Gary Coleman showed great promise in the 1970s and 1980s, but on 28 January 2025, he fell down the stairs in his Utah home and suffered a fatal brain hemorrhage.
After becoming a genius thanks to the showDiff’rent Strokes , Gary Coleman was the highest - ante up fry actor of the seventies and eighties . fabled comedians like Bob Hope and Lucille Ball hailed him as the next big thing in drollery . But in the end , Gary Coleman ’s death and the decades of decline that antedate it came to dominate his former success .
The former child genius who became synonymous with the phrase , “ Whatchu talkin ’ ’bout , Willis ? ” struggle throughout his life with drug , effectual , and domestic problem .
Gary Coleman ’s later years were plagued by such issues , including financial troubles that finally forced him to work as a plaza security sentry go as well as other issues that caused him to terminate up in court — and in the yellow journalism .
Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesGary Coleman’s death came after more than a decade of financial, medical, and other personal troubles.
Kevin Winter / Getty ImagesGary Coleman ’s death came after more than a decade of financial , medical , and other personal troubles .
In the final stage , Gary Coleman died on May 28 , 2010 , after he fell down the stairs two day earlier inside his home in Santaquin , Utah and lapsed into a comatoseness . However , some say that the account behind Gary Coleman ’s death is n’t quite so straightforward .
Gary Coleman’s Early Life Before Fame
Born on February 8 , 1968 in Zion , Illinois , Gary Coleman was adopted as an infant by a nursemaid practitioner and a pharmaceutical representative . aright from birth , he had serious health problem .
He was stricken with a congenital kidney defect that would provoke him his entire life . At just two years old , he had his first kidney transplant — and would later need another at age 17 . Due to his health problems and prolonged dialysis , he stop growing at four fundament , eight in grandiloquent .
His acting career began at nine years old . A Norman Lear Agency talent scout was on the hunt for actors to be in a revival ofLittle Rascalsand drop Coleman in the pilot . While the project ended up not going anywhere , Coleman ’s talent was recognized , and he was redact to bring the parts of kids half his age because of his scrawny ontogenesis .
Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty ImagesGary Coleman pictured on the set of “Diff’rent Strokes” in 1978.
Hitting The Big Time WithDiff’rent Strokes
Afro American Newspapers / Gado / Getty ImagesGary Coleman picture on the set of “ Diff’rent Strokes ” in 1978 .
In 1978 , at 10 class old , Coleman had his big break when he was throw as Arnold Jackson on the sitcomDiff’rent shot . The series stick to Coleman and fellow untried histrion Todd Bridges as pitch-dark orphan survive with a affluent white man . It was here that Coleman ’s signature tune catchphrase , “ What’chu talkin ’ ’bout , Willis ? ” was born . He immediately gain praise for his comedic timing and had an uncanny power to steal his scenes .
The series was a hitting , and Coleman realize a stunning $ 100,000 per sequence . It also led to other opportunities for Coleman during its foot race , including in the filmsOn the Right Trackin 1981 andThe Kid with the Broken Haloin 1982 .
Kypros/Getty ImagesGary Coleman’s mugshot after a 2010 arrest in Utah.
With his vocation on the upswing , he take shape Gary Coleman Productions at just 10 years old to facilitate oversee his career , with his adopted parents as his full - time managing director . This also meant a steady cash flow for his parents for their roles in his fellowship .
Coleman ’s life history slowed down with the cancellation ofDiff’rent Strokesin 1986 , so he was pull to foray into his corporate trust fund , which should have been substantial chip in his salary while on the show . He was nearly 18 at this clip and take in a smutty surprise .
His Financial Feud With His Adoptive Parents
While managing Gary Coleman ’s career , his parent were also film more of his money than they should have . When he seem into his trust monetary fund — which should have been worth around $ 18 million — he was horrified to find there was only about $ 220,000 left .
This discovery led to a = lawsuit against both his parents and his agentive role for misappropriation when Coleman was 25 years old . The former child lead won , but it only earned him about $ 1.3 million , according to a contemporaneousAssociated Press chronicle . The entire instalment precipitate a downward spiral for Coleman that included bankruptcy .
In a 1993 television interview , he admitted to assay felo-de-se twice by overdosing on anovulant .
Gary Coleman’s Death And The Long Decline That Preceded It
Kypros / Getty ImagesGary Coleman ’s mugshot after a 2010 collar in Utah .
Gary Coleman ’s difficulty did n’t cease with his parents , however , as trouble seemed to follow him his entire life . He moved to Utah in 2005 and , in the first five days he lived here , police were bid more than 20 times in connexion to him .
There was at least one other self-annihilation attempt during this metre , when Coleman reportedly tried to overdose on Oxycontin pills . Other difference involved his wife , Shannon Price , as well as a fan who take Coleman assaulted him at a bowling alley in 2008 , as report byPeople .
And 2010 would raise to be a bad year for Coleman . He stand two seizures earlier in the yr while recovering from heart and soul OR month before . One of those seizures convey home on the set of the audience showThe Insider .
And on May 26 , 2010 , Coleman tumble down the stairs inside his Utah home , striking his head and losing awareness .
Price found him and send for 911 , saying that there was blood line “ everywhere . ” Coleman had separate the back of his head open , but he briefly regained consciousness . He was able to speak with officer when they arrive on May 26 , telling them that he could n’t remember what take place .
Gary Coleman was able to walk with help from the menage to the service department , where a gurney waited . He spend the dark at the infirmary , but thing take a turn for the risky afterward the next twenty-four hour period .
Coleman was reportedly alive and lucid on the sunup of May 27 , so it appeared that he could have been able to recover . Unfortunately , his term got worse that afternoon , and he slipped into a coma .
Life support was removed on May 28 , ending his life .
And even Gary Coleman ’s destruction was fraught with controversy . contribute his turbulent human relationship with Price — although they had divorced , she was still a regular comportment at his menage — some yellow journalism immediately propose that her conclusion to end life support add up to execution .
damage did short to appease these suspicions when she claimed that despite the divorcement , she and Coleman had been living as common - constabulary husband and wife — and she was entitle to his estate of the realm . Coleman had stipulated in his will that he did n’t want anyone to go to his funeral who had a financial post in him , according toPeople . However , the fight over his estate was so bad that he ended up not having a funeral at all .
In TheNew York Times ‘ obituary , just before Gary Coleman ’s death , he was quoted reflecting on how approximate his life after small fry stardom had been .
“ I would not give my first 15 years to my worst foeman , ” Coleman . “ And I do n’t even have a bad foe . ”
After reading about Gary Coleman and his tragic demise , read about otherchildhood starsand their tragic living . Then , learn about theworst level parentswho exploit their kids .
