Dana Plato

Known for ActingBorn 1964-11-07Died 1999-05-08Maywood, California, USA

Dana Michelle Plato (November 7, 1964 — May 8, 1999) was born in Maywood, California. Dana made an impact on the TV screen when she landed the role of Kimberly Drummond in the TV hit sitcom Diff'rent Strokes (1978) from 1978-1986. After the series ended, Dana had difficulty finding more acting work. Sometimes she would act in a made-for-TV movie or a low- budget silver-screen film. She was married for Lanny Lambert for seven years and they had a son. Plato was arrested in 1991 for robbing a Las Vegas video store and placed on probation; the next year she was arrested again, this time for forging a Valium prescription. She had just finished an interview with Howard Stern in the spring of 1999 when she and her fiancé, Robert Menchaca, were headed back to California. She hoped the interview would revive her stalled career. They stopped at his parents' house in Moore, Oklahoma for a Mother's-Day-weekend visit; on Saturday, May 8, 1999, Dana died of what appeared to be an accidental overdose of the painkiller "Loritab". On May 21, a coroner's inquest ruled her death a suicide because of the large amount of drugs in her body and her history of past suicide attempts. She was 34 years old.Read more

Movies & web series

E! True Hollywood Story

Blade Boxer

Kraft Salutes Walt Disney World's 10th Anniversary

Silent Fury

The Six Million Dollar Man

Tiger

Millenium Day

Hollywood Demons

Family

The Facts of Life

Diff'rent Strokes

CHiPs

Gary

Growing Pains

Night Trap

Hello, Larry

California Suite

Lethal Cowboy

Distortions

The Hostage

High School U.S.A.

Pacino is Missing

Beyond the Bermuda Triangle

Desperation Boulevard

Compelling Evidence

Exorcist II: The Heretic

Return to Boggy Creek

Different Strokes

Schoolboy Father

Prime Suspect

Bikini Beach Race

Insatiable Coeds