Dana Michelle Plato was born in Maywood, California on November 7,
1964. Her first excursion into the film world occurred when she was
eleven in the television film "Beyond the Bermuda Triangle". Dana
never really made an impact on the TV screen until she landed the
part of Kimberly Drummond in the TV hit sitcom "Diff'rent Strokes"
from1978-1984. After the series ended, Dana had a hard time trying
to find other acting work. Sometimes she would surface in a made
for TV movie or a low budget film for the silver screen. Times were
rough. Her marriage to Lanny Lambert lasted a year, but produced a
son. She was arrested in 1991 for robbing a video store in Las
Vegas, but was placed on probation. The following year Dana was,
again, arrested for forging a prescription for Valium. Things were
at a low ebb. She had just finished an interview with Howard Stern,
in the spring of 1999, when she and her fiance, Robert Menchaca,
were headed back to California. The interview was one in which Dana
hoped to revive her stalled career. They stopped at his parents
house in Moore, Oklahoma for a weekend Mother's Day visit before
continuing on to California. On Saturday, May 8, 1999, Dana died of
what appeared to be an accidental overdose of a painkiller called
Loritab. Later, on May 21, a coroner's inquest ruled her death a
suicide due to a large amount of drugs in her body and her history
of past suicide attempts. She was 34 years old.
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– Broke her ankle skydiving during one of her landings for the 1980 Celebrity Daredevils special.
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– Appeared on The Howard Stern show shortly before her suicide. Calls came in from Stern's fans to the show literally embarrassing Plato on the air. Stern also insulted her over the air.
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– Was fired from DIFF'RENT STROKES after the show's 7th season (1984), its last on NBC--it moved to ABC for its 8th & final season.
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– Her childhood dream was to be an Olympic figure skater.
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– Had breast implants done in 1994 in hopes of landing better film roles.
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– Won the part of Violet in the movie PRETTY BABY, but turned it down, so she wouldn't be typecast in this type of role. Brooke Shields ended up playing the part.
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– Nominated Young Artist Award - Best Young Actress in a Comedy Series for DIFF'RENT STROKES (1978) in 1984
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– Nominated Young Artist Award - Best Young Actress in a Television Special for A STEP IN TIME (1981) (TV) in 1982
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– Nominated Young Artist Award - Best Young Actress in a Television Series for DIFF'RENT STROKES (1978) in 1981
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– Won the role of the daughter in the first Exorcist movie, but her mother wouldn't let her take it.
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