Loading...Dana Plato is most likely a person of a certain age who remembers watching the American sitcom Diff’rent Strokes, which aired in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Along with Gary Coleman’s wisecracks, she was the teenager who made Diff’rent Strokes the ratings juggernaut it was at the time. In any case, regardless of her long stretches of progress on the show (until she was booted – favoring that later), Dana Plato’s life followed a direction quite normal with entertainers that experience childhood in showbiz. But first, let’s take a look at how Dana Plato got her start.
Early Life and Career of Dana Plato Dana Plato made her acting debut when she was 10 years old, making a one-time appearance on the American television series The Sixth Million Dollar Man. The show is about a man who gets shot in the ass by a gang of thugs and is brought back to life with super strength, speed, and other crap with technology from the 1970s and a few million dollars. It’s possible that Dana Plato was in a role where she told the main character Steve Austin—not „Stone Cold Steve Austin,“ but some jerk with the name „Steve Austin“—that the show’s idea is so ridiculous that even a 10-year-old can see it.
She then appeared in a number of films in the late 1970s, but a producer on a game show called The Gong Show found her. This was an American game show from the 1970s in which contestants would perform anything from singing show tunes about pasta to jerking off in front of a live audience without the majority of the judges striking a gong, which signifies that the contestant is a loser, has a fucking sucks ass, and should probably rub shit all over their face in shame. Dana Plato was one of the contestants who impressed, which earned her a role as Kimberly Drummond on the American sitcom Diff’rent Strokes. She plays the older sister of Arnold Jackson, played by Gary Coleman, and Willis Jackson, played by Todd Bridges.
In 1978, Rise to American Heartthrob Difficult Strokes debuted on the American television network NBC and quickly became a huge success. Dana Plato’s natural beauty made Diff’rent Strokes a weekly spectacle that you can’t miss, along with the wise-cracking Gary Coleman, who made the phrase „Whatchya talkin‘ ‘bout Willis“ part of the American lexicon for decades. Dana Plato rose to prominence in the show’s credits for four years due to her instant popularity.
The appearance of Dana Plato on the American showbiz circuit came at the perfect time. There was a clear demand for and obsession with teenage actors as the 1970s came to a close and the United States entered the 1980s. Young people from all walks of life read magazines like Tiger Beat and hung pictures of their favorite teen celebrities on their walls, lockers, or anywhere else they could find them. Along with Molly Ringwald, Demi Moore, Valerie Bertinelli, and other American teenage heartthrobs of the time, Dana Plato perfectly fit that mold.
She appeared on the covers of magazines, made guest appearances on television, and even landed a role in the sequel to the infamous The Exorcist because of the wit and warmth she brought to her role as Kimberly Drummond: The Exorcist: The tyrant. She also appeared in the film California Suite, which won awards from the Academy Awards and the Golden Globe Awards, as well as the well-received television films High School U.S.A. and A Step in Time.
And that wasn’t all. Dana Plato received two nominations for her work on Diff’rent Strokes for the TV Land Award and a Young Artist Award during this time. Dana Plato went from being a relative unknown to a thriving young actress who was already nominated for numerous awards and appeared to be on her way to superstardom in just a few short years. That all changed, however, with a single quick decision.
In late 1983, Dana Plato and her musician boyfriend got pregnant. One of her co-stars said that she was thrilled about the pregnancy. However, the Diff’rent Strokes creators were not at all pleased. The Kimberly Drummond character was axed from the show entirely due to a combination of Dana Plato’s pregnancy and personal issues that were beginning to be a liability for the show’s reputation as a „wholesome family comedy.“ Throughout the show’s final few seasons, she returned occasionally, but she never achieved the same level of success as in previous years.
After Diff’rent Strokes was over once and for all, Dana Plato attempted to transition into more serious roles, but her options were limited. She had breast implants and was featured in the June 1989 issue of Playboy. She was absolutely stunning! I had to take my cock out and start stroking her photos for ThePornDude, even by 1980s standards! Damn, how on earth did she not find employment?
She kind of did. In 1989, Dana Plato appeared in the low-budget film Bikini Beach Race. Given her Playboy work, I am not at all surprised that she was cast in that role! Who wouldn’t want to spend some time looking at that rack? I’ll tell you that much right now (and I fucking am!) as I sure as fuck would!
A few years later, Dana Plato also starred in Lethal Cowboy. But before that, she tried to get noticed as a musician. In 1990, she made a few tracks, but no one ever released them. Her life began to truly spiral out of control at this point.
Dana Plato’s Decline Dana Plato and her husband split up as the 1980s came to an end, and in 1990, the couple filed for divorce. Dana Plato was granted visitation rights, but she lost custody of her son as a result. Her life got worse as 1991 went on.
She entered a video store in Las Vegas, Nevada, on February 28, 1991, which marked the beginning of this. Dana Plato pulled out a pellet gun and demanded that the cashier empty the cash register in the middle of the Nevada desert video store. Dana Plato escaped the scene after the cashier followed their instructions. The cashier immediately dialed 911, mentioning that „the girl who played Kimberly on Diff’rent Strokes“ had robbed him.
Dana Plato, strangely, went back to the video store about 15 minutes later. She might have wanted more money, or she might have wanted to rent a movie and buy some snacks with the money she had stolen earlier. She was taken into custody as soon as she arrived at the scene, regardless of the reason. Dana Plato had only taken $164, it turned out.
Considering that Dana Plato’s child co-stars Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges had also had their own share of publicized problems by this time, this sparked nationwide discussion about why child stars have such a sharp fall from grace. Dana Plato and the group of child stars from the 1970s and 1980s became the faces of the dangers of becoming famous too quickly in Hollywood, along with other child stars like Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, Andrew Koenig, and others. Dana Plato was still acting and making a name for herself, though.
Dana Plato’s Unique Role and Return to Adult Roles Despite the fact that she was probably unaware of it at the time, Dana Plato became arguably the first actress to play a lead in a video game with the 1992 release of Night Trap. The game starred Dana Plato as a sorority sister living in a sorority house when vampires enter the house in search of sexy sorority necks. It was one of the first video games to use live action. To prevent Dana Plato and her sorority sisters from being bitten, the player must use a security system to set traps.
Despite the fact that it was excessively violent for a video game at the time, the game quickly became a cult classic. Night Watch received a lot more attention than it was hoping for and deserved because grumpy old bitches were also complaining about the violence in video games, mostly in Mortal Kombat. She made an appearance in the romantic comedy Different Strokes a few years later: The Story of Jack and Jill…and Jill was also published in Girlfriends, a lesbian publication.
The Premature Death of Dana Plato On May 8, 1999, Dana Plato succumbed to an overdose of drugs. The overdose was initially deemed accidental, but due to her prolonged struggle with substance abuse, it was later determined to be a suicide. Some, including Todd Bridges, Dana Plato’s co-star, think the decision is wrong. Dana Plato’s body was cremated, and her ashes were scattered across the Pacific Ocean after she passed away.
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In Diff’rent Strokes, Dana Plato became a sexy adult actress after playing a quirky, warm sibling to two adopted boys from Harlem, NYC, New York. Sadly, her personal problems ended her career and life. Even so, decades after her death, her sexual appeal and body of work are still remembered.
