American actor and comedian Gary Wayne Coleman was born in Zion, Illinois on 8th February 1968 and passed away on 28th May 2010. He was adopted.
His career debut was in 1974 when he appeared in a US bank commercial at the age of 6 and also starred in a medical drama series a few months afterwards. Three years later, Gary appeared in a trial episode of a comedy series. Then, in 1978, he was the main protagonist of the famous sitcom ‘Diff’rent Strokes’, interpreting the character of Arnold Jackson with his famous catchphrase ‘What’chu talkin”bout, Willis?’, which made him a child star and rendering him the highest-paid TV child actor of that epoch. The show became so popular that it ran for 8 seasons between 1978 and 1986.
Whilst starring in ‘Diff’rent Strokes’, Coleman appeared also in other sitcoms like ‘The Jeffersons’ as well as made his TV film debut in 1979 in ‘The Kid from left Field’. Later on that year, he guest starred in a sci-fi show and made his big screen debut in the romantic comedy film ‘On the Right Track’ two years later.
From then until his demise, Gary starred in about 20 movies and 35 TV programmes. He also appeared in 6 music videos and 2 video games. Apart from acting, Coleman was also into politics and was a candidate for California governor. During his career, Gary received 2 Young Artist and 3 People’s Choice Awards.
Coleman suffered from a kidney disease since he was a child which affected his height and underwent 2 unsuccessful kidney transplants and needed dialysis. Gary died on 28th May 2010 from epidural hematoma after he had fallen down the stairs and hitting his head two days earlier.
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