Gary Coleman

Gary Coleman was an American voice artist, actor, and a comedian. He was popularly known for his role in ‘Diff’rent Strokes’ as Arnold Jackson. He was considered as one of the most promising actors in the year 1980. He was a successful childhood actor but later in life he had to struggle financially. In the year 1989, his parents and advisors misappropriated his assets, and he sued them successfully. Coleman died at the age of 42 due to an epidural hematoma. He was born outside Chicago in Zion, Illinois. He was adopted by a fork lift operator, W.G. Coleman, and a nurse practitioner, Edmonia Sue. He suffered chronic illness, and because of that, his height remained limited to only 1.42 meters. In 1973 and 1984, he underwent a kidney transplant.

Coleman started his career in the year 1984. He first appeared in a popular commercial for Harris Bank. Later, he made his appearance in one episode of Medical Centre. He played the role of Raymond in ‘The Jeffersons’ and played the role of Gary in the series ‘The Good Times.’ Gary Coleman was rated as the first among Top 100 Greatest Child Stars by VH1. The biggest break in Coleman’s career was when he got the role of Arnold Jackson in the series ‘Diff’rent Strokes.’ The series was aired in the year 1978 to 1986. He was at the highest peak and earned more than $100,000 per episode.

In no time, Coleman became a very popular figure and did television films as well such as ‘The Kid With The Broken Halo’ and ‘On The Right Track.’ In the year 1982, he did a show ‘The Gary Coleman Show.’ He also made appearances in the video games such as ‘The Curse of Monkey Island’ in the year 1997 and ‘Postal 2’ in the year 2003. Gary Coleman was a candidate for Governor election in the year 2003 as well. Gary Coleman was parodied in Avenue Q, which acquired the Tony Award in the Best Musical category in the year 2004.

Initially, the main role was to be played by Gary Coleman himself, but as per the directors, Gary never turned up for the meetings scheduled to finalise the things. The role was then passed on to Natalie Venetia Belcon. Gary Coleman had a very troubled life in the later stage due to his chronic illness and legal troubles. As per him, his advisors and parents misappropriated his property and assets. After a prolonged illness, Coleman died on 27th May 2010.