Dana Plato
Born: 1964-11-07 in Maywood, California, USA
Died: 1999-05-08
Known For: Acting
Biography
Dana Michelle Plato was born in Maywood, California, on Saturday, November 7, 1964. Dana made an impact on the TV screen when she landed the role of Kimberly Drummond in the TV hit sitcom Diff'rent Strokes (1978) from 1978-1986. After the series ended, Dana had difficulty finding more acting work. Sometimes she would act in a made-for-TV movie or a low- budget silver-screen film. She was married for Lanny Lambert for seven years and they had a son. Plato was arrested in 1991 for robbing a Las Vegas video store and placed on probation; the next year she was arrested again, this time for forging a Valium prescription. She had just finished an interview with Howard Stern in the spring of 1999 when she and her fiancé, Robert Menchaca, were headed back to California. She hoped the interview would revive her stalled career. They stopped at his parents' house in Moore, Oklahoma for a Mother's-Day-weekend visit; on Saturday, May 8, 1999, Dana died of what appeared to be an accidental overdose of the painkiller "Loritab". On May 21, a coroner's inquest ruled her death a suicide because of the large amount of drugs in her body and her history of past suicide attempts. She was 34 years old.
Filmography
2024
- Gary as Archive footage
2002
- Pacino is Missing as Prosecuting Attorney
2000
- Insatiable Coeds as Piano Teacher's Wife (archive footage) (uncredited)
1998
- Different Strokes as Jill Martin
- The Hostage as Leslie
- Desperation Boulevard as Dana Plato
1997
- Blade Boxer
- Tiger as Andrea Baker
1995
- Lethal Cowboy as Elizabeth
- Millenium Day as Pacifica
- Compelling Evidence as Dana Fields
1994
1992
- Night Trap as Kelly
- Bikini Beach Race as J.D.
- Distortions as Deborah Nichols
1989
- Prime Suspect as Diana Masters
1985
- Growing Pains as Lisa
1983
- High School U.S.A. as Cara Ames
1982
1980
- Schoolboy Father as Daisy Dallenger
1979
- The Facts of Life as Kimberly Drummond
- Hello, Larry as Kimberly Drummond
1978
- California Suite as Jenny
- Diff'rent Strokes as Kimberly Drummond
1977
- CHiPs as Dana Plato
- Exorcist II: The Heretic as Sandra Phalor (uncredited)
- Return to Boggy Creek as Evie Jo
1976
- Family as Debbie
1975
- Beyond the Bermuda Triangle as Wendy
1974
- The Six Million Dollar Man as Girl on the Tennis Court