Dana Plato Biography

Dana Michelle Plato was born in Maywood, California on the 7th of November, 1964 and was educated at the Sutter Jr. High in Winnetka, CA. Her 16-year-old unwed mother gave her up for adoption after she was born. Dean and Florine Kay Plato were the ones who adopted her and they treated her like a real daughter.

She did more than 100 TV commercials when she was still a child. She was chosen to portray the lead role in The Exorcist but her mother did not permit her to appear in a movie such as that. Later on, Dana Michelle Plato appeared in the film Beyond the Bermuda Triangle. She has also accepted a small role in Exorcist II,The Heretic.

Dana Michelle Plato was spotted by a producer when she appeared on The Gong Show. She was cast on the TV series Diff’rent Strokes as Kimberly and she appeared on the show from 1978 to 1986. In 1983, Dana moved in with rock guitarist Lanny Lambert. In 1984, they landed in a wedding which gave them a son named Tyler Edward Lambert. Because of her pregnancy, Dana was released from Diff'rent Strokes after the 1983-1984 season but she made a comeback on the final season.

Dana's mother, who has been her career guide, died of a blood disease. Her showbiz career became on and off over the next few years until she posed for a pictorial in Playboy in June 1989. When she and her husband divorced in 1990, she lost custody of Tyler and but was awarded visitation rights.

Bad publicities came to her when she was arrested for an armed robbery of a Las Vegas video store. She was sentenced then for five years probation. In 1992, she was arrested again for forging Valium prescriptions and served 30 days in jail. She has also gone into several drug and alcohol rehabilitations.

Dana Michelle Plato later appeared in a string of B-grade movies which includes Bikini Beach Race and Compelling Evidence. She was featured as a scantly clad in the video game Night Trap and acted in the play Last of the Red Hot Lovers in 1995.

In 1997, Dana again made it to the headlines when she appeared in the straight-to-video film Different Strokes. She has attempted suicide several times and in May 8, 1999, she died due to an overdose of the painkiller Loritab. She was then only 34 years old.