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Actor Gary Coleman died a mysterious death in pain and loneliness. He reached the peak of stardom with his role as Arnold Jackson in the hit NBC sitcom Diff'rent Strokes. Peacock's new documentary, Gary, documents the life of Gary Coleman, portraying how he lived without kidneys for twenty-five years and what led to his unexpected death. The documentary was released on Thursday, August 29, 2024.
Coleman was one of the wealthiest child actors during the late seventies and eighties, making almost $18 million during his career. Throughout his life, he faced betrayal from his close ones, business peers, and even his loved ones. On May 28, 2010, Gary Coleman was declared dead after he was taken out of life support.
Shannon Prince, Coleman's ex-wife, called the emergency, saying he had fallen from stairs and sustained significant injuries in the head. But despite the medical support's instructions to stop the blood flow while he lay on the floor in a pool of blood, Shannon denied doing any of that with the excuse that it made her nervous.
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Shannon didn't accompany him to the hospital and took Coleman from life support just two days after the accident, despite his wish to stay alive for at least two more weeks. It was concluded that Coleman's death was due to complications after epidural hematoma. But considering all the events, the reason behind Gary Coleman's death remains highly questionable.
What is the story of Gary Coleman?
It was on February 8, 1968, when Gary Coleman was born in Zion, Illinois. As an infant, he was adopted by Sue and Willie Coleman, who observed his natural talent for acting from a young age. Coleman started appearing in commercials at seven when he appeared in advertisements and feature films, during the mid-70s.
Despite starting at such a young age, Coleman had a prolonged disease that always kept him at bay. At the age of two, he was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease that led him to suffer from corticosteroids. The doctors declared that he wouldn't last until the age of twelve, and the strong medications required to keep him alive would stunt his growth forever. He grew up to 4 feet 8 inches and stopped.
Coleman had to undergo a kidney treatment surgery at the age of five. This kidney allowed him to survive even after the age of twelve. Coleman was diagnosed with a degenerative kidney disease that left permanent internal scarring. But in 1985, the time Coleman reached the age of seventeen, he grew sick again, and his body absorbed the kidney.
From that time until his death, he had to live with dialysis. A point came when he was making $100,000 every episode. Gary Coleman became the highest-paid child actor during the 70s and 80s. And by the time Coleman was in his teenage years, he had already reached the peak of stardom.
Coleman appeared in a pilot episode for the revival of The Little Rascals in 1977, which caught the attention of a producer, and the next year, he was appointed to play the role of Arnold Jackson in the NBS sitcom Diff'rent Strokes. His short stature and chubby cheeks made him the best to play the role.
The show quickly gained audience attention, but Coleman's health began to deteriorate. He was reportedly struggling to even make it up to the set and ended up vomiting after the shoot. Coleman had to undergo dialysis for four hours every day for three days every week. Joann Stafford Chaney, a hair stylist in Diff'rent Strokes, said that Coleman was continuously pressured by his business manager and even his father to keep going.
What led to Gary Coleman's tragic death?
After eight successive seasons, Diff'rent Strokes was canceled in 1986. Gary Coleman was suffering from severe depression and substance abuse at that time. At one point, he became suicidal because everyone in the industry refused to listen to him. The people around him were preying on his stardom and forced him to get back to work.
It was in 1989 when Coleman filed a legal complaint against his parents, revealing that they had taken over $770,000 from his accounts, placing it in unsuccessful ventures. Coleman lost almost $200,000 from an investment in an arcade he named the Gary Coleman Game Parlor. In August 1999, Coleman filed for bankruptcy.
Gary Coleman was almost forgotten by the limelight. The audience only remembered his character, Arnold. Despite struggling to return to the entertainment business, he landed a role in the movie Church Ball in 2005. During the shooting in Utah, Coleman met a nineteen-year-old girl named Shannon Price, an extra cast in the movie. He soon fell in love with Shannon, and they married in 2007.
However, their relationship worsened, and Coleman faced verbal and physical abuse from Shannon. He complained that Shannon married him for his money. They divorced a year later but still lived together in Santaquin, Utah. In 2009, Coleman went through a heart surgery, where he was reported to have developed postoperative pneumonia. In January and February 2010, he had two seizures.
On May 26, 2010, Coleman was admitted on emergency to the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo, Utah. Shannon reported that she was sick that day, and while Coleman was going downstairs, he tripped on the stairs and hit his head severely. The doctors declared that he wouldn't survive, and two days later, Shannon took out his life support.
But his death raised questions from the public and Coleman's close ones. Shannon was under the primary suspicion of having killed him due to her history of abusing him. During the emergency call, she denied their directions to apply pressure to the wound to prevent blood loss. She even refused to accompany him to the hospital, saying she couldn't bear encountering so much blood.
During the health reports, it was discovered that Coleman wished to be on life support for at least two weeks. But Shannon took him out of life support only two days later, and he was declared head. The police noted that Shannon was too worried to get her hands off rather than save his life. Although there was no concrete evidence against Shannon, the investigation is still ongoing.
Gary is a documentary that deep dives into the troubled life of Gary Coleman and the events surrounding his mysterious death. It is available to watch on Peacock.
