Her Rough Start
Dana Michell Strain was born in November 1964 in Maywood, California. However, Linda, her mother, was single and a teenager. This led Plato into a whirlwind of trouble where she fought for her mom’s attention and love.
Her Rough Start
The Competition
Her unwed and teenage mother didn’t want her and actually had another 18-month-old baby. The stress she was under must have been tough, and she struggled to raise two girls alone. In fact, Dana was simply another mouth to feed.
The Competition
Unwanted
At 7 months old, Dana’s mom gave her up for adoption. Dean and Florine Plato became her new parents, and they provided a new last name and house in the San Fernando Valley. Still, Dana became a project because Florine wanted her to be a star.
Unwanted
Her Stage Name
When Florine and Dean got divorced, Plato received way too much attention. Florine wanted her to be in show business, taking her on multiple auditions. Though it paid off when she was in 100 commercials, it wasn’t enough for her mother.
Her Stage Name
Horror Films
At 13, Plato appeared in the second Exorcist film. It was a horror sequel to the first film, and the reviews were terrible. Then, she was in California Suite, which did better, and she won and got nominated for many films.
Horror Films
She Got Gonged
After the film debut, Plato auditioned for The Gong Show, which allowed judges to “gong” those they didn’t like. She was part of a cheerleading team that didn’t make it. However, a TV producer saw her and offered her a role in Diff’rent Strokes.
She Got Gonged
Another Passion
While she wondered if she’d work on Diff’rent Strokes, she was trying out to be part of the US figure skating team in the Olympics. Should she act or skate? She ended up choosing acting because she was only a teenager.
Another Passion
Her New Family
She landed the part on Diff’rent Strokes, settling into being Kimberly Drummond and the older sister to Willis and Arnold Jackson. Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges played the boys, and they got close on the set.
Gary Coleman Portrait
Too Much Pressure
The show became a hit overnight, and those three young stars were faced with the spotlight. Like many other child stars, they were kids but earning large salaries while working to stay on top. They had to deal with the pressure.
Too Much Pressure
The Dark Path
Plato and her young friends started doing drugs and alcohol. They could get the release they needed. This was a challenging time for Plato, and it would often take five or more hours to sober her up for work.
The Dark Path
Her Bubble
Plato’s mom was protective of her daughter, but it only made things worse. Her mom kept her in a bubble and never taught her about life and reality. In fact, Florine was paranoid and scared someone might kidnap her!
Her Bubble
No Money
Dean didn’t know much about his daughter after he divorced Florine. However, he wanted her money once she got famous, suing her for support. Maybe he thought she owed him something, but the attempt was unsuccessful.
No Money
Married Young
While still playing Kimberly on Diff’rent Strokes, Plato met Lanny Lambert, a rock’n roll guitarist. The two married when she was 18. The producers of the show weren’t happy because they worried her fans would be mad. Then, she announced the pregnancy.
Married Young
Written Out of the Show
Pregnant teens didn’t jive with what the show was about. Race issues were already tense, and teen pregnancy would have been too much. However, the media also learned of her drug and alcohol use, so the producers wrote her out of Diff’rent Strokes.
Written Out Of The Show
Doesn’t Want to Be Alone
Conrad Bain was her on-screen dad, and he talked to Plato after she announced the pregnancy. He said she’d planned for it and was happy. However, she claimed she’d never be alone again, though that didn’t work out for her.
Doesn’t Want To Be Alone
Tragic Loss
Plato lost two of her loved ones in one week in 1988. She and her husband separated while her mom was fighting and succumbed to a brutal illness. Doctors had diagnosed her with scleroderma, and now she was alone, without a husband, job, or mother.
Tragic Loss
Giving Up Control
Since she’d separated from her husband and lost her mom, she worried about money. Therefore, she allowed an accountant to have power of attorney so that she could focus on her life, but he betrayed her.
Giving Up Control
Swindled
Plato’s accountant disappeared with most of her money, leaving her about $150,000. Plus, he’d stolen $1 million from others, too. Though she hit rock bottom, life wasn’t done hurting her yet.
Swindled
Lost Everything
Plato’s separation from her husband lasted two years before the divorce began. Because of her addiction issues and financial problems, the judge said that her son, Tyler, should live with his dad. She lost custody and received visitation rights.
Lost Everything
Better Performance
Dana was down and out, but she chose to rebrand herself as an adult actor. Therefore, she met with a plastic surgeon to get breast implants. She believed it would help her image and land her serious roles.
Better Performance
Posing for Playboy
Women in her situation often turned to Playboy Magazine to shed their childhood images. She wanted to erase the sweet character of Kimberly Drummond and kickstart her adult career by doing a pictorial spread for the magazine.
Posing For Playboy
A Few B Movies
Plato had to wait a long time for the more serious film offers. She appeared naked in Prime Suspect, which aired in 1989. Then, she was in Bikini Beach Race in 1992, where she wore lingerie and rode in a bed-mobile.
A Few B Movies
Lying on TV
Plato had been asked to appear on a talk show in 1990 for child actors. She was also there to tell the world she was off drugs. However, Paul Peterson was a guest on the show who fought for child actors’ rights. He saw her leave with powder on her nose.
Lying On TV
Turned to Robbery
In just a few years, Plato had lost her mom, husband, child, and fortune. Some say she wasn’t in the right frame of mind when she went to a video store, pointed a pistol at the cashier, and demanded the money in 1991. Now, she was a criminal!
Turned To Robbery
Easily Recognized
Plato left the store, and the clerk called 911. He told the operator he’d been robbed by Kimberly from Diff’rent Strokes. Though she’d tried to change her appearance, people still recognized her. Then, she did something shocking!
Easily Recognized
Turned Herself In
Either Plato realized she’d be too recognizable to pull off the crime, or she came to her senses. Regardless, she returned the money to the video store ($164). Officers wanted to take her away, but she’d gone back and felt good about it.
Turned Herself In
No Remorse
The video store clerk, Heather Daily, said that Plato didn’t return to turn herself in; she’d dropped something and wished to retrieve it. In fact, she’d dropped her glasses when she climbed over the wall. Still, Plato was now in custody.
No Remorse
Her Guardian Angel
Plato was now alone in her prison cell and had no friends or family to bail her out. However, Wayne Newton heard about her issues and stepped up to assist. He posted her bail of $13,000.
Her Guardian Angel
She Went to Trial
Pointing a pistol at anyone is very serious, even if the gun only shot pellets. However, the trial judge realized the desperation of her situation and was lenient, sentencing her to five years of probation. Still, things exploded.
She Went To Trial
Starting a Frenzy
After the video store incident, there was a national debate about child stars having trouble later in life. Todd Bridges and Gary Coleman were also in trouble, and it seemed worse than Plato. One local radio show host took potshots.
Starting A Frenzy
In a Song
A Las Vegas radio program created a satirical song about Plato and her robbing the video store. It was sung to the tune of “The Girl from Ipanema.” It was highly popular, and she heard it, getting angry that others made fun of her.
In A Song
Joining the Real World
The radio station making fun of Plato reached out to her, and it did something touching. The owners offered her a job as a celebrity reporter. It was a nice gesture, but she couldn’t do it, though she tried hard.
Joining The Real World
Rare Opportunity
The job she got was to interview celebrities, asking them embarrassing questions. Though she tried, she couldn’t do the job. The questions were degrading; the producer claimed she was too nice and fired her.
Rare Opportunity
A Gamer’s First
Plato became one of the first celebrities ever to star in a video game in 1992. It was called Night Trap, and it featured her and other girls who sleep at a dangerous house. The gamers watched them through surveillance footage and protected them.
A Gamer’s First
Probation Violation
In that same year, Plato turned herself in to the police because she’d forged a prescription for diazepam (anxiety treatment). The judge wasn’t as lenient here, and she went to jail for 30 days. Afterward, she went into drug rehabilitation.
Probation Violation
Moving to the Real World
Plato couldn’t make ends meet and worked in customer service for a while. Then, she accepted a role in an adult film about Diff’rent Strokes. She married again, but it only lasted one month before she and Scott Atkins (Scotty Gelt) got it annulled.
Moving To The Real World
Living on Wheels
She and her manager, Robert Menchaca, decided to get engaged after her second marriage was annulled. They lived in Navarre in a Winnebago. It wasn’t romantic, and soon she’d exploit her own life for cash.
Living On Wheels
She’s Desperate
Plato appeared in Desperation Boulevard as herself in 1998. The movie was about a child star who tried to get back into Hollywood as an adult. It was either desperation or courage to put herself out there like that!
She’s Desperate
Getting Called Out
The Howard Stern radio show made things worse. Her old roommate came out with horrible things, and she tried to prove she wasn’t on drugs but recanted at the last minute.
Getting Called Out
Her Death
After the radio show, she and Menchaca went to visit his mother, and she took a pain pill because she felt ill. The next morning, he realized she had overdosed in her sleep, and the authorities proved that she had committed suicide. She had a net worth of just $1,000.
Her Death
