Why Was Dana Plato Fired From ‘Diff’rent Strokes’?
What To Know
- Dana Plato was written off Diff’rent Strokes in 1984 due to her real-life pregnancy, as producers chose not to incorporate it into the show’s storyline for her teenage character. Her final appearance on the show was January 17, 1986.
- After her departure, Plato struggled to find steady acting work and spoke openly about the challenges of early fame and the difficulties of transitioning out of child stardom.
- Plato faced significant personal struggles, including substance abuse, legal troubles, financial losses, and ultimately died by suicide in 1999 at the age of 34.
When Diff’rent Strokes premiered in 1978, Dana Plato quickly became part of one of television’s most recognizable families. As Kimberly Drummond, she played the level-headed older sister to Gary Coleman‘s Arnold and Todd Bridges‘ Willis, often grounding the show’s humor with emotional maturity. By the early ’80s, the sitcom was a massive hit, and Plato became a teen idol. However, midway through the decade, Kimberly quietly disappeared from the series, prompting years of questions from viewers. Turns out, the reason she was fired from the series was a real-life pregnancy.
Why was Dana Plato’s character written off Diff’rent Strokes?
Plato’s initial exit from Diff’rent Strokes occurred at the end of the fourth season in 1984. On screen, Kimberly was written out with a hopeful explanation, moving to Paris to pursue a career in fashion. Behind the scenes, Plato had become pregnant and the producers decided to write her off the show. At the time, network sitcoms rarely wrote pregnancies into storylines for teenage characters.
Gene Trindl/TV Guide/NBC/Everett Collection
Plato later addressed her departure and its consequences in interviews, offering her own perspective on how it affected her career. In a television interview with Evening Magazine, she said, “I got blackballed because I got pregnant under contract. They’re scared of me because they don’t trust me, they don’t know what I’m gonna do.” Although Kimberly’s move to Paris seemed final, Plato did return briefly. Her last appearance aired on January 17, 1986, which aired 40 years ago.
What did Dana Plato do after Diff’rent Strokes?
Following Diff’rent Strokes, Plato continued acting, most notably starring in the 1986 teen drama The Last Resort, as well as appearing in other films and television projects. However, she later acknowledged that steady work was difficult to find, and she spoke candidly in later years about the pressures of early fame and the challenges of transitioning out of child stardom.
Everett Collection
Her personal life became increasingly difficult during and after her years on Diff’rent Strokes. Plato struggled with drug and alcohol problems for much of her life, including an overdose of diazepam at age 14. In 1984, she married guitarist Lanny Lambert, and their son, Tyler Edward Lambert, was born on July 2, 1984. The marriage ended, and after her 1990 divorce, Plato lost custody of her son and was granted visitation rights. She also described major financial losses after signing a power of attorney to an accountant who, she said, disappeared with most of her money.
By the early ’90s, her struggles were playing out publicly. Plato was arrested in 1991 for robbing a Las Vegas video store with a pellet gun, and in 1992, she was arrested for forging a prescription for diazepam. She served time in jail for violating probation and entered a drug rehabilitation program. Sadly, Plato died on May 8, 1999, at age 34, and was found in her motor home in Moore, Oklahoma, after an overdose of prescription drugs. Her death was initially assumed to be accidental, but it was later ruled a suicide.
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