(Los Angeles Times)
Gary Coleman, who soared to fame in the late 1970s as the child star of the hit sitcom "Diff'rent Strokes" and whose post-TV-series life included a stint as a shopping mall security guard and an unlikely run for California governor, died Friday. He was 42.
The diminutive Coleman, whose adult height was 4 feet 8 inches, died at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo after suffering an intracranial hemorrhage earlier this week, according to a statement from hospital spokeswoman Janet Frank.A resident of Santaquin, Utah, Coleman had been hospitalized Wednesday and lost consciousness the next day. He was taken off life support Friday afternoon with his family at his side, the hospital said.
Born with failed kidneys, Coleman had undergone two transplants by age 14 and his growth was permanently stunted by the side effects of dialysis medications.
He was a precocious, chubby-cheeked elementary school student living in Zion, Ill., when a scout for TV producer Norman Lear spotted him in a Chicago bank commercial.The exceptionally bright, talented and self-confident Coleman was 10 when "Diff'rent Strokes" debuted on NBC in 1978.
As the lovably outspoken 8-year-old Arnold Jackson, he was the comedic centerpiece of the series about two Harlem sons of a black housekeeper whose white boss, a wealthy widower, takes them into his Park Avenue penthouse after her death and later adopts them.
The cast of the sitcom, which ended its eight-season run in 1986 after switching to ABC, included Conrad Bain as the wealthy Philip Drummond; Todd Bridges as Arnold's older brother, Willis; Dana Plato as Drummond's daughter, Kimberly; and Charlotte Rae as Mrs. Garrett, Drummond's new housekeeper.
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