As somebody joked on Twitter yesterday, if Gary Coleman dies, this would be the perfect time for the Norks to invade South Korea, given how distracted the media would be.
Start worrying, South Korea:
Gary Coleman has died at 42, RadarOnline.com is first to report.
Coleman had been hospitalized in Provo, Utah since Wednesday, May 26, after suffering what his family called “a serious medical problem.”
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As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Coleman had slipped into a coma and was on life support after suffering an intracranial hemorrhage.
He was pulled of life support Friday morning and later passed away. His wife Shannon Price and her father were at the hospital Friday.
The Illinois native’s death marks the end of a long, sad road for the diminutive Diff’rent Strokes star, who struggled professionally and financially as his fame and fortune diminished since the show went off the air in 1986.
Coleman’s growth was hampered at a young age by a congenital kidney disease caused by focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, as he never grew beyond 4 feet, 8 inches tall. Twice having undergone kidney transplants in 1973 and 1984, Coleman required daily dialysis in his everyday life.
Coleman got his break in acting when caught the eye of TV icon Norman Lear, which eventually paved the way for him to star in Diff’rent Strokes as Arnold Jackson, a wisecracking runt adopted with his brother Willis (Todd Bridges) by a rich New York businessman (Conrad Bain). Coleman’s considerable charisma — buoyed by his catchphrase “What’cu Talkin Bout Willis” — made the show a ratings winner in its’ first three years, as the young actor was earning as much as $70,000 an episode at its’ peak.
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Coleman would wind up suing his parents in 1989 over missing money from his trust fund, and was awarded more than $1 million in 1993, but the money would not last, as he would wind up declaring bankruptcy six years later.
Not that any of the other child actors made out so great after the show was canceled, of course.
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