod (2009). Where Are They Buried?: How Did They Die? Fitting Ends and Final Resting Places of the Famous, Infamous, and Noteworthy. Black Dog Publishing. p. 211. ISBN 1-57912-822-X.
  19. ^ "Dana Plato's son dies at age 25". USA Today. May 12, 2010.
  20. ^ Messer, Lesley (May 13, 2010). "Son of the Late Dana Plato Commits Suicide". People. Retrieved 2010-05-31.
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