America's Sweetheart Had A Dark Secret
Dana Plato was America's sweetheart on Diff'rent Strokes, playing the lovable Kimberly Drummond. But in 1991, the former child star robbed a Las Vegas video store of just $160. By then, her once-promising Hollywood career had collapsed, and her personal life was unraveling in ways few fans could have imagined. How did one of television's most beloved young stars fall so far?
Screenshot from Diff'rent Strokes, NBC (1978–1986)
She Was Adopted As A Baby
Dana Michelle Strain was born on November 7, 1964, in Maywood, California. Her biological mother was just 16 and placed Dana for adoption when she was an infant. Dean and Kay Plato adopted her, but their marriage ended when Dana was three, leaving Kay to raise her daughter in California's San Fernando Valley.
Her Mother Saw A Future Star
Kay Plato recognized her daughter's potential early and began taking her to auditions. By age seven, Dana was already appearing in television commercials, eventually accumulating an impressive list of advertising credits. While other children were settling into elementary school, she was learning how to perform in front of cameras.
She Nearly Chose A Different Career
Acting wasn't Dana's only childhood ambition, as she was also a talented figure skater who trained seriously. However, Hollywood opportunities kept coming, including appearances in The Six Million Dollar Man and the films Return to Boggy Creek and California Suite. By 1978, she was about to land a role that would make competitive skating a distant memory.
Screenshot from The Six Million Dollar Man, Universal Television (1973–1978)
Her Big Break Arrived In 1978
At just 13, Plato landed the role of Kimberly Drummond on NBC's new sitcom Diff'rent Strokes. She played the daughter of wealthy businessman Phillip Drummond, portrayed by Conrad Bain, whose household welcomed two brothers played by Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges. The series premiered in November 1978 and quickly became one of America's favorite family comedies.
Screenshot from Diff'rent Strokes, Sony Pictures Television (1978–1986)
She Became A Teen Idol
As Diff'rent Strokes became a television sensation, Plato's face began appearing in teen magazines. She also landed appearances on CHiPs, The Love Boat, and the television movie High School U.S.A.. Her popularity even carried Kimberly Drummond into the 1979 premiere of The Facts of Life, the successful spinoff from Diff'rent Strokes.
Screenshot from CHiPs, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer / Warner Bros. Television / NBC (1977–1983)
She Appeared Alongside The First Lady
In March 1983, Diff'rent Strokes welcomed First Lady Nancy Reagan for an episode about substance abuse among schoolchildren. Reagan delivered a warning about its dangers, making it one of the sitcom's most memorable socially conscious episodes. The subject would later take on a painful significance in Plato's own life.
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Wikimedia Commons
Trouble Was Already Brewing
Behind Kimberly's wholesome image, Plato was dealing with problems that audiences knew little about. Accounts of her teenage years describe early substance use, and she later acknowledged struggling with alcohol during the 1980s. While viewers watched her grow up on television, her private life was becoming increasingly complicated.
She Fell In Love With A Musician
During her later years on Diff'rent Strokes, Plato began a serious relationship with musician Lanny Lambert. The couple moved in together, and she soon discovered she was pregnant. They married in April 1984, when Plato was just 19, but her changing personal circumstances were about to have major consequences for her television career.
Her Pregnancy Cost Her The Show
When producers learned about Plato's pregnancy, they decided she no longer fit the image they had established for Kimberly Drummond. She was dropped as a regular cast member after the 1983–84 season, with the sitcom explaining Kimberly's departure by sending her to study in Paris. Although Plato later returned for guest appearances, she never regained her original place on the series.
Screenshot from Diff'rent Strokes, Sony Pictures Television (1978–1986)
Motherhood Changed Everything
Plato welcomed her son, Tyler Lambert, in July 1984, beginning a new chapter outside her familiar television family. She was still only 19 and suddenly faced the responsibilities of raising a child while rebuilding her career. The steady work that had defined most of her childhood was no longer guaranteed.
Hollywood Couldn't Forget Kimberly
As Diff'rent Strokes approached its 1986 finale, Plato struggled to convince Hollywood that she could play someone other than Kimberly. The wholesome teenager audiences remembered had grown into an adult actress, but substantial new roles were difficult to find. Her first post-sitcom film work included the low-budget thriller Prime Suspect, a far cry from the network success she had enjoyed.
Unknown author, courtesy of Michael Ochs Archives, Wikimedia Commons
Then 1988 Delivered Two Devastating Blows
In 1988, Plato's adoptive mother Kay died, depriving her of the woman who had guided her career since childhood. In an especially painful coincidence, Plato and Lambert separated during the same week. With her marriage collapsing and her longtime source of emotional and professional support gone, she faced an exceptionally difficult period.
Ron Galella Collection, Getty Images
She Tried To Reinvent Herself
Desperate to break away from her child-star image, Plato posed for Playboy in 1989. She hoped the photographs would help audiences and casting directors see her as a grown woman rather than the innocent Kimberly Drummond. But according to Todd Bridges, who later discussed the decision, the publicity brought nowhere near the opportunities she had expected.
She Lost Custody Of Her Son
Plato's marriage to Lambert officially ended in divorce in 1990, and he received custody of their son, Tyler. Her difficulties with alcohol and substances had reportedly become a significant issue in their family life. Losing custody was another painful setback for the former child star, whose personal circumstances were becoming increasingly unstable.
Her Hollywood Fortune Disappeared
Despite earning considerable money during her years on television, Plato eventually found herself facing serious financial trouble. She claimed that an accountant had taken much of her savings and disappeared, although the alleged embezzlement was never independently established. Whatever the precise circumstances, the money from her most successful years was no longer providing the security she needed.
She Ended Up Working At A Dry Cleaner
With her acting prospects fading, Plato relocated to Las Vegas and took ordinary jobs to support herself. Among them was work at a dry cleaner's shop, a startling change for someone who had once been a recognizable television personality. Then, in February 1991, her financial and personal troubles culminated in an incident that made national headlines.
She Robbed A Video Store For Just $160
On February 28, 1991, Plato entered a Las Vegas video store wearing dark clothing, sunglasses, and a hat. Armed with a pellet gun resembling a real handgun, she threatened the clerk and escaped with approximately $160. But the clerk recognized the former television star, and when she approached police investigating the robbery, he identified her. She was arrested shortly afterward.
Wayne Newton Came To Her Rescue
After her arrest, Plato spent several days in jail while her case attracted national attention. Las Vegas entertainer Wayne Newton, who had experienced childhood fame himself, helped arrange the $13,000 bail that secured her release. Remarkably, Newton's manager said the singer had never even met Plato but wanted to help because he understood what it meant to grow up in show business.
Iowa State University. Library. Curation Services, Wikimedia Commons
She Avoided A Long Prison Sentence
In August 1991, Plato received a six-year suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to robbery. The judge instead ordered five years of probation, along with community service and conditions requiring her to avoid alcohol and substances. She had escaped an immediate prison term, but the consequences of her actions would continue to affect her life.
Her Legal Troubles Weren't Over
In 1992, Plato was arrested again after forging prescriptions to obtain Valium. The offense violated her probation and resulted in another five-year probation sentence, a 30-day jail term, and mandatory treatment for substance abuse. She later acknowledged that being caught may have saved her from an even worse outcome.
She Tried To Rebuild Her Acting Career
Following treatment, Plato returned to performing, appearing in a Las Vegas stage revue in 1992. She subsequently took theater roles in Frankie and Angie Get Married and Last of the Red Hot Lovers, working in venues far removed from network television. The productions offered her opportunities to act again, even though a major Hollywood comeback remained out of reach.
She Even Appeared In A Video Game
One of Plato's more unusual credits was Night Trap, an interactive horror game released for the Sega CD in 1992. She played an undercover agent named Kelli in a production that had actually been filmed several years earlier. The game later became notorious during congressional debates about violent video games, giving Plato an unexpected place in gaming history.
Screenshot from Night Trap, Screaming Villains (1992)
Her Final Roles Were Far From Kimberly
Throughout the 1990s, Plato continued appearing in low-budget movies, including Compelling Evidence and Lethal Cowboy. She also appeared in the adult-oriented film Different Strokes: The Story Of Jack & Jill... And Jill, whose title deliberately echoed her famous sitcom. The projects kept her onscreen, but they did little to restore the mainstream career she had once enjoyed.
Screenshot from Compelling Evidence, MGM Home Entertainment (1995)
Her Final Interview Turned Painful
On May 7, 1999, Plato appeared on The Howard Stern Show, hoping the publicity might help revive her career. During the interview, callers harshly questioned her claims that she had been sober for more than a decade. Plato defended herself, but the appearance became an uncomfortable public confrontation rather than the positive career exposure she had hoped for.
Knoah & Howard Stern on Flickr, Wikimedia Commons
Todd Bridges Had Tried To Warn Her
Years later, her former Diff'rent Strokes co-star Todd Bridges revealed that he had urged her not to appear on Stern's program. Speaking in the 2026 documentary series Hollywood Demons, Bridges recalled calling Plato and warning her against doing the interview. She insisted she would be fine, but Bridges said that conversation was the last time he ever spoke to his friend.
Tragedy Struck The Very Next Day
After the interview, Plato traveled with her companion Robert Menchaca to visit his family in Moore, Oklahoma. On May 8, 1999, she was found unresponsive inside their motorhome and died from an overdose of prescription medication. She was just 34 years old. Police initially believed the overdose was accidental, but on May 21, Oklahoma's medical examiner concluded that she had deliberately taken her own life. No note was found, and some people close to her disputed the official finding.
Ron Galella, Ltd., Getty Images
Her Son Faced A Tragic Fate
Plato's death left behind her 14-year-old son, Tyler Lambert, who struggled with the loss of his mother. Tragically, on May 6, 2010, Tyler also took his own life at age 25, just two days before the 11th anniversary of her death. The devastating loss added another heartbreaking chapter to the family's history.
A Hollywood Dream That Ended In Heartbreak
Dana Plato had everything a young television star could dream of, but fame offered little protection from the difficulties she faced later in life. Her struggles with addiction, financial hardship, and personal loss stood in heartbreaking contrast to the happy family audiences watched on Diff'rent Strokes. Decades later, she remains one of television's most recognizable child stars, remembered for both her beloved character and the tragedy that followed.
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