ETA: Gary Coleman has died.

[hellokitty86]

Regardless of how "relevant" he is, some of the posts on this thread and others just make me wonder why I even come to the DIS anymore. If you don't care about him, why comment? There are threads all the time on here about "celebrities" whose names I've never heard, and if I post anything (which I normally don't), it would be a quick "Who is he/she?" out of curiosity.

ITA with your whole post. Some of the things that people said on this thread is really sad.

 

[tennvalgirl]

As a man of 33 yrs and a child of the 80s, Different Strokes was HUGE for me! Who can forget the 'very special episode' with Arnold and Dudley's encounter with the bicylce shop owner. I even loved the show through the introduction of the cute replacement 'Sam'. Heck, I still know the know Diffrent Strokes theme by heart.

I blame the GOOCH!

RIP Mr. Coleman

I have never seen this photo, it's great!
I am 30 years old, so I watched and loved both shows and remember when the First Lady was on 'Different Strokes'

Peace to you Gary.

 

[DisTeach1]

Did anyone see the Oprah episode recently where Todd Bridges was on? He played the brother on Different Strokes. He had a troubled life after Different Strokes, but he has been clean and sober for I think 17 years or so. It's sad that that didn't get reported on...Had I not watched Oprah, I would still think he was totally messed up...The bad things always get reported on but when a star turns his life around, it doesn't.

Anyways...like someone said, it's news to people who grew up in the 80's.

 

[LoraJ]

I loved Different Strokes when it was on. This is very sad news.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

Did anyone see the Oprah episode recently where Todd Bridges was on? He played the brother on Different Strokes. He had a troubled life after Different Strokes, but he has been clean and sober for I think 17 years or so. It's sad that that didn't get reported on...Had I not watched Oprah, I would still think he was totally messed up...The bad things always get reported on but when a star turns his life around, it doesn't.

Anyways...like someone said, it's news to people who grew up in the 80's.

You can see Todd on TRUtv's Smoking Gun Presents....he is one of the celebrity panel. He is funny, I love when he makes fun off Leif Garrett.

I was sad to hear of Gary Coleman's passing. He is the same age as me, so it is scary to think you are here one day, gone the next.

 

[terri01p]

 

[Jennasis]

Wow...so sad. RIP Gary.

 

[OceanAnnie]

I liked him. I had hopes for him. So many things didn't go his way. I think it was the child actor's "curse". So many child actors have a rough time of it after they have grown, for so many reasons: typecast, can't handle fame and/or fortune, people in their lives take advantage of their financial success and leave them with nothing. I think this happened to Gary Coleman. I think I read somewhere his parents fleeced him. That has to be devastating on a number of levels.

Rest in peace, Gary Coleman.

 

[C.Ann]

I hadn't heard about this situation. I hope he is able to make a full recovery.

Regardless of how "relevant" he is, some of the posts on this thread and others just make me wonder why I even come to the DIS anymore. If you don't care about him, why comment? There are threads all the time on here about "celebrities" whose names I've never heard, and if I post anything (which I normally don't), it would be a quick "Who is he/she?" out of curiosity.

I'd rather hear about him than about Tiger Woods any day even though Tiger Woods may be more broadly "relevant" right now. As minor as it may have been, Gary Coleman was more "relevant" to my life than Tiger Woods will ever be. I watched "Diff'rent Strokes". I've never watched golf in my life and never will. But does that mean I should imply that people on here are being foolish if they want to post their concerns about Tiger Woods? Nope. I'm sure there are other people who don't really have a clue who Bret Michaels is, but should they post "Who cares?" posts on threads of concern about him? Nope.

As for the comments about his stature, that's pretty pathetic considering this has nothing to do with the current health problem. And don't you think that that may have been part of the reason for Gary Coleman's problems in life? Height has a huge impact - on men especially. And I would assume that for short actors who become so tied to a certain role that it might even be worse. I seem to recall that Herve Villechaize (aka Tattoo) became an alcoholic and eventually committed suicide.

I agree with you 100%.. After the first few crude comments, I just stopped reading.. It was all so unnecessary..

I was hoping that Gary would be able to recover, but I see now that he has passed.. It's a sad ending - far too young to die..

 

[EllenFrasier]

"WhatchyoutalkinaboutWillis?" I used to love that show, until the kids got older, then they took on heavier topics and I lost interest.

 

[luvmy3]

So sad, he was so young.

 

[Sparx]

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0171041/
Gary Coleman has appeared on television ranging from 1974-2009 to those of you who think he "hasn't done anything but(since)" Different Strokes. He's also appeared as himself 72 times. He's quite relevant and has been for more than thirty years.

And to the person who rudely commented on his stature, he's almost 5 feet tall, which is not at all that much shorter than I am. I guess if I were to fall and hurt myself you'd show up with some snide remark about how close I was to the floor? I'd like to know how tall you are, because your comments certainly don't make you sound like a very big person to me. I hope when you are touched with someone near and dear to you dying no one is as rude and uncalled for as you have been here.

I'd like to say I can't believe the comments on this thread, but I've been here long enough to expect nothing less from the dis. A select few of you truly do live to stir up controversy and anger in others with every breath you take.

 

[JerseyJanice]

He is/was a cultural icon to many people. May you rest in peace, Mr. Coleman, and Godspeed.

 

[Planogirl]

There are some seriously cold-blooded posts on this thread. I didn't even like Different Strokes but I still think that this is sad.

RIP Gary Coleman.

 

[themilesfamily]

It's sad to hear that he died so young. He was SUCH a talented child actor. As kids, we used to laugh and laugh at Different Strokes. It was one of our favorite shows.

 

[phragmipedium]

And to the person who rudely comm...so young and I hope for peace for his family.

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

Completely agree. I'm 4'10" just as a normal height, without any medical disorders or anything like that. When someone's seriously ill and dying, it shouldn't be that hard to just keep a joke or unkind comment to yourself. It's okay if it's not impacting your life, but it's not very thoughtful to go out of your way to make light of it in front of people who do care. If you don't have anything nice to say...

I think it's always sad when someone passes, especially unexpectedly. Their "relevance" in today's Hollywood doesn't make a difference - it's still going to be hard for the family and people whose lives they touched. I'm too young to have memories of Gary Coleman at the height of his popularity, but I think it's sad he passed so young and I hope for peace for his family.

just as a side note, the reason he was only 4 foot 8 was because of two kidney transplants by the age of 14, and the dialysis failed, stunting his growth.

so in a way he was much taller than anyone that made fun of his height.

 

[cm8]

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0171041/
Gary Coleman has appeared on television ranging from 1974-2009 to those of you who think he "hasn't done anything but(since)" Different Strokes. He's also appeared as himself 72 times. He's quite relevant and has been for more than thirty years.

And to the person who rudely commented on his stature, he's almost 5 feet tall, which is not at all that much shorter than I am. I guess if I were to fall and hurt myself you'd show up with some snide remark about how close I was to the floor? I'd like to know how tall you are, because your comments certainly don't make you sound like a very big person to me. I hope when you are touched with someone near and dear to you dying no one is as rude and uncalled for as you have been here.

I'd like to say I can't believe the comments on this thread, but I've been here long enough to expect nothing less from the dis. A select few of you truly do live to stir up controversy and anger in others with every breath you take.

: ITA!

 

[handinpocket]

It is sad when anyone dies. I saw a lot worse when the Croc hunter died, people were just really mean. I hope he is at peace now, he seemed really conflicted in the past few months with the abuse accusations and all that. Poor guy.

 

[happybratpack]

I find this whole thing with his wife just bizarro.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/celebrity.news.gossip/06/02/gary.colman.wife.resisted.giving.aid.ppl/index.html?hpt=T3

"Price says, "He fell. His head is bloody. There's blood all over the floor. I don't know what happened." The operator asks, "Is there any way you can go down there at all?" Price replies, "I'll try, I don't know, I mean..."

When the operator asks if anyone else is there who can go downstairs, Price says, "No," and adds, "I've just been kind of sick. I don't want to be traumatized right now."