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Dana Plato
Dana Michelle Plato (née Strain; November 7, 1964 – May 8, 1999) was an American actress. An influential "teen idol" of the late 1970s and early 1980s, Plato was recognized for her television work, for which she was included on VH1's list of "100 Greatest Kid Stars".Plato was born to teen mother Linda Strain in 1964 and was adopted by Dean and Florine "Kay" Plato in 1965. She was raised in San Fernando Valley and was an accomplished figure skater before acting, having trained for the Olympic Games. Her acting career began with numerous commercial appearances, and her television debut came at the age of 10 with a brief appearance on the television series The Six Million Dollar Man (1975). Plato subsequently appeared in the horror films Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) and Return to Boggy Creek (1977), playing Sandra Phalor and Evie Jo, respectively.
Plato's breakthrough feature was the Academy Award-winning film California Suite (1978), in which she played Jenny Warren. She earned widespread recognition for playing the leading role of Kimberly Drummond, the daughter to investor Phillip and elder sister to adopted brothers Arnold and Willis Jackson, on the NBC/ABC sitcom Diff'rent Strokes (1978–1986). The role earned Plato acclaim, and nominations for a Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress in a Comedy Series and two TV Land Awards for Best Quintessential Non-Traditional Family. Following Diff'rent Strokes, she worked sporadically in independent film and B movies, and led the horror game Night Trap (1992) as Kelli Medd.
Plato married guitarist Lanny Lambert in 1984, with whom she had one child, Tyler; the couple divorced in 1990, and she thereafter married actor and producer Scott Atkins in 1996, which lasted one month. Her later struggles with substance abuse and mental health received significant media coverage, and her personal life, in retrospect, has been described as a "tragedy".On May 8, 1999, Plato was found dead from an overdose of prescription drugs at the age of 34, which was later ruled a suicide. On May 6, 2010, her son Tyler committed suicide with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, aged 25.
Source: Wikipedia