Dana Plato

Biography

Dana Michelle Plato (November 7, 1964 — May 8, 1999) was born in Maywood, California. Dana made an impact on the TV screen when she landed the role of Kimberly Drummond in the TV hit sitcom Diff'rent Strokes (1978) from 1978-1986. After the series ended, Dana had difficulty finding more acting work. Sometimes she would act in a made-for-TV movie or a low- budget silver-screen film. She was married for Lanny Lambert for seven years and they had a son. Plato was arrested in 1991 for robbing a Las Vegas video store and placed on probation; the next year she was arrested again, this time for forging a Valium prescription. She had just finished an interview with Howard Stern in the spring of 1999 when she and her fiancé, Robert Menchaca, were headed back to California. She hoped the interview would revive her stalled career. They stopped at his parents' house in Moore, Oklahoma for a Mother's-Day-weekend visit; on Saturday, May 8, 1999, Dana died of what appeared to be an accidental overdose of the painkiller "Loritab". On May 21, a coroner's inquest ruled her death a suicide because of the large amount of drugs in her body and her history of past suicide attempts. She was 34 years old.

Most Known For

The Six Million Dollar Man

as Girl on the Tennis Court

The Facts of Life

as Kimberly Drummond

Growing Pains

as Lisa

Family

as Debbie

CHiPs

as Dana Plato

Hello, Larry

as Kimberly Drummond

Millenium Day

as Pacifica

Night Trap

as Kelly

Exorcist II: The Heretic

as Sandra Phalor (uncredited)

Insatiable Coeds

as Piano Teacher's Wife (archive footage) (uncredited)

Diff'rent Strokes

as Kimberly Drummond

E! True Hollywood Story

California Suite

as Jenny

Gary

as Archive footage

High School U.S.A.

as Cara Ames

Distortions

as Deborah Nichols

Silent Fury

Prime Suspect

as Diana Masters

Schoolboy Father

as Daisy Dallenger

Desperation Boulevard

as Herself