The day before she died of an overdose, Dana Plato privately begged shock-jock Howard Stern not to submit her hair for drug testing – after boasting over the air she was drug-free.
“She said, ‘I want my hair back.’ That’s when I knew she was lying,” Stern said yesterday.
“That’s when I knew she must have been on drugs.”
The 34-year-old star of the ’70s sitcom “Diff’rent Strokes” died of a drug overdose Saturday night after swallowing a mixture of Valium and the painkiller Loritab.
Her tragic death came just one day after she made an emotional appearance on Stern’s top-rated radio show, swearing her days of getting high were over forever.
When several listeners said Plato – who had battled drug addiction for years – sounded stoned, the actress, near tears, offered to submit locks of her hair to send off for testing.
The death of Dana Plato would have come as a shock in the 1980s. But when the former Diff’rent Strokes actress died in 1999, few were surprised. Though Plato was just 34 years old at the time, it was clear that she had met a fate similar to that of other child stars.
Despite years of success, Plato struggled with the pressures of instant fame and started experimenting with drugs and alcohol as a young teen. Eventually, she was dismissed from her starring role in Diff’rent Strokes — and she had trouble finding other promising acting jobs.
Personal and financial problems, combined with drug abuse, hastened a stunning decline for Dana Plato. In the 1990s, she also had some run-ins with the law, most notably after she robbed a Las Vegas video store.
The downward spiral would come to a heartbreaking end on May 8, 1999, when Dana Plato died of a drug overdose while visiting family members in Moore, Oklahoma. Though police initially believed that her demise had been an accident, it was later ruled a suicide by a medical examiner.
This is the devastating story of Dana Plato’s short life and tragic death.
Dana Plato was born on November 7, 1964, in Maywood, California. Initially named Dana Michelle Strain, she was adopted by Dean and Kay Plato when she was a baby. Raised in the San Fernando Valley, Dana Plato experienced the divorce of her adoptive parents when she was three years old.
Go inside the stunning rise and heartbreaking fall of Diff’rent Strokes actress Dana Plato, who died of a drug overdose in May 1999.
The death of Dana Plato would have come as a shock in the 1980s. But when the former Diff’rent Strokes actress died in 1999, few were surprised. Though Plato was just 34 years old at the time, it was clear that she had met a fate similar to that of other child stars.
Despite years of success, Plato struggled with the pressures of instant fame and started experimenting with drugs and alcohol as a young teen. Eventually, she was dismissed from her starring role in Diff’rent Strokes — and she had trouble finding other promising acting jobs afterward.
Personal and financial problems, combined with drug abuse, hastened a stunning decline for Dana Plato. In the 1990s, she also had some run-ins with the law, most notably after she robbed a Las Vegas video store
The downward spiral would come to a heartbreaking end on May 8, 1999, when Dana Plato died of a drug overdose while visiting family members in Moore, Oklahoma. Though police initially believed that her demise had been an accident, it was later ruled a suicide by a medical examiner.
This is the devastating story of Dana Plato’s short life and tragic death.
Dana Plato’s Early Rise To Fame
Dana Plato was born on November 7, 1964, in Maywood, California. Initially named Dana Michelle Strain, she was adopted by Dean and Kay Plato when she was a baby. Raised in the San Fernando Valley, Dana Plato experienced the divorce of her adoptive parents when she was three years old.
Plato was primarily raised by her adoptive mother after her parents split. And before long, Kay Plato began taking Dana to casting calls. This led to several appearances in commercials.
At age 13, Dana Plato was offered the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to star in a TV sitcom. The young teen said yes, and she soon was cast as the character Kimberly Drummond on the NBC show Diff’rent Strokes.
The sitcom became hugely successful, making stars of its young coterie of actors, including Dana Plato, Gary Coleman, and Todd Bridges.
But with instant success came the danger of Hollywood excess, and Plato began experimenting with alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine alongside her young costars. Navigating the tide of success and adulation without healthy coping mechanisms soon spelled trouble for the young Plato.