The Tragic Story of "Diff'rent Strokes" Actress Dana Plato, Who Died at 34 Virginia ChamleeOctober 8, 2025 at 3:38 AM 0 Gary Null/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank Dana Plato as Kimberly Drummond Dana Plato starred in one of the most recognizable sitcoms of the of the 1970s and '80s: Diff'rent Strokes But amid a ...
- - The Tragic Story of "Diff'rent Strokes" Actress Dana Plato, Who Died at 34
Virginia ChamleeOctober 8, 2025 at 3:38 AM
0
Gary Null/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank
Dana Plato as Kimberly Drummond -
Dana Plato starred in one of the most recognizable sitcoms of the of the 1970s and '80s: Diff'rent Strokes
But amid a career reliant on comic timing, a dark tragedy took hold when Plato died at age 34
Her death, initially ruled an accidental overdose, was later deemed to be a suicide
Dana Plato starred in one of the most recognizable sitcoms of the of the 1970s and '80s. But amid a career reliant on comic timing, a dark tragedy took hold when Plato died at age 34.
Born on Nov. 7, 1964, Plato appeared in dozens of television appearances and commercials before landing what would be her most notable role — though there was another she very nearly took. At age nine, she was offered the lead role of a possessed girl in the 1973 film The Exorcist. The Independent reports that her mother ultimately vetoed the job and the role went to Linda Blair.
But Plato would still go on to take the role of Kimberly Drummond, the daughter of a millionaire, on eight seasons of Diff'rent Strokes, a show that proved so widely popular it produced two spinoffs: The Facts Of Life and Hello, Larry.
Take PEOPLE with you! Subscribe to PEOPLE magazine to get the latest details on celebrity news, exclusive royal updates, how-it-happened true crime stories and more — right to your mailbox.
Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty
Actress Dana Plato attends Saturn Awards
Plato left the show in 1984, however, after she became pregnant with her son, Tyler (her character on the show moved to Paris and no longer appeared on television).
Following her tenure on the show, Plato struggled to adjust to normal life, and in 1991 was arrested for robbing a Las Vegas video store and was placed on five years' probation. The following year, she was given five years' probation for forging Valium prescriptions.
Just over a decade after her eight-season run on Diff'rent Strokes, the actress died in May 1999 at age 34 from a suspected drug overdose.
As PEOPLE reported at the time, Plato had been spending time with a 28-year-old man named Robert Menchaca and the two were visiting his family in Moore, Oklahoma when she died.
Herb Ball/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank
Dana Plato as Kimberly Drummond
"They parked her 37-foot Winnebago—their only home—outside his parents' residence, a modest redbrick house on a block spared by the tornadoes that roared through a few days before," PEOPLE reported. "Late in the afternoon of May 8, Menchaca later told police, Plato said she wasn't feeling well. She had taken a couple of pills — Valium and Lortab, a powerful prescription pain reliever 10 times stronger than codeine — and lain down in theRV. Menchaca joined her soon after, but before drifting off noticed she was cold and sweating. He covered her with a blanket and fell asleep beside her."When Menchaca awoke shortly before 9 p.m., he told police, he couldn't wake her.
The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!
"Robert called out, 'There's something wrong with Dana,' "his mother, Marcela Menchaca, a nurse technician who was sitting outside with her other son Albert, told PEOPLE. "We dashed over there and started CPR." But it was too late.
Police Sgt. Scott Singer told reporters at the time, "There was no note left, no outward sign she wanted to kill herself," though her cause of death was later ruled a suicide.
Oklahoma deputy state medical examiner Larry Balding said at the time: "The manner of death has been determined to be suicide based upon the drug concentrations [and] a past history of suicidal gestures."
Plato had died only a day after she told Howard Stern in an interview that she was had stopped using drugs, saying, "I have been sober for over a decade now. No joke."
on People
Source: "AOL AOL Entertainment"
Source: GL MAG
Full Article on Source: GL MAG
#LALifestyle #USCelebrities