Gary Coleman, pictured above in his iconic role as Arnold Jackson on the late 70s sitcom "Diff'rent Strokes," has died at age 42 after an intracranial hemorrhage earlier this week.
Coleman's death leaves Todd Bridges the sole survivor of the three "Diff'rent Strokes" kids (Dana Plato took her own life in 1999), whose lives were/have been extremely troubled; Coleman was arrested on two occasions for assaulting women, one an autograph-seeker and one his wife. Collectively, the "Diff'rent Strokes" kids were/are widely regarded as a tragic cautionary tale about the cost, to oneself and others, of childhood fame (and the abject abandonment that frequently accompanies the onset of puberty) and its potential to corrupt.
Without trying to excuse or justify or mitigate Coleman's hurtful actions toward others, I have real sorrow for how genuinely difficult I think his life really was.
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