Gary Coleman(1968-2010)
- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Without a doubt Gary Coleman was THE child TV star of the late 1970s
and early 1980s. A refreshingly confident little tyke with sparkling
dark, saucer-like eyes and an ingratiating, take-on-anyone burst of
personality, the boy charmed the pants right off of TV viewers the
minute he was glimpsed in national commercials. Amazed by how mature he
came across, Gary was in truth older than he looked, which was brought
upon by a congenital kidney condition. Sadly, the pint-sized phenomena
outgrew his chubby-cheeked welcome and found the course of his grown-up
Hollywood career brutally rough and patchy. The fragile condition of
his health coupled with this lack of adult career acceptance, sparked
an aggressively defensive behavior mechanism in his adult years and led
to great personal unhappiness, chronic legal/financial hassles and
early death.
He was born Gary Wayne Coleman on February 8, 1968, to a homeless woman, and was adopted by a fork-lift operator and his nurse
practitioner wife from a Chicago hospital when he was just a few days
old. Raised in Zion, Illinois, it was discovered that little Gary had
severe health issues before the age of 2. Born with one atrophied
kidney and an endangering weak second one, he had two kidney
transplants by the time he reached age 16 and the effects of his
dialysis medication permanently stunted his growth (to 4'8").
A highly precocious comedy cut-up on-camera, Gary proved a natural in
local Chicago commercials. As his commercials spread nationwide,
audiences began wondering just who this diminutive dynamo was.
Norman Lear's talent scout spotted him in a
Chicago bank commercial (he was 9 at the time) and decided to reveal to
the world who the little guy was. Brought in to brighten up such Lear
sitcoms as "The Jeffersons" and "Good Times" (the latter as a friend of
little Janet Jackson's character),
NBC quickly recognized the boy's comedy prowess and handed the
10-year-old his own prime-time sitcom playground to mug in.
While
Diff'rent Strokes (1978)'s
underlying approach was to preach racial and social tolerance (it
revolved around two lower-class African-American brothers from Harlem
who are taken in and adopted by a wealthy, debonair Park Avenue white
man after their housekeeper mother dies), the show's powers-that-be
smartly deduced that it was the wisecracking gifts of young Coleman,
who played the youngest brother, Arnold Jackson, that gave the show its
spark. Deemed "NBC's Littlest Big Man," Gary's sly, pouting-lipped
delivery of, "What'chu talkin' about, Willis?" soon became a popular
American catchphrase.
Legendary comics such as Bob Hope and
Lucille Ball absolutely gushed about the
little boy's comedy genius and Gary soon became a hit on the talk show
circuit, trading clever banter with the likes of
Johnny Carson among others. The
boy was also outfitted with a series of lightweight TV-movie showcases
which included
The Kid from Left Field (1979),
Scout's Honor (1980),
The Kid with the Broken Halo (1982),
The Kid with the 200 I.Q. (1983),
The Fantastic World of D.C. Collins (1984)
and
Playing with Fire (1985).
All of them wisely centered around Gary's adorable persona. Modest film
comedies also came his way with
On the Right Track (1981) and
Jimmy the Kid (1982). Topping it
all off, the Hanna-Barbera-produced series
The Gary Coleman Show (1982)
produced an animated version of the child star. Little Gary would make
close to $18 million during his nearly decade-long TV reign.
Like many others in his shoes, however, the aging Coleman felt trapped
and pigeonholed by his stifling juvenile image and begged to get out
from under it. The 18-year-old was truly thankful when the series ended
in 1986. Coleman found, however, that a very fickle public was not as
receptive to seeing him grow up. Like fellow TV star
Emmanuel Lewis, Coleman began aging in
appearance but remained trapped in the body of a young boy and the
contrast proved too strange for audiences. As a result, Hollywood had
little resources as to what to do with Gary Coleman the man. It wasn't
long before Coleman was reduced to making weird guest appearances and
small parts in even smaller films.
This crash course in reality triggered an increasingly erratic and
aggressive behavior in Gary Coleman as he became increasingly angry and
bitter about his lack of work when he was so used to be on top of
everything. The subsequent tragedies suffered by all three young stars
from the "Diff'rent Strokes" show, in fact, was sold out as a jinx
package known as the "Diff'rent Strokes curse". While distaff co-star
Dana Plato fell heavily into drug addiction,
petty crime and pornography before taking her own life in 1999,
Todd Bridges, who played Coleman's older
brother, battled major cocaine abuse and was later charged (but
acquitted of) attempted murder in the late 1980s.
In addition to his life-long health issues, Gary's adult problems came
in the form of scattered financial and legal entanglements, as well as
scrapes with the law. He was once arrested in 1999 for punching a
persistent female autograph fan, in which he was fined and ordered to
take anger-management classes. This became tabloid fodder for late night comics who joked that he must have landed "several good uppercuts." He also had many disorderly conduct and
reckless driving charges brought up against him at various times. He
would admit that the tally of his life problems led to more than a few
feigned suicide attempts. In 1989, Coleman successfully sued his
adopted parents and business manager after they allegedly pilfered his
youthful fortune for their own self interest totaling $3.8 million in
losses, and he won $1,280,000. Despite the large settlement, all of the
money was soon spent on taxes, legal fees, as well as his increasingly
high medical bills for his continuing dialysis treatments. As a result
by 1999 (with no steady acting work) Coleman had to declare bankruptcy,
finding work outside the Hollywood industry as a security guard. For
self-preservation, he went the reality-show route and became the object
of self-mocking cameos to help bring in some cash. As a gag, he ran for
California's 2003 governorship during its recall election.
In 2007, he married the much younger actress
Shannon Price, whom he met on the set of
the low budget film
Church Ball (2006), but the quickly
marriage dissolved quickly into domestic squabbles that put him in
front of the court system yet again on domestic abuse charges. He later
moved and settled in Utah.
In early 2009, Coleman managed to star in his very last film, the crude
independent comedy
Midgets vs. Mascots (2009)
filmed in Dallas, Texas before the end came. Following heart
surgery complicated by pneumonia in the fall of 2009, he suffered
a heart seizure in February 2010 while performing on a
Hollywood set. The 42-year-old actor died of a brain hemorrhage on May
28, 2010, after suffering an epidural haematoma from a fall at home. A
sad end to a very bright and talented, but very troubled and bitter,
child star who, at his peak, brought such joy to TV audiences.
and early 1980s. A refreshingly confident little tyke with sparkling
dark, saucer-like eyes and an ingratiating, take-on-anyone burst of
personality, the boy charmed the pants right off of TV viewers the
minute he was glimpsed in national commercials. Amazed by how mature he
came across, Gary was in truth older than he looked, which was brought
upon by a congenital kidney condition. Sadly, the pint-sized phenomena
outgrew his chubby-cheeked welcome and found the course of his grown-up
Hollywood career brutally rough and patchy. The fragile condition of
his health coupled with this lack of adult career acceptance, sparked
an aggressively defensive behavior mechanism in his adult years and led
to great personal unhappiness, chronic legal/financial hassles and
early death.
He was born Gary Wayne Coleman on February 8, 1968, to a homeless woman, and was adopted by a fork-lift operator and his nurse
practitioner wife from a Chicago hospital when he was just a few days
old. Raised in Zion, Illinois, it was discovered that little Gary had
severe health issues before the age of 2. Born with one atrophied
kidney and an endangering weak second one, he had two kidney
transplants by the time he reached age 16 and the effects of his
dialysis medication permanently stunted his growth (to 4'8").
A highly precocious comedy cut-up on-camera, Gary proved a natural in
local Chicago commercials. As his commercials spread nationwide,
audiences began wondering just who this diminutive dynamo was.
Norman Lear's talent scout spotted him in a
Chicago bank commercial (he was 9 at the time) and decided to reveal to
the world who the little guy was. Brought in to brighten up such Lear
sitcoms as "The Jeffersons" and "Good Times" (the latter as a friend of
little Janet Jackson's character),
NBC quickly recognized the boy's comedy prowess and handed the
10-year-old his own prime-time sitcom playground to mug in.
While
Diff'rent Strokes (1978)'s
underlying approach was to preach racial and social tolerance (it
revolved around two lower-class African-American brothers from Harlem
who are taken in and adopted by a wealthy, debonair Park Avenue white
man after their housekeeper mother dies), the show's powers-that-be
smartly deduced that it was the wisecracking gifts of young Coleman,
who played the youngest brother, Arnold Jackson, that gave the show its
spark. Deemed "NBC's Littlest Big Man," Gary's sly, pouting-lipped
delivery of, "What'chu talkin' about, Willis?" soon became a popular
American catchphrase.
Legendary comics such as Bob Hope and
Lucille Ball absolutely gushed about the
little boy's comedy genius and Gary soon became a hit on the talk show
circuit, trading clever banter with the likes of
Johnny Carson among others. The
boy was also outfitted with a series of lightweight TV-movie showcases
which included
The Kid from Left Field (1979),
Scout's Honor (1980),
The Kid with the Broken Halo (1982),
The Kid with the 200 I.Q. (1983),
The Fantastic World of D.C. Collins (1984)
and
Playing with Fire (1985).
All of them wisely centered around Gary's adorable persona. Modest film
comedies also came his way with
On the Right Track (1981) and
Jimmy the Kid (1982). Topping it
all off, the Hanna-Barbera-produced series
The Gary Coleman Show (1982)
produced an animated version of the child star. Little Gary would make
close to $18 million during his nearly decade-long TV reign.
Like many others in his shoes, however, the aging Coleman felt trapped
and pigeonholed by his stifling juvenile image and begged to get out
from under it. The 18-year-old was truly thankful when the series ended
in 1986. Coleman found, however, that a very fickle public was not as
receptive to seeing him grow up. Like fellow TV star
Emmanuel Lewis, Coleman began aging in
appearance but remained trapped in the body of a young boy and the
contrast proved too strange for audiences. As a result, Hollywood had
little resources as to what to do with Gary Coleman the man. It wasn't
long before Coleman was reduced to making weird guest appearances and
small parts in even smaller films.
This crash course in reality triggered an increasingly erratic and
aggressive behavior in Gary Coleman as he became increasingly angry and
bitter about his lack of work when he was so used to be on top of
everything. The subsequent tragedies suffered by all three young stars
from the "Diff'rent Strokes" show, in fact, was sold out as a jinx
package known as the "Diff'rent Strokes curse". While distaff co-star
Dana Plato fell heavily into drug addiction,
petty crime and pornography before taking her own life in 1999,
Todd Bridges, who played Coleman's older
brother, battled major cocaine abuse and was later charged (but
acquitted of) attempted murder in the late 1980s.
In addition to his life-long health issues, Gary's adult problems came
in the form of scattered financial and legal entanglements, as well as
scrapes with the law. He was once arrested in 1999 for punching a
persistent female autograph fan, in which he was fined and ordered to
take anger-management classes. This became tabloid fodder for late night comics who joked that he must have landed "several good uppercuts." He also had many disorderly conduct and
reckless driving charges brought up against him at various times. He
would admit that the tally of his life problems led to more than a few
feigned suicide attempts. In 1989, Coleman successfully sued his
adopted parents and business manager after they allegedly pilfered his
youthful fortune for their own self interest totaling $3.8 million in
losses, and he won $1,280,000. Despite the large settlement, all of the
money was soon spent on taxes, legal fees, as well as his increasingly
high medical bills for his continuing dialysis treatments. As a result
by 1999 (with no steady acting work) Coleman had to declare bankruptcy,
finding work outside the Hollywood industry as a security guard. For
self-preservation, he went the reality-show route and became the object
of self-mocking cameos to help bring in some cash. As a gag, he ran for
California's 2003 governorship during its recall election.
In 2007, he married the much younger actress
Shannon Price, whom he met on the set of
the low budget film
Church Ball (2006), but the quickly
marriage dissolved quickly into domestic squabbles that put him in
front of the court system yet again on domestic abuse charges. He later
moved and settled in Utah.
In early 2009, Coleman managed to star in his very last film, the crude
independent comedy
Midgets vs. Mascots (2009)
filmed in Dallas, Texas before the end came. Following heart
surgery complicated by pneumonia in the fall of 2009, he suffered
a heart seizure in February 2010 while performing on a
Hollywood set. The 42-year-old actor died of a brain hemorrhage on May
28, 2010, after suffering an epidural haematoma from a fall at home. A
sad end to a very bright and talented, but very troubled and bitter,
child star who, at his peak, brought such joy to TV audiences.