"It's painful," Bain revealed. Dana Plato led quite an interesting life, full of dizzying heights Featuring Conrad Bain, then best known for his role as Dr. Arthur Harmon on Lear's "Maude," as per Biography, as white millionaire widower Phillip Drummond who adopts two inner city kids from Harlem, "Diff'rent Strokes" tackled the touchy subjects of race and class with sensitivity and humor. According to Reuters, he was lucid the following day but soon slipped into unconsciousness. She turned plenty of heads with her scintillating [8] The title for the series eventually became Diff'rent Strokes, inspired by the phrase "Different strokes for different folks", popularized by boxer Muhammad Ali in 1966 (Ali himself makes a guest appearance in the second season). Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. He and his wife had their first child on July 15th, 1998 They planned to be married in Spring 2001. In the seventh season, Carter and Cooksey were added to the opening credits (with Carter getting special "and" billing, last in the order) and many new areas and ideas were explored, as viewers now got to see Philip as a happily married man. Le Tari was one of those actors whose face is more recognized than his name. Goodman gained a measure of newspaper column In 2004, Coleman appeared on the second season of The Surreal Life and was pressured to quote his famous catchphrase by Vanilla Ice. for forging Valium prescriptions. Coleman Productions was formed, for the purpose of starring the youngster in theatrical However, behind the scenes, the cast of "Diff'rent Strokes" found that life rarely offered the easy answers and happy endings of a sitcom. Nedra Volz Scott Singer of the Moore (Oklahoma) Police Dept., "At this point, Despite these problems, he has actress having starred in four sitcoms throughout the 70's & 80's, as well as starring in two The first and second seasons of Diff'rent Strokes also starred Conrad Bain, Gary Coleman, Todd Bridges and Dana Plato. She has a CD out called "Dixie Carter Sings John Wallowitch Live At The Carlyle". He worked at the Stratford (Ontario) Shakespeare Festival and In February 1988, he was arrested and charged with the attempted murder of a drug dealer at a crack house in South Central Los Angeles. Early in her career, Mobley received potentially devastating news. Shavar married Jacqueline Ross on December 15, 1992. In her marraige to Arthur she had two [42] They subsequently re-released the first and second seasons on DVD on July 15, 2014. The series lasted six seasons on NBC and two on ABC. on DVD and on Amazon.com among many s_bukley/Shutterstock. Several such concepts were considered before a rough outline for the eventual seriesin which Bain plays a wealthy businessman left to take care of his late housekeeper's son, the orphaned Colemanwas settled upon and given the working title 45 Minutes from Harlem (even though Harlem is only ten to fifteen minutes away from the Upper East Side by subway or taxi). Rae received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for the role in 1982. Melanie Watson (now Bernhardt) played Arnold's friend Ross was born in New York City in the South Bronx. Dudley Johnson (Shavar Ross) was Arnold's best friend, who, like Arnold, was adopted, and with whom he shared many memorable childhood scrapes. game from Lucas Arts called "The Curse of Monkey Island". He appeared on grew, she became difficult to handle on the show, and Paar was not happy with her upstaging habits. Best known as Kimberly Drummond, the older sister on hired as an intern/on-air personality show Mojo and Betsy In the Morning for 93.7 KRQ in In 1996, she Some of her other Broadway credits included Three Wishes for Jamie (1952), The Threepenny Opera (1954) and Li'l Abner (1956). moment in a TV show, movie, or music video you want to share. - I'll bet Dudley there takes a sip every now and then. A 1998 confrontation with an autograph seeker led to his arrest. 9 episodes 1985-1986 Rosalind Chao Miss Chung 8 episodes 1981-1983 Dody Goodman Aunt Sophia Drummond 8 episodes 1981-1984 Bobby Herbeck The Waiter 7 episodes 1979-1984 Creators Jeff Harris Bernie Kukoff All cast & crew Production, box office & more at IMDbPro More like this 6.8 Watch options 7.4 Watch options 7.4 Watch options 7.1 She has appeared in numerous movies and tv series. In 2001, Coleman was employed as a shopping mall security guard in the Los Angeles area. She appeared in such popular films as Grease, Grease 2, playing Blanche (the principal's assistant), and in the movie found the going decidedly rough. "Diff'rent Strokes" Where There's Smoke (TV Episode 1984) - IMDb Cited for parole violation, she served 30 days He has gone through different jobs for years, both in and out of the entertainment industry, and some will surprise you. Bain said in interviews later that he struggled to talk about his TV children's troubled lives because of his love for them. on the fringes of the entertainment industry. As reported by TMZ, Cooksey's wife, Amber, filed for divorce in 2019 after over 20 years of marriage. This was a pellet gun and netted her $164) - she was charged with armed robbery and was later sentenced The pilot was not picked up for a series, and was the only time the characters and setting appeared in Diff'rent Strokes. Born in Bronx, New York, on March 4, 1971, Shavar Ross would find himself landing the iconic role of Dudley Johnson in the hit classic television show, "Diff'rent Strokes," when he was only 8 years old. As Penny Gordon, Jackson displayed a depth of emotion and range far beyond her years. Currently, she does a lot of public relations work for her organization (Train Rite, formerly Spoke N' Paws Assistance [29] He now travels across the United States, touring schools and discussing the dangers of drug use. She also had a long career as a stage actress. The sitcom stars Coleman as Arnold Jackson and Bridges as his older brother, Willis, two children from a poor section of Harlem whose deceased mother previously worked for rich widower Philip Drummond (Bain), and on her deathbed asked him to take care of her sons, their father already being deceased. probably best known for her role as Julia Sugarbaker in the tv series, Designing Women. ", In 1996, Coleman and Bain reprised their roles for the series finale of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air entitled "I, Done Part II", where they consider buying the Banks mansion. a lesbian and was only experimenting). In a Regina Post-Leader interview, Bain played down Bridges' brushes with the law. Some of her more recent appearances In 1989, Bridges was arrested for attempted murder in the shooting of a drug dealer. child, including appearances for KFC, Arco and Dole bananas. Internet Movie Database entry for Dana Plato In 2002 he made a brief appearance Steven Mond played one of Arnold's friends on the show (Robbie Jayson). young woman, but her acting career could never escape the long shadows cast by her sitcom Declaring herself drug-free, Plato was cruelly lambasted by Stern's listeners. to do next, I took part-time jobs in retail during my later high school Murder She Wrote, Here and Now, and Boston Common. Two notable episodes dealt with the consequences of alcoholism. She declined, but come fall, she had a change of heart. for a short stint, but her new notoriety managed to get her work in the "no publicity is Randy, Marlon, Jermaine, and Jackie Jackson. The first and second seasons of Diff'rent Strokes also starred Conrad Bain, Gary Coleman, Todd Bridges and Dana Plato. [citation needed]. She was arrested the following year for forging prescriptions for Valium. YARN | Dudley's dad let us have a couple of sips | Diff'rent Strokes Arnold is writing a report on athletes at his school who are using anabolic steroids. Dody lived a Her girl-next-door cuteness and In 1990, he was acquitted on charges of assault In January of 1992 she was arrested With Bain himself having considerable input into the options available and directions they took, producers considered a number of settings and formats, including one in which Bain was a gumshoe, with Coleman as his young associate-cum-informant. In 2001, Coleman (still working as a security guard) was videotaped trying to stop a vehicle from entering the mall. "Diff'rent Strokes" Football Father (TV Episode 1980) - IMDb In that notorious installment, Arnold and Dudley fall under the spell of a seemingly friendly proprietor of a local bike shop, who is actually a dangerous child molester (via Decider). The fifth season also introduced a new recurring character in Arnold's class at school, that of Lisa Hayes (Nikki Swasey). in Hollywood as a producer of sports vignettes and as a director. In season 7's "A Special Friend," Arnold and Sam met Karen, a street performer. ILOSM family, do y'all remember "Dudley?" He was the cool best friend of Gary Coleman's character, "Arnold Jackson," on the 80's classic sitcom, Diff'rent Strokes. Her questionable luck kicked we having nothing against Robert Menchaca (her fiance at the time of her death). Conrad In 1955, she stopped The misadventures of a wealthy Manhattan family who adopted the children of their late African American housekeeper from Harlem. She also is a profound Additionally, Todd Bridges appeared along with Gary Coleman and Vanilla Ice on a VH-1's into. As Arnold, Coleman popularized the catchphrase "What'cha talkin' 'bout, Willis?" Diff'rent Strokes - Season 6 Episode 12. April 6, 1972 in Los Angeles, California. Diagnosed with bone cancer the previous year, Charlotte Rae died August 5, 2018, at the age of 92. Other appearances include Magnum, P.I., Chicago "Diff'rent Strokes," and Dana landed the part of Kimberly. and Six Feet Under. People said Todd had trouble with drugs, he never had trouble with drugs. He appeared in Norm TV's "Diff'rent Strokes," Dana went through a lot while never quite escaping the scrutiny Two hour-long episodes on the first season DVD are presented in their edited, two-part syndicated versions. Diff'rent Strokes: Biographies/Where are They Now? - Sitcoms Online The actress had been ill for some Veteran actress Charlotte Rae was beloved by fans of '80s TV as housemother Edna Garrett on NBC's "The Facts of Life," a role she originated on "Diff'rent Strokes." custody of Tyler. Mary Ann Mobley, who was the second Mrs. Drummond, was born February 17, 1939 Strokes. also did an episode of Fantasy Island with Peter Graves, Eve Plumb and the rest of the cast. She posed for a June 1989 pictorial in Playboy (a 5-page nude "Designing Women" ran for seven seasons and made Carter a household name. If you or someone you know may be the victim of child abuse, please contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or contact their live chat services. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! The Facts of Life (19791988) is a spin-off of Diff'rent Strokes featuring Drummond's former housekeeper, Mrs. Garrett, who had accepted a job as the housemother for a dormitory at Eastland, an all-girls private school that Kimberly was attending. "), with a separately filmed cameo tagged on to the end of one episode explaining that he was away in the country visiting some of Mr. Drummond's relatives. No, people no longer recognize me from the show. Coleman secretly wed his girlfriend of five months, Shannon Price, 22, on August 28, 2007. called Night Trap as a scantily clad victim. Lanny Lambert in December 1983. As a result "The first thing I ever tried was pot, and Dana made that first time possible," Bridges writes. Pearl thinks it was the housekeeper, Willis believes it was the teenage son, and though Kimberly's line gets faded out, it's safe to assume she suggests a character similar to her. Gary Collins (formerly of 'Hour Magazine'), were seen in an infomercial for Select Comfort Systems (mattresses). Ross With this move, the show's recognizable opening credits theme song was rerecorded, updating it into a then-more modern pop style. The short-lived series starred James Cromwell, Richard Masur, Conchata Ferrell, Al Freeman, Jr., Jeannie Linero, Gloria Le Roy, Robin Wilson, Stan Gottlieb, Lee Bergere and Henry Calvert. in live television before scoring his first real success in the 1956 Broadway revival of Diff'rent Strokes was also known for its many "very special episodes," most notably an anti-drug episode ("The Reporter") that featured First Lady Nancy Reagan, who promoted her "Just Say No" campaign, and "The Bicycle Man", a two-part episode that guest starred Gordon Jump as a pedophile who lures Arnold and Dudley into his bicycle shop and attempts to molest them. Also introduced in the third season is Philip's dotty and eccentric sister Sophia (Dody Goodman), in the episode "Junk Food Junkie". as Etta. pursuits as hockey and speed skating when, in his junior year of high school, he suddenly She married actor Gary Collins in 1967. She voiced the character of Nanny in 101 Dalmatians: The Series, which aired from 1997 to 1998. The movie is currently in stores nationwide favorite car is a Hummer. Hervey served as the head of public relations for HealthSouth Corporation in Birmingham, Alabama during events that would lead to a massive fraud scandal. Outside the Drummond household, there were a large number of supporting characters over the years. As detailed by The Hollywood Reporter,Mobley was a native of Brandon, Mississippi, and a former Miss America. Child Stars Special, Geeks, Freaks, and Sidekicks, where he revealed that during the taping of the very special episode of Diff'rent Strokes in which he was molested, he was going through a similar experience in real life; he was being "touched" by a family friend inappropriately while he was asleep.[4]. women's vintage clothing boutique called, "Revival Vintage" Coleman providing his own voice. Roberto and Eddie are teenage bullies and extortionists and the main antagonists in the 2-part episode "Crime Story (aka Crime in the Schools) " of the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes. It's a steamy [28] After years of battling drug addiction, Bridges became sober in the early 1990s. As detailed in the Biography documentary "Diff'rent Strokes: Behind the Scenes," declining ratings led to producers radically altering the show's tried-and-true formula. Coleman, with his sparkling eyes and perfect comic timing, became an immediate star, and Bain, with his long training as a theater actor, proved an ideal straight man. to five years probation. Matt Houston, and Small Wonder.. Dana Plato, who played his daughter Kimberly, died in 1999 of a drug overdose. sterling gems as 1992's "Bikini Beach Race" and 1995's "Compelling Evidence." Phillip proposed to Maggie and they married, in the episode "The Wedding", first broadcast February 25, 1984. After the series ended Bridges developed an addiction to cocaine. I spoke up and told my parents. Sexually assaulted by his trusted publicist at age 12, Bridges was left feeling confused and betrayed. At the end of the episode, Bain (in an out-of-character PSA) spoke about what to do if real life situations as the one portrayed on the show were to occur. She died in 2009. She died on August 5, 2018, at her home in Los Angeles, California. The boys then feel uncomfortable around her and when they begin making jokes about her seizures, they find out that housekeeper Pearl herself has epilepsy but, unlike Karen, controls her seizures with medication. He sued his adoptive parents They met on the set of the 2006 comedy film Church Ball. sending me out on enough auditions and went with Gary Coleman's manager. the show, it was an honor ! enough guided her into acting. prospects -- Dana came out as a lesbian in a 1998 issue of the Sapphic pride Some of her other Broadway credits included Three Wishes for Jamie (1952), The Threepenny Opera (1954) and Li'l Abner (1956). Several past characters attended the wedding ceremony, including Aunt Sophia, Adelaide, and Mrs. Garrett. last season, was born (Dana did grab a Arnold Jackson missed five episodes, two from the fourth season in 198182 (First Day Blues" and "The Team") and three from the seventh season in 198485 ("The Gymnasts", "Sam Adopts a Grandparent" and "Baseball Blues"). information: Melanie worked in Oceanside, California as the executive director of a nonprofit Gary retired to Colorado in 1986 after Diff'rent Strokes was cancelled to Gary Coleman was born February 8, 1968 in Zion, Illinois. It was in many respects a standard episode, with no signs that it would be the show's finale due to the cancellation of the series. Shortly after the filing, Amber Cooksey sought a restraining order against the former child star, citing his allegedly out-of-control anger and jealousy. His Sadly, Plato's second chance didn't stick and soon she was in court charged with using forged prescriptions to illegally obtain valium. Premiering on November 3, 1978, "Diff'rent Strokes" was a touchstone of 1980s pop culture. Arizona and worked at Tucson Hobby Shop because he is/was an active model railroader. In 1980, Ross landed his first recurring television role, on NBC 's Diff'rent Strokes, as Dudley Johnson, the best friend of Gary Coleman 's character, Arnold Jackson. Edna Garrett was the housekeeper for the Drummond family at their Park Avenue apartment in New York City. They realize they don't like the effects of cigarettes, but the real persuasion to have them kick the habit comes from someone very close to home from Dudley - his father, whom despite having had a lung operat Read allArnold and Dudley give into peer pressure and experiment with smoking. Moore Hour, CHiPs, Just Our Luck, St. Lunchtime Specials (directed by Soleil-Moon Frye/Punky Brewster). They are expecting their first child on March 22, 2012. He made an appearance on Vibe (a talk show hosted by Sinbad) along with Todd Bridges and Dana Plato on November 6th, 1997. a boy named Spencer Todd Bridges. moved to NBC along with Silverman in the fall of 1978. Danny Cooksey joined the cast of "Diff'rent Strokes" in the show's sixth season. Dixie Carter and Danny Cooksey portrayed recently divorced television aerobics instructor Margaret "Maggie" McKinney and her son Sam. he pleaded guilty to drug possession and carrying a loaded weapon. Her final appearance which is the episode "Bulimia", dealt with the revelation of Kimberly's eating disorder, and won praise both for Plato's performance and the sensitivity of the writing. He died April 4th, 1987 at the age of 40 of a heart attack in Los Angeles County, California. Her questionable luck kicked No, I never foresaw any of the problems that some of my colleagues got (Dixie as well as everyone else called her Mother Gina, pronounced Jinna.) Rae starred as Mrs. Garrett (Mrs. G), who was the housemother at the prestigious Eastland School for Girls in Peekskill, New York. Some of her early television guest appearances included Armstrong Circle Theatre, NBC Television Opera Theatre, Appointment with Adventure, The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse, The DuPont Show of the Month, The Phil Silvers Show, Play of the Week, Way Out and From These Roots. Diff'rent Strokes (1978) - S05E17 The Bicycle Man: Part 2. The Kid With the Broken Halo (1982). Diff'rent Strokes - Season 6 Episode 12: Where There's Smoke - Metacritic Having appeared on such shows as "Little House on the Prairie," "The Waltons," and the critically acclaimed mini-series "Roots," Bridges was arguably the most experienced of the show's trio of young stars. It's a steamy do get evidence that Robert is guilty by criminal negligence or actual participation,