Diff'rent Strokes Cast Members Who Tragically Passed Away

The following article mentions domestic violence, addiction, and suicide.

"Diff'rent Strokes" made its TV debut in November 1978. The premise involved wealthy New Yorker Philip Drummond (played by Canadian actor Conrad Bain) adopting the two young sons of his Black housekeeper after her death, with the lads (Todd Bridges as Willis and Gary Coleman as Arnold) moving from their home in Harlem into Drummond's posh Park Avenue apartment. The family includes Drummond's teenage daughter, Kimberly (Dana Plato), and their current housekeeper, Edna Garrett (Charlotte Rae). After the series finale, the cast went their separate ways; sadly, a few of the series' stars became engulfed in controversy and scandal, with some dying prematurely from causes that were far from natural.

As for the series, which you may not know was produced by the famous Norman Lear, it proved to be as beloved by viewers as it was hated by critics. "The program attempts an uncomfortable parlay of insult jokes and marzipanian sentimentality," snarked The Washington Post's Tom Shales, while John Archibald of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch criticized the relentless cuteness of Coleman, who "works full time at being adorable." Despite the critical barbs, the show stuck around for eight seasons until ending its run in 1986. Read on for a look at the "Diff'rent Strokes" cast members who tragically passed away following the end of the groundbreaking American sitcom.

In retrospect, Gary Coleman can be seen as a cautionary tale about the dark side of child stardom. One of the most recognized stars of the 1980s — child or otherwise — Coleman's appearance remained childlike well into his teens, the result of a congenital kidney ailment and the corticosteroids used to treat it (he'd undergone two kidney transplants, neither of which took). Once Coleman grew up, however, Hollywood had no use for him. 

When Coleman turned 18, he discovered that the $18 million he expected to be awaiting him in a trust fund had been squandered by his parents, with only about $220,000 left. He sued, ultimately receiving a $1.3 million settlement, but the years-long legal battle had left him flat broke. In 1999, he filed for bankruptcy and scrounged for whatever job he could get. In 1998, Coleman worked as a security guard in a California mall — a job that ended badly when he was arrested for punching an autograph seeker, who then sued him for $1 million.

In January 2010, Coleman was living with his ex-wife Shannon Price (they'd wed in 2007, and divorced in 2008) when he was arrested for domestic violence. That October, he fell and suffered a brain hemorrhage, which led to his death at 42. However, questions lingered that Price may have been responsible, a theory explored in a 2024 documentary. On a TV series in 2025, Price answered questions about her role in Coleman's death while hooked up to a polygraph machine. The results were inconclusive.

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.

Conrad Bain's acting career extended back to the 1950s but consisted mainly of bit parts until his big break in the early 1970s, when he was cast as Dr. Arthur Harmon, conservative neighbor to Bea Arthur's liberal matriarch in sitcom "Maude." Shortly after "Maude" ended its run, he was cast in "Diff'rent Strokes" as Philip Drummond. When that series ended after eight seasons, Bain was then hired for the short-lived sitcom "Mr. President," which was cancelled after two seasons. Combined, Bain was a series regular on three different network TV sitcoms for 15 consecutive years. 

After that, Bain was semi-retired. He appeared in the 1990 film "Postcards from the Edge," in addition to a 1993 episode of "The New Adventures of the Black Stallion," and a 1996 episode of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." After more than a decade off of Hollywood's radar, he returned for a brief cameo in a 2011 episode of TV series "Unforgettable."

Bain died in 2013 from complications following a stroke at the age of 89. Years earlier, in a 1991 interview with Bobbie Wygant, Bain praised his child co-stars but explained that viewers' impression that the "Diff'rent Strokes" set all fun was far from accurate. "It's very difficult to convey to the public what the work atmosphere is like, but it is loaded with pressure," he said.

For Todd Bridges and TV stepsister Dana Plato, the lure of the Hollywood fast lane took hold. Bridges was arrested numerous times during the 1980s and 1990s — including a charge of attempted murder — before ultimately getting sober and turning his life around. Plato went down a similar path, but hers ended far differently. Like her co-stars, Plato had a tough time finding work after "Diff'rent Strokes" — one possible reason being her 1989 Playboy shoot. In 1991, she moved to Las Vegas, where she robbed a video store, pulling a gun on the clerk and making off with $200. Bizarrely, Vegas icon Wayne Newton posted her $13,000 bail. The following year, she served 30 days in jail when she was convicted of forging a prescription for diazepam (Valium). By 1998, acting jobs had become so few and far between that she agreed to star in a soft-core skin flick called "Different Strokes." 

In May 1999, Plato appeared on "The Howard Stern Show," where she confirmed she'd earned $100,000 per episode as Kimberly Drummond on "Diff'rent Strokes" — and was asked where the money went. "I had signed over power of attorney to an accountant," she recalled. "He took it." Days after that interview, Plato was found dead at 34 years old, another '80s star who met a tragically strange fate. Police initially determined her death had resulted from an accidental overdose, combining painkillers and Valium. The medical examiner's office subsequently ruled her death to be a suicide.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, is struggling, or is in crisis, help is available:

• Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
• Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org

Prior to "Diff'rent Strokes," Charlotte Rae had enjoyed a long and varied career. Her earliest success came on the stage, making her Broadway debut in 1952 and earning raves for her role in the acclaimed 1954 Off-Broadway revival of "The Threepenny Opera" (co-starring with Bea Arthur, who would likewise go onto sitcom fame with "The Golden Girls") and originating the role of Mammy Yokum in the 1956 production of "Li'l Abner." Throughout the 1950s and '60s, she ping-ponged between film, television and stage, earning two Tony nominations — one in 1966 for "Pickwick," the other in 1969 for "Morning, Noon, and Night." Meanwhile, younger TV viewers will recall her as Molly the Mail Lady on "Sesame Street."

Rae exited "Diff'rent Strokes" after the show's second season to star in the hit spinoff "The Facts of Life" — the first season of "The Facts of Life" was like a completely different show compared to later seasons due to poor initial ratings. Featuring Edna Garrett as housemother to a group of teenage girls in a boarding school, the show ran until 1988 (though, Rae departed at the beginning of the eighth season). She remained a familiar face on TV and movie screens in the years that followed, guest-starring in numerous series and appearing in such films as Adam Sandler's "You Don't Mess with the Zohan," and in 2015's "Ricki and the Flash," her final screen credit. She continued to act onstage, however, appearing in a 2016 production of Samuel Godot's "Endgame" at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in L.A. In 2017, she was diagnosed with bone cancer and ceased performing after that. She died in August 2018 at the age of 92.

Dixie Carter joined the cast of "Diff'rent Strokes" in Season 6. Her character, Maggie McKinney, was introduced as a love interest for Conrad Bain's Philip Drummond. As is often the case in TV shows, the two characters tied the knot fairly quickly, and Carter remained on the show until the end of Season 7. She exited the show to move on to bigger and better things, taking a starring role in "Designing Women," an ensemble sitcom set in an Atlanta-based interior design firm.

Despite the tragic details that emerged about the cast of "Designing Women," the show proved to be a hit, running for seven seasons until 1993. After that, Carter starred in TV movies and guested in series until taking on a recurring role in sitcom "Ladies Man" in 1999. That same year, she landed a starring role in "Family Law," a legal drama that ran for three seasons. Carter then nabbed a recurring role in "Desperate Housewives," for which she earned her first and only Emmy nomination for her performance as Gloria Hodge, terrifying mother-in-law of Bree Van de Kamp. Throughout it all, Carter also carved out a parallel career as a cabaret singer and also found success as a fitness guru; her second exercise tape, "Dixie Carter's Unworkout," reportedly generated $1 million in sales in its first six months of release.

Carter's final screen role was in the 2009 film "That Evening Sun," in which she appeared alongside her real-life husband, actor Hal Holbrook. Carter died in April 2010 at the age of 70 from complications stemming from endometrial cancer. Holbrook's heartbreaking death followed 11 years later.

After winning the Miss America pageant in 1959, Mary Ann Mobley went on to a successful career as an actor and singer. Beginning with her first TV role — a 1963 appearance on "General Hospital" — she made a splash on the big screen, starring with the King himself, Elvis Presley, in two 1965 films: "Girl Happy" and "Harum Scarum." She co-starred with Jerry Lewis in "Three on a Couch" and starred in several other series and films throughout the '60s, such as "The King's Pirate" and "For Singles Only."

By the end of the 1970s, she'd become a frequent guest star on numerous TV series. That was the case when she made her first appearance on "Diff'rent Strokes" in a 1980 episode that cast her as Arnold's schoolteacher, who goes on a date with Philip Drummond. She returned in Season 8 to play a whole other character, stepping into the role of Maggie McKinney Drummond that had been vacated by Dixie Carter. Mobley continued to play Maggie until the series' conclusion. While her TV roles grew sparser, she continued appearing onstage, performing in her own cabaret act and in various stage musicals. In 2009, Mobley was diagnosed with breast cancer; she died in 2014 at age 77.

After Charlotte Rae's series exit to bring Edna Garrett to "The Facts of Life," Nedra Volz joined "Diff'rent Strokes" as Adelaide Brubaker, new housekeeper for the Drummond family. She appeared sporadically, appearing in just 22 episodes between the second to sixth seasons. She was replaced by Mary Jo Catlett, who played housekeeper Pearl Gallagher for the remainder of the series.

Showbiz was practically in Volz's blood. The child of two Vaudeville performers, Volz debuted on stage as "Baby Nedra" when she was just a toddler. While she enjoyed a respectable career prior to "Diff'rent Strokes," it wasn't until her exit from the series that Volz — then in her 70s — experienced a career resurgence. She continued to sing and act onscreen regularly, guest-starring in numerous TV series, including "Night Court," "ALF," and "Designing Women," which reunited her with her former "Diff'rent Strokes" co-star Dixie Carter. She finally retired in the mid-1990s, after a successful run of playing elderly women, occasionally even unnamed characters described as "Old Lady," or "Very Old Woman." Volz died in 2003 due to complications brought on by Alzheimer's. She was 94 years old. 

With a career stretching back to the earliest days of television — her first screen credits date back to the early 1950s — Dody Goodman first came to prominence as a guest on "The Tonight Show Starring Jack Paar." In the late 1970s, she gained further fame as daffy Martha Shumway on soap spoof "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" and its spinoff, "Forever Fernwood." To fans of "Grease," however, she'll always be remembered as Blanche, absent-minded secretary to the high school principal. Among her many television roles was Aunt Sophia Drummond, free-spirited sister of Conrad Bain's character in "Diff'rent Strokes." Aunt Sophia appeared in eight episodes, primarily during the third and fourth seasons, and made her final appearance attending the wedding of her brother and Dixie Carter's Maggie McKinney. 

In the years after "Diff'rent Strokes," Goodman regularly appeared in film and television, even taking on voice acting for the animated series "Alvin & the Chipmunks" in the late 1980s. She also maintained a career in the theater and became a favorite guest of talk-show host David Letterman. "He understands my sense of humor," she told Associated Press in 1994 (via CBS News). "I will do a dumb thing for fun. That's how I got the reputation for being dopey and dumb. I don't like dumb jokes, but I will do dumb things for a laugh." Goodman died in 2008. Interestingly, her precise age wasn't known, with some reports claiming she was 93and others 92. While her website listed the year of her birth as 1915, she reportedly had a tendency to lie about her age.

Actor Le Tari appeared in six episodes of "Diff'rent Strokes" in the recurring role of Ted Ramsey, adoptive father of character Dudley Ramsey, who was the best friend of Gary Coleman's Arnold Jackson. Prior to "Diff'rent Strokes," Tari got his start in the 1976 Blaxpoitation flick "Brotherhood of Death," his first screen credit. He followed that by racking up guest-starring roles on television, appearing in series such as "The Jeffersons," "Starsky and Hutch," and "Happy Days." He also starred in the much-ballyhooed TV miniseries "Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls" and made-for-TV movie "A Matter of Life and Death."

Tari remained a familiar face on television after "Diff'rent Strokes" ended, appearing in episodes of "The A-Team," "Small Wonder," and "What's Happening Now!" His final screen credit was in the 1987 comedy film "Amazon Women on the Moon." Sadly, Tari suffered a fatal heart attack on April 4, 1987. He was just 40 years old.

Melanie Watson was 13 when she was discovered by a casting agent seeking actors with disabilities. Born with a genetic disorder called osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), which made her bones fragile, Watson required a wheelchair for mobility. That led her to be cast in "The Baxters," Norman Lear's experimental, short-lived series. After Lear cast Geri Jewell — a standup comic with cerebral palsy — on "The Facts of Life," the producer was eager to bring more disabled characters into his shows in an effort to reduce the stigma of disability. Lear then enlisted the writers of "Diff'rent Strokes" to create a character for Watson, resulting in her recurring role as Kathy Gordon, best friend of Gary Coleman's character. Gordon quickly became disillusioned with Hollywood and quit acting soon after. "I'm proud of Norman for going against the norm and doing something," she told IndieWire in 2020. 

She was briefly married to Robert Bernhardt from 1994 until 1996 but continued to use her married name, Melanie Watson Bernhardt, after their divorce. She was active in Train Rite, an organization she founded to train service dogs for those with disabilities. In 2020, she entered politics, running for a seat in the Colorado State Senate; sadly, she was forced to abandon her campaign. "Due to unforeseeable health conditions, my campaign has been brought to a screeching halt," she wrote in a Facebook post. In December 2025, Watson entered a hospital to address bleeding issues, but her condition rapidly deteriorated and she died at age 57. 

Few actors were more ubiquitious on television than Jack Riley. In the 1960s, he guest-starred on such sitcoms as "The Flying Nun" and "I Dream of Jeannie," while in the 1970s he was seen in series ranging from "Barney Miller" to "The Rockford Files." Meanwhile, he also had a recurring role as cranky patient Elliott Carlin in "The Bob Newhart Show," appearing throughout the series' six-year run. Riley was also a favorite of Mel Brooks, appearing in three of the directors films: "History of the World: Part I," "High Anxiety," and "Spaceballs."

In the 1980s, Riley remained a frequent TV guest star, which led him to make four separate appearances on "Diff'rent Strokes" — each time as a different character. Three of those occurred in the series' first season. In one episode, Riley played private detective Miles Monroe, hired to find Arnold's favorite doll after it is donated to a charity. In another, he played the Drummonds' grumpy landlord, Charles Sutton. Then, he portrayed the headmaster of Eastlake School, where Kimberly attended, in an episode that served as a backdoor pilot for spinoff "The Facts of Life." Riley returned for an episode in Season 7, playing a worker at a factory owned by Philip Drummond, who covertly poses as an employee so he can suss out employee morale.

Throughout the 1990s and beyond, Riley's popularity expanded to new generations thanks to sideline as a voice actor, playing Stu Pickles in animated hit "Rugrats." He passed away in 2016 at age 80, reportedly of complications from pneumonia and an infection.