Gary Coleman
Gary Wayne Coleman (born February 8, 1968 in Zion , Illinois , † May 28, 2010 in Provo , Utah ) was an American actor . Coleman was pathologically short as a result of inflammatory kidney disease , so that as a grown man he had the physical appearance of a child.
Life and work
Gary Coleman grew up as the adopted child of Willie and Sue Coleman in the US state of Illinois. His physical growth was impaired in early childhood by a disease primarily affecting the kidneys. As a result, he was only 1.42 meters tall, had to rely on daily dialysis treatment and received a kidney transplant in 1973 and 1984 .
Coleman began working as an actor in the 1970s. After appearances on series like The Jeffersons and Good Times , he got the role of Arnold Jackson in the family series Still Questions Arnold? ( Diff'rent Strokes ), which he played from 1978 to 1986. The role of Arnold, the adoptive son of a good-natured elderly widower, quickly made Coleman known nationwide and made him a fortune: most recently, he received $ 70,000 per episode. His popularity was based primarily on his " putto-like ", childishly cute round face, which made him a public favorite for years.
In the 1980s, Coleman starred in numerous catchy and entertaining television films such as On the Right Track and The Kid with the Broken Halo . In addition, the animation studio Hanna Barbera produced the animated series named after him, The Gary Coleman Show , in which Coleman dubbed an animated version of himself .
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Coleman received media attention due to personal blows of fate: After his parents and his manager embezzled his million dollar fortune, he was forced to work as a department store guard at times and had to declare personal bankruptcy in 1999. In the 1990s, Coleman appeared frequently in guest roles on sitcoms such as One Of The Kinds , The Prince Of Bel-Air (1996) and The Simpsons (1999). Furthermore, since the 1990s he has increasingly concentrated on appearances in "modern forms of entertainment". He had roles in music videos such as Kid Rocks Cowboy and John Cena's Bad, Bad Man and lent his voice to characters in the computer games The Curse of Monkey Island and Postal 2 (2002). He later took on guest roles in many films and series such as B. Drake & Josh and What's Up, Dad? .
In 2003 Coleman ran for governor of the state of California . He received 14,242 votes and the eighth most of 135 candidates.
In 2004 he appeared on the television show Surreal Life and an episode of the television series Drake & Josh . From 2006 to 2007 he acted as an advertising medium in advertising films for the CashCall company, in which he gave viewers the message “Pay your bills on time and everyone will love you”.
In 2005 the viewers of the US television station VH1 voted Coleman in a ranking of the “Hundred Greatest Child Stars of All Time”, ahead of Elizabeth Taylor or Shirley Temple .
The musical Avenue Q has been played on Broadway in New York since 2003 , in which a character portraying Gary Coleman has an elevated supporting role and which won a Tony Award in 2004. Coleman himself has repeatedly expressed his displeasure with the play.
Coleman died at the age of 42 from the effects of a cerebral hemorrhage from a fall in his home.
Web links
- Gary Coleman in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Spiegel Online Gary Coleman is dead , accessed on May 29, 2010
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Coleman, Gary |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Coleman, Gary Wayne (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | US-American actor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 8, 1968 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Zion , Illinois |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 28, 2010 |
| Place of death | Provo , Utah |