Gary Coleman is Dead

[MIB41]

The main thing is he is at peace now and no one can take that away from him. May he spread his wings far and wide now.

[JediJaida]

The poor thing. Hard to believe that he was only three years younger than I am right now.

I loved Diffrent Strokes in the early years; Gary WAS the show. He was a joy to watch and genuinely funny.

Too bad he got shafted by his parents, that happened to a lot of child stars, going back to the silent era. They weren't always treated well, either by the industry or by the people who were supposed to love them and take care of them.

It's sad to think that so few of them managed to make the transition to adulthood well, and continue on in acting.

I can only think of three from Hollywood's so-called Golden Era that made it in acting.

Elizabeth Taylor started out at the age of twelve or so, and kept on going til she was at least in her forties or fifties.

Roddy MacDowell started out at the same age, took time off for college, and became one of the best character actors in the business.

Angela Lansbury is another one. She starred with Elizabeth in National Velvet, and she was about fourteen or fifteen at the time.

[HardyGirl]

This is really sad. I did see him once at LAX in front of McDonald's checking his phone messages. I didn't approach him b/c he didn't look too happy. I really enjoyed his career as a kid though. Good Times, Diff'rent Strokes, The Kid W/ a Broken Halo, Scout's Honor and the Gary Coleman show. It's really too bad that his folks took advantage of him and all the health problems he suffered and not being taken seriously in his adult years.

RIP Gary. You may not have known it (though it's clear to you now) that you were loved by many.

[Hector]

A tortured soul now finally at peace.

[The Toyroom]

"Diff'rent Strokes" was a Friday night staple for me brother and I back in the day...Gary Coleman was KING back then....always fun to watch. Too bad life kept knocking him down afterward. I saw him on TV this year during that "The Insider" incident...he seemed like he was still a child (attitude wise) and could snap at any minute...

RIP Arnold

[kryptosmaster]

Hardly a kid at 42 years old. I think that's where some of his anger came from, not being treated as a man because of his childhood fame and his stature. I felt a little bad for him. RIP Mr. Coleman, you will be missed.

Didn't necessarily mean I was calling him a kid now. More to the fact that he was treated so bad while he was a kid star. Guess it didn't come out that way.
But yeah, he did have that "I never grew up" aura about him no matter how old he got.
Rich

[Marvelmania]

WOW!
Poor kid.
He really got shafted.
Rich

Hardly a kid at 42 years old. I think that's where some of his anger came from, not being treated as a man because of his childhood fame and his stature. I felt a little bad for him. RIP Mr. Coleman, you will be missed.

[Hotfoot]

He lived the hard life of a child star. So sad.

[starsky]

i really enjoyed watching him on tv. rip gary.

[AJ Collector]

He seemed like he was crazy as in insane.

I'd hate to be around him because he looked like anything could set him off.

He did sem like he was always a little to close to the edge.

RIP Gary "what you talkin about Willis" Coleman

[Earth 2 Chris]

I always felt bad for him too. He grew up in the lap of luxury and by all rights should have still been loaded, but his parents blew all of his money, according to most stories I've seen/read. I believe he was the original kid who emancipated himself from his parents.

I used to watch Diff'rent Strokes alot, and vaguely recall the cartoon. I think it was based off of that angel movie.

Chris

[Cmonster]

R.I.P Arnold Drummond and Heironymous Fox--

Two great characters I immensely enjoyed watching.

His talent and humor will be missed.

SC

[Mikey]

He seemed like he was crazy as in insane.

I'd hate to be around him because he looked like anything could set him off.

[filmation batman fan]

I met Gary Coleman last year at Adventure Con in Knoxville Tn. He and Todd Bridges were both there and they had a photo op. Okay, it cost 40 bucks, but I thought it was worth it and I got my picture made with them. Sadly, I was the only one who did. But I'm not sorry. That pic is now a valuable keepsake. Gary couldn't walk too far and he seemed real sad. I spoke with him and did my best to talk with him about regular things in general. We got along okay, but I was afraid of saying or talking about something that would rub him the wrong way. I really felt bad for him.
I used to enjoy watching him as Arnold on Diff'rent Strokes and although I never saw it, I recall the cartoon series, the Gary Coleman show. I'm guessing it was based off of this TV movie he did called the Kid With the Broken Halo. It was such a crying shame his life turned out the way it did in his adult years.
Most recently, I read that Dana Plato's son, killed himself at the age of 25 11 years after losing his mom.
R.I.P. Gary. You will be missed.

[David Lee]

Anybody remember his cartoon? RIP Gary!

Yea ironically he was an angel of a dead kid right?

-Dave