Gary Coleman

Gary Wayne Coleman ( born February 8, 1968 in Zion, Illinois, † 28 May, 2010 Provo, Utah ) was an American actor. Coleman was pathologically short stature as a result of an inflammatory kidney disease, so that he still had a grown man, the physical appearance of a child.

Life and work

Gary Coleman grew up as an adopted child of Willie and Sue Coleman in the U.S. state of Illinois. His physical growth was already impaired in early childhood by a disease especially the kidneys in question. He was consequently only 1.42 meters tall, was dependent on daily dialysis treatments and received a kidney transplant in 1973 and 1984.

In the 1970s, Coleman began working as an actor. After appearances in shows such as The Jeffersons and Good Times, he received the role of Arnold Jackson in Diff'rent Strokes of the family series, which he played from 1978 to 1986. The role of Arnold, the adopted son of a friendly elderly widower, Coleman made ​​within a short time nationally known and earned him a fortune: Most recently, he received $ 70,000 per episode. Its popularity is based primarily on his " cherub - stick " childlike cute round face, which made him a crowd favorite for years.

In the 1980s, Coleman went on to star in numerous catchy and entertaining television films such as On the Right Track and The Kid with the Broken Halo. In addition, the animation studio Hanna Barbera produced the eponymous animated series The Gary Coleman Show, in the Coleman dubbed an animated version of his person.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s Coleman media attention was because of personal tragedies given: After his parents and his manager had embezzled his million fortune, he was at times forced to work as a department store security guard, and had to explain to 1999 personal bankruptcy. In the 1990s, Coleman appeared often in guest roles in sitcoms such as Married with Children, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1996) and The Simpsons (1999) on. Furthermore, he concentrated since the 1990s increasingly on performances in "modern forms of entertainment ." He had roles in music videos such as Kid Rocks Cowboy and John Cena Bad, bad Man and lent his voice to characters in computer games The Curse of Monkey Iceland and Postal 2 ( 2002). He later took over also guest-starred in many films such as Drake & Josh in and What 's up Dad.

2003 Coleman was a candidate for the office of Governor of the U.S. state of California. He received 14,242 votes and 135 candidates of the eight most.

In 2004, he starred in the TV show Surreal Life, and 2006 to 2007, he acted as an advertising medium in commercials the company CashCall, in which he gave the audience the message " Pay your bills on time and everyone will love you" on the way.

2005 chose the viewers of U.S. TV channel VH1 Coleman in a ranking of the "Hundred biggest child stars of all time " in the first place before such luminaries as Elizabeth Taylor and Shirley Temple.

Since 2003, the musical Avenue Q is played on Broadway in New York in which a character who represents Gary Coleman, a fine supporting role holds and in 2004 won a Tony Award. Coleman himself has repeatedly expressed his displeasure about the piece.

On 26 May 2010 Coleman fell and suffered serious head injuries while that led to bleeding in the brain. On 28 May 2010, his wife Shannon decided to put an end to the life-sustaining measures.

361564
de