That May 8, 1999, when he died with just 34 years, the entire world was shocked. It is true that, by then, Dana Plato He had been immersed in hell for a long time. And it was known. However, in the collective imaginary of the public, his fresh smile was still recorded. That with which he played the sympathetic Kimberly Drummond The series Black and white which became a true event of the ’80. And that catapulted her to fame being just a girl.
“I am tired of defending my character. I am what I am. What you see, is what you have”, Had said in an interview with the New York Post. Born on November 7, 1964 in Maywood, California, Dana was the daughter of Linda Straina single teenager who gave her birth was already raising an 18 -month -old baby and could not take care of her. So, soon, the girl was adopted by the marriage composed of Dean y Florine Platowith whom he settled in the San Fernando Valley.California. And, after the divorce of both, he continued to live with the woman, whom they nicknamed Kay.
It was her adoptive mother who began to take her to auditions for advertisements since she was just 7 years old. He made more than one hundred commercials. And, at 13, he debuted on the big screen with the movie return to Boggy Creek of 1977, which was followed Exorcist II: The Heretic of 1977 and California Suite of 1978. But the work that marked a before and after in his life was Different Strokes (Name of the series in English)which debuted in 1978 by the NBC chain and remained in the air over eight seasons.
The series tried to fight against racism rests in the United States, but became an international success. I was starring Gary Coleman y Todd Bridges In the papers of Arnold y Willis Jacksontwo African -American Harlem children who were adopted by Phillip Drummonda rich embodied by Conrad Bainthat in turn had a daughter, to whom she gave life neither more nor less than Dana.
The truth is that, with just 14 years, at that time the actress had already begun to fall into addictions. Alcohol, cocaine and marijuana were present in their daily lives. And, little by little, they seized their will. To the point, that it was even difficult to fulfill its labor obligations. Although, on the screen, few could notice it. And, outside the recording sets, almost no one was encouraged to talk about it.
But Dana was not the only one. Bridges, who had been the victim of a pedophile manager, had also fallen into drugs. And, perhaps to accompany himself, the actress and he began a romantic relationship that did nothing more than enhance these negative aspects of their existers. In fact, when the series ended and it no longer took place in the entertainment world, Todd ended in jail.
In 1984, with 18 years recently, Dana was pregnant with the guitarist Lanny Lambert. And, obviously, in the seventh season of the series it was not contemplated that Miss Drummond had a baby. So the scriptwriters sent her as a study trip to Paris. And, thus, his character was left out of history forever. But she was happy with her motherhood. So he married his son’s father and brought the world to Tylerbelieving that now his life would make sense.
However, the actress could not escape depression. And to that the lack of work was added, since given their health problems nobody wanted to hire her. Four years later he divorced. And finally, lost the child’s possession due to his addictions. But that was not all: his mother died soon, the only family left. So he fell into a well from which he never left.
Desperate, she agreed to pose naked for Playboy magazine, trying to find a way to return to the ring. And participated in some low -budget productions. But the little he won was taken by his representative, who disappeared and left her in ruin. And she ended in Las Vegas, working in a laundry to survive. But, obviously, the money did not reach him to solve his excesses. And, in 1991, was arrested for stealing a video club With a compressed air gun.
Seeing his name on the police pages of the newspapers, the animator Wayne Newton He paid a bail of 13 thousand dollars so that Dana could leave probation. But in 1992, the actress spent thirty days in prison after falsifying a recipe to buy Diazepam. Then he tried to do a rehabilitation treatment. And he returned to work, only that on video games and porn movies, such as Different Strokes: The Story of Jack and Jill…and Jill of 1998.
The truth is that none of this served for its reality to improve. Not even, the reappearance of her biological mother, who looked for her after decades and met again with her on a television studio. Neither does your new relationship with Robert Menchacawith whom he went to live at a rolling house. Because, in the depths of her heart, she still felt empty.
After a roommate, Jennifer Wejbewould go out to defend her in the media talking about her addictions and her marginal way of life in March 1999, Dana tried to defend himself by going to the radio program of Howard Stern Two months later, more exactly, on May 7 of that year. But the play went wrong, since no one believed him that he no longer consumed. And the messages of the listeners were ruthless. And he ended up leaving the study in the middle of a crying attack.
The next day, the actress went on a trip with her partner for Los Angeles, but after a brief stop at his mother’s house He appeared dead in his bed. The autopsy determined that He had consumed soothing and a strong muscle relaxant. And his death was qualified as suicide. Then responsibilities slid to both side. But the concrete is that Dana decided to put an end point to her suffering in the worst way.
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