Best known for his lead role on Diff'rent Strokes and his catch phrase, "Whatchu talkin' bout Willis?", Gary Coleman shot up to stardom in the 1970s and 1980s.
Learn the details of his all-too-brief life and his sudden tragic end in our news story.
In a youthful burst of energy, the Diff'rent Strokes cast followed Coleman's perky personality to the promised land of primetime-ratings success.
Years later, things seemed to go off the track for many in the cast, with legal tangles and personal issues prompting talk of a Diff'rent Strokes curse.
Gary was joined by the First Lady in a classic 1983 Diff'rent Strokes episode that chimed in on the "Just Say No" anti-drug campaign.
His volatile marriage to Shannon Price often made headlines for all the wrong reasons, but the couple also enjoyed some good times like this visit to NBC's Today Show in 2008
A mini-mogul child-star, Coleman spun off his own Saturday morning cartoon show The Gary Coleman show in 1982, in which he played an angel trying to earn his wings.
Trying to make the best of their domestic troubles, Coleman and wife Shannon Price took their grievances to TV's Divorce Court in 2008 to save their marriage.
Returning to his Diff'rent Strokes alter-ego Arnold Jackson, Coleman appeared on a Game Show Network's Who Wants to be Governor of California? show in 2003.
Life weighed heavily on the former child star, as seen in this 2010 mug shot after Coleman was detained for a domestic violence beef that was later dropped.
The leading television child actor of his era, Coleman poses here with his Diff'rent Strokes costar, Dana Plato, who along with Gary had more than their share of troubles along with the fame.